Life at Blink | Ryan McClarnon

At Blink, I am responsible for the ongoing success and happiness of our wonderful customers 🚀

I lead our brilliant global Customer Success and Customer Support teams. Together, we nurture our customers in every way possible. We work collaboratively with our customers and all the internal teams at Blink to ensure our users are getting the absolute best value out of our transformative SaaS platform.

I was born and raised in Camden Town, London. I left the capital to go to university but Camden is where my heart lives so I came straight back once I graduated!

I studied Anatomy & Physiology at the University of Manchester and my plan was to kick-off a career in Healthcare 🏥 After months of work experience at the MRI Hospital in the Oncology Gynaecology Department, I came to the realisation that a career in Healthcare sadly wasn’t for me. However, my respect, appreciation, and gratitude for how incredibly hard the nurses, technicians, doctors, surgeons, and supporting staff work on the frontline skyrocketed.

When I left University, I no longer had a career plan which was scary. All I knew was that I loved people – helping, communicating, and supporting people. So, I literally typed ‘jobs for people who love people’ into Google to see what opportunities came up! Recruitment was the top result and that’s how I fell into my first role 💙

My first job was a hybrid Business Development and Recruitment Consultant role within a large corporate company. I learned very quickly that a hardcore Sales role didn’t suit me and I wanted to have more of a positive and influential impact than I could within that corporate environment.

This is when my journey into working in start-ups began. I joined a small technology recruitment start-up whose mission was to change the way companies recruit for their product and engineering teams. I worked my way up from Talent Manager to Account Manager where I had my own portfolio of customers that I was responsible for. I worked with companies including Cazoo, MADE.com, dnata, Emirates Holidays, and many more to help them design, advertise, interview, and hire for their product and engineering teams.

When the opportunity arose to work for a company whose purpose is to make the work lives of the frontline easier, happier, and more connected, I leaped at the chance.

I joined Blink in November 2019 as the first-ever Customer Success Manager. I was responsible for all of our customers throughout their post-sales lifecycle. I single-handedly managed customer support, implementations, and customer success for all our customers.

Since then, we’ve grown from just me to three established global teams: Customer Success, Customer Support, and Implementation. I’ve had the extraordinary opportunity to build my own teams, create our ways of working, take on increasing levels of responsibility and accountability, and achieve glowing success with our customers.

Now as Head of Customer Success, my role is much more strategic and focused on the leadership of my team.

There are three main reasons why I love what I do. The first is the people. I get to work with incredible people internally and externally every single day.

The second is the challenge. I’m learning, growing, and developing at a rate that I didn’t think was possible! And the best thing is that I get to share this with those around me, particularly my team.

The third is our mission. We’re all working together to make the working lives of the frontline easier, more efficient, more connected, but most importantly give them their voice and let it be heard.

“I kind of feel that 60 is the new 40,” says Ciarán McKinney, 61-year old manager at Age & Opportunity. Workplace communication skills are shifting as the workforce is slowly shifting as baby boomers continue working past the traditional retirement age.

The trend is mirrored on the other end, too. The teen employment rate in 2021 is the highest it has been in the last 10 years. These new workers are the first generation Z members to enter the workforce, and many are starting as frontline workers.

What does this mean for you?

Generational differences in the workplace affect many industries, but frontline workers are usually the most diverse. Over 33% of frontline workers are over 50, and the low barrier to entry means many frontline workers are among the youngest workers.

Your workforce demographic is more diverse than ever. You have employees belonging to multiple generations with different internal communication styles working together. To get the most out of them, you need to manage them effectively.

Managing a multigenerational workforce takes practice and understanding. You need to understand generational differences in the workplace and approach each generation in a way that suits them. 

Generation breakdown – understanding the differences

If you’ve read the classic To Kill a Mockingbird, you might remember Atticus Finch's advice:

“You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”

Taking Atticus’s advice to heart, you should remember that while you can define a generation by a few key events and common traits, you must view the person as an individual first. 

To find common ground with different generations, let’s understand the environment they grew up in.  

Baby boomers

Commonly called baby boomers, the generation born between 1946-1964 represents close to 40 million members of the American workforce. 

For most of their work-life, they either communicated face-to-face or used emails and phone calls. They might be known as the tech-averse generation, but 52% of baby boomers own a tablet.

Generation X

Generation X includes those born between 1965-1980. It is the second-largest generation in the American workforce (53 million active workers).

They were also the first generation that saw both parents in the workforce as normal. This might have made many Gen Xers independent and self-reliant. 

Millennials

Millennials, sometimes referred to as Generation Y, were born between 1981-1996. With 56 million millennials in the American workforce, they are the largest generation at work today. This is true in the UK as well, where roughly 50% of the workforce consists of millennials.

Millennials grew up surrounded by technology. The internet and mobile phones became common during their childhood. 

The best way to communicate with them is usually by texting. On average, millennials spend 48 minutes a day texting, higher than any other group surveyed. 

But try to avoid phone calls as 75% of millennials find them time-consuming. 

Generation Z

The newest addition to the workforce, Gen Z, was born between 1997-2012. They represent a small but growing group. 

Gen Z is best known for its passionate beliefs around diversity, climate change, and a desire to change the world.

Here’s what Casey Winch, CEO of Tallo, has to say about that:

“If you’re in the business of recruiting Gen Z, you need a diversity and inclusion strategy, and you need it now.”

Gen Zers came into a world with widespread access to technology. You can call them digital natives. They are likely to possess excellent tech skills and communicate using text messages, instant messaging, and social media. 

Effective communication in a multi-generational workforce

Working with a multigenerational workforce doesn’t have to mean struggling to balance everyone’s needs. You can use the range of experiences from different age groups as an advantage.

Some companies have done this effectively.

Pair different generations together intentionally

You can get higher productivity by mixing older and younger generations as teams. It increases the productivity of both older and younger employees. 

Riva Precision Jewelry went for this when it faced a skilled labor shortage. It hired young workers who lacked skills and paired them with experienced employees. 

This addressed their labor shortage and made both groups happy. Older workers were compensated for their time teaching, and the newer employees gained experience in the industry.

Offer flexibility to older employees

One way companies have stayed engaged with older workers is by offering them a flexible schedule. This can even include working at multiple locations.

Companies like Home Depot and CVS have started implementing snowbird programs that allow older workers to transfer to a warmer store during the winter months. These workers tend to defer retirement since they can fit work into their schedules easily.

“A good number of our pharmacy customers are going to be mature customers, and as part of our focus on diversity, we want a workforce that reflects our customer base,” according to David Casey, CVS’s vice president for workforce strategies. 

Find a way to provide coaching to younger workers

The nursing field has struggled with an ageing workforce and retaining new workers. Baptist Health Lexington was no exception.

Managers at the hospital struggled to find time to meet with staff about career concerns, but millennials longed for career mentorship. They hired an on-call career counsellor and saw an 11% decrease in turnover.

The return on investment (ROI) and worker satisfaction encouraged Baptist Health Lexington to keep the change.

Workplace communication skills for every generation

We’ve seen how some frontline companies are crafting policies for a multigenerational workforce, but finding solutions for your workers might take time. There are some general ideas you should keep in mind when managing generational differences in the workplace for your frontline staff.

Keep things conversational, not corporate

Keep the team communication distributed over communication channels by complexity and importance. 

If you’re praising someone, do it over the phone. Guiding someone, opt for face to face. 

This is especially important as companies adapt to more text-based communication for frontline workers. You can easily approach a coworker in the break room, but a casual conversation on the company's texting app takes practice.

In general, you want a reason to message someone. If you see a coworker you need to speak with commented on a company post, try to initiate a conversation. 

Understand that people might take more time to respond to your feedback than you are used to. Some generations are more sensitive about respecting their free time and may wait to reply until they are at work again.  

Prioritize flexibility

Jacquelynn Wolff, a Boston resident, received an offer for her dream job. But it was in New York. She didn’t want to leave, so she discussed it with her employer who agreed on remote work. 

“It lowered my stress levels instantly. I’m able to work better for my team, too, because I don’t have to worry about adjusting to a new city or a long commute.” 

She isn’t alone. Workers worldwide are asking for a flexible work environment. 

About half of the global workforce would consider quitting a job if workplace flexibility ends after the pandemic. 

But work flexibility might mean different things for different generations. There is no one-size-fits-all solution. Work-life balance varies from person to person.

Ask your employees. Survey them and find what they prefer. 

Include everyone and adapt your feedback style 

Frontline employees tend to work away from the office. You can’t give feedback to them using a thumbs up or facepalm (not that you should do that with office employees either). 

So what’s the best way to congratulate them on a job well done or correct their errors?

That varies with each generation.

"Older generations tend to be more linear and traditional, while younger generations are looser and more spontaneous around time and place," says consulting CEO Tammy Erickson.

Younger generations grew up with likes and shares of social media. They like frequent attention. Sixty-six percent of Gen Z preferred feedback every few weeks. 

You can send a shout-out tweet to a millennial and Gen Zer. They may love it. Baby boomers and Gen Xers might not share this response.

Older generations tend to prefer face-to-face meetings. Suggest improvements in one-to-one meetings and congratulate them in front of their colleagues for maximum effect. 

Ask your employees how they prefer to learn about their performance. Not every millennial has a Twitter account, and not all baby boomers enjoy phone calls.

Image Source 

6 tips to improve your workplace communication skills to engage every generation

With that in mind, let’s end with a few tips that will enhance multi-generational communication for everyone. 

1. Ask! Survey for group feedback and keep track of what each individual prefers. You may find your workers follow a similar pattern to their generation, or they may surprise you.
    
2. Use a multidimensional approach to communications and try to reuse content to suit as many people as possible.
   
   For example, if most of your workforce prefers in-person meetings but others learn better on their own time, record videos of in-person announcements to reshare later.
   
3. Pass the tools of internal communications to your employees. Employee-generated content is compelling. You can add personality, create meaningful connections, and put a face to the dry policy updates.
   
4. Have a central repository like Blink that can mix rich content like videos and images with conversations and calls. Keeping everything in one, mobile-friendly place makes it easier to reach others and communicate the way that works best for everyone.
   
5. Keep channels open for constant feedback about what could be improved. Don’t assume a few changes at the end of the year will be ok going forward. Remind employees to approach you about possible improvements when they can, and make sure you’re available.
   
6. Make it human. Let your employees see you at home, record videos on your way in, accept things that are a little messy for the sake of authenticity. Likewise, don’t expect perfection from your employees. 

Final thoughts: workplace communication skills for every generation in the workplace

With so many generations at work, you will see generational differences in the workplace. It’s essential to understand and acknowledge them. 

Let your frontline employees define themselves. A millennial can excel at soft skills, and a baby boomer can adapt to newer technologies. Effective communication grows from an environment that is open and adaptable.

Offer flexibility and show your workers that you are invested in their continuing careers. Adopt communication tools that cater to all generations and make it easier for everyone to be heard. 

Focus on what’s similar instead of different to keep moving forward as a successful frontline team.

Optimizing an intranet for marketing departments might not be on your mind, but your marketers can benefit from stronger connections with the rest of your corporation.

“Until recently, we communicated through email. This was to share patient information and… not much else. There was little in the way of engaging employees, celebrating achievements, or keeping in touch,”

said Christi Krizman, Director of Development and Training at Promises Behavioral Health. The company now has a 70% average engagement rate on Blink.

The health organization shares personal anecdotes and success stories and communicates with different branches and departments easily. 

Best of all, with a smart intranet, your marketing team members can use these interactions and stories as marketing collateral. 

The intranet for marketing means taking advantage of features other departments will be excited about — like your company social networking feed — and using them to ease your marketers’ workload.

Must-have features for your marketing intranet

Intranets have been associated with HR or IT for a long time. But these departments aren’t the only ones who benefit from a way to connect to the rest of your organization. 

With the right features, your marketing department can both source materials and share upcoming campaigns with ease.

You need to be able to share different media content on your intranet. And you want to be able to share the latest marketing strategies with frontline staff and receive pictures, videos, and feedback from them. It should be simple for everyone to publish their own content too.

An intranet with different permission settings will help make sure only certain teams or people have approval to see specific documents or market research. That makes it easier to share information confidently in the digital workplace.

The best intranet platforms for marketers should integrate with other apps like Slack or Microsoft 365, so your team can continue to use the tools they feel comfortable with.

Surveys will help marketing gain feedback from different departments without hassle. They can then check the built-in analytics to see how engaged employees are with the content they’re posting.  

5 ways to use your intranet for marketing

Now you know what features to look for in a marketing intranet, it’s time to go over how you can use those tools productively. 

1. Share marketing initiatives

Sometimes employees don’t know about new deals or offers unless they get notifications from management. An intranet keeps everyone on the same page. 

2. Create a sharable photo album

Make an album where staff can upload pictures or video clips that marketing can use. Having one place where a photo of a staff celebration can be quickly uploaded to the company intranet reduces the strain on all of your workers.

When it’s easier for people to share their content, they’re more likely to.

3. Collect social media content

Not only pictures but quotes, examples of good work by frontline workers, and even share job vacancies at specific locations. Social media is becoming less curated, and more authentic content is resonating with users.

Sharing digital marketing materials with actual workers instead of models can help you achieve that genuine feel.

4. Promote your company blog

Share posts that staff are likely to be interested in and learn from. 89% of marketers use blogs in their content strategies, but do your workers know about it? Don't just send them to your homepage — share case studies, white papers, and press releases they might care about.

5. Share marketing materials that others need

Have a folder or feed for current sales strategy and brand assets, so if an employee needs to reference them, they’ll always have easy access to the promotions. 

Get your marketing team on board

A social intranet is only as good as the contributions from its users.

You need to get your marketing department engaged with a new platform, or they won’t see the benefits from the workspace.

Multiple experts at the Content Marketing Institute expect video content to grow in 2022, but your department might not have the resources to create all of this content themselves.

By leaning into your company’s intranet software, your team can source photos, videos, success stories, milestones, and other materials from frontline workers and other departments as they create them.

Marketing will be able to access this information quickly — and in most cases, directly. 23% of marketers surveyed by HubSpot said just finding the ideas for new content was their biggest challenge for 2022.  

If your marketing team is able to improve internal communications with other branches, they can access new information and learn what’s trending in stores now.

They can also use employee-generated content as a springboard or incorporate it directly into new marketing efforts. 

The best way to have marketing get on board with an intranet is to have them try it out for free and see how they like it.

Final thoughts: marketing intranet — using an intranet to transform marketing

An intranet for marketing can streamline the entire department and lessen their workload.

Having your entire company help generate content yields a more authentic message that improves employee engagement and means less time spent hunting for a good photo or story. 

Communicating and defining the roles helps keep everyone on the same page. 

But make sure the intranet solution you choose has the features your organization needs for each department.

Your employees need to be able to access the intranet easily, and a mobile solution will help more workers connect and engage. 

Help cut down on the work your marketing department is facing with a fast, company-wide intranet like Blink today.  

Actimo vs. Blink – which is better? It's a question many buyers are asking. And of course, the answer depends on who's asking!

Blink and Actimo are both cloud-based internal communication platforms with a strong customer base and some overlap in features. Yet their primary focus varies. 

Actimo vs. Blink – quick facts

Actimo is ideal for teams who want a platform that enables e-learning but aren’t as concerned about real-time interaction. 

In contrast, Blink is a truly inclusive real-time communications platform for frontline workers, though it doesn’t have an integrated LMS system. 

Your organization’s technical resources may also determine which one is best for you. Blink is easier to use out-of-the-box, while Actimo requires a more thorough setup. 

Both apps place a heavy focus on mobile usability, but Actimo doesn’t offer a newsfeed and is best used as a static intranet. 

And while Actimo's designed for medium-sized organizations, Blink works best for extra-large enterprises with 25,000+ staff.

In this post, we'll break down the key differences and similarities between Blink and Actimo.

Let's dive into it.

Actimo vs. Blink How they're similar

Mobile-first content

On Blink and Actimo, all content is mobile-first. In other words, everything is optimized to be viewed on a small phone screen, not a desktop. This means both could be a solid option for organizations with mobile or frontline workers.

Customizability

Blink is customizable through third-party integrations and offers a wide variety of functionality through its micro-app function. While the starter platform is incredibly easy to set up, full end-to-end customization can take some work through micro-apps and necessary integrations.

Similarly, Actimo can be extensively configured with a fully customizable onboarding flow and plenty of in-app engagement data. Capterra users commented that it's 'easy to make presentations or apps for almost any purpose.'

Multi-lingual offering

Both platforms cater to multiple different languages. Blink even offers on-demand translation of content into the users language of choice.

Some users complained that Actimo switches text from English to Danish.

Actimo vs. Blink: How they're different

Integrations

Blink's integration capability is one of its strongest selling points. Through its dedicated app marketplace, users can shop for new integrations and mix and match to build their own 'super app'. Integrations are configured using Single Sign-On, so users can access different tools without leaving Blink.

By contrast, Actimo probably won't be the solution that replaces every one of your current internal communications tools. There are limited integrations with third-party business tools beyond HR systems.

Employee engagement

Taking a cue from the most popular social apps, Blink offers a live feed with company updates and user-generated text, images, and video. As a result, engagement with the app is remarkably high, with an average of 14 app opens per user per day.

On Actimo, it can be a lot of work to get set up and maintain engagement. Since the content isn’t primarily user-generated, admins will need to regularly create and schedule content to encourage use. That also means communications are more top-down than other platforms. 

e-Learning

Actimo is a fantastic application to facilitate training and learning. Users liked that 'training is fully self-paced and fits anywhere in employee schedules.'

Within the platform, micro-learning is detailed yet simple to use. There are also engaging learning paths with gamified achievements that users can access at their own pace. Data on the compliance with, and completion of, necessary training, is another plus.

On Blink, there is no native onboarding and training function. However, a function can be added with the micro-apps feature, or by adding an integration.

Peer-to-peer communication

Blink offers a searchable in-app database of employees, so it’s easy for users to find a coworker they want to connect with. When they find that co-worker, there are many different ways to communicate: 121 or group chat, through real-time feed posts and comments, or by creating Hub content.

For those looking for a platform with a People Directory, Actimo may also not be a good choice. Beyond group members, there is no way to see a complete list of employees at your organization. 

UX/UI

Blink developers design the app to mimic consumer apps like Uber and Facebook as closely as possible, so the user experience is familiar and fresh. Reviewers praised the platform's 'responsive, team-customizable features.'

While Actimo users appreciate they have 'full control of the layout', they were disappointed that the UI is 'clunky and outdated'.

Frontline focus

While users commented that the app works 'just as well for desktop as it does on mobile', Blink is unique in its laser focus on the frontline experience. And despite offering a highly usable mobile experience, there is also a surprising amount of depth to the content and features. 

While Actimo is optimized for the frontline experience, it doesn't focus on tailored features for specific industries (in Blink's case, transport and healthcare).

Targetting content

Blink's architecture is based on 'teams', which means all content is targetted is personalised to users depending on the groups they're in. Users can schedule campaigns months in advance, and 'pin' posts to ensure they're read, or tag them as 'mandatory reads'.

Actimo users complained the app is 'missing a way to micro-manage groups and send-outs', and requested 'more functionality for campaign planning.'

Actimo vs. Blink: systems and pricing

Unlike Actimo, Blink offers all of its features and capabilities through a single system with optional paid add-ons, which includes a dedicated Customer Success Manager. An all-in-one solution like Blink is attractive to many buyers since it provides seamless functionality and is priced as a single unit.

Blink also offers a number of pre-built integrations with popular business apps to allow for further customization.

The core product is priced in four according to scale:

• Essential
• Business
• Enterprise
• Enterprise Plus

Organizations can also take advantage of a 40% discount if they pay annually.

Overall, Blink is an affordable product, with users commenting on its 'excellent value for money'. While Actimo pricing is not available online, reviewers commented on the cost per user being 'hard to justify' for smaller organizations.

Actimo vs Blink: final thoughts

While Actimo is a strong choice for organizations focused on training and onboarding, it lacks the features to make it a true digital workplace.

To find out more about Actimo vs. Blink, request a free Blink demo today.

Are you stuck between Speakap and Blink for your organization's employee communication solution? 

Keep reading to find out the major similarities and differences and see which one is right for you.

Speakap vs. Blink — quick facts

Speakap and Blink are both mobile-focused employee communication apps designed for organizations with many frontline workers. 

The main difference is the number of features — and cost.

Speakap could be the perfect lightweight top-down communication software for you if you’re just looking for a way to keep employees up to date and enable chat features.

However, if you want more extensive interactions, a centralized hub, and in-depth customization that replaces all other employee intranets, Blink’s features are more than worth the price. 

Speakap vs Blink: How they’re similar

Blink and Speakap have a few similarities: 

Modern UI

Speakap nails its app by providing a straightforward user experience that is comparable to consumer-oriented apps your employees are already familiar with. With its timeline and one-on-one chats, it will fit right into your employees’ day.  

The same can be said for Blink. The user interface is intuitive and modern, making it enjoyable to use for any employee. Users report that the platform “works equally well for desk and frontline workers.” 

Timeline 

Blink offers a versatile feed to share news, updates, and employee-generated content. You can send important notifications, share inspiring pictures and stories, and collect acknowledgements through actionable posts. 

In Speakap, it’s straightforward to share news articles, publications, documents, and images. However, some features are slightly more limited. Some user reviews say “docs can't be opened directly within the app” and that there is a “Limited availability to insert images into posts.” 

Custom branding 

Blink’s theming options make it simple to add your own colors, images, logo, and even a fully white-labelled app with your company’s branding. 

Speakap also offers excellent features to create a branded employee communications platform. You can create a branded app, add a custom logo, and play with menu themes.

Speakap vs. Blink: How they’re different

Analytics

Blink is a robust frontline communications platform that offers a lot of analytic capabilities and customizations to reach and engage every worker. 

You can track your employees’ engagement with the content through data on every post’s reach, impressions, and interactions. 

For uploaded documents, you can see the total number of views for each file and the change in views over time. You get an overall picture of your organization's engagement through a total user and active adoption count as well

Speakap has metrics that provide insight, including usage, adoption rate, read receipts, and user polls.

However, some users will find the analytics weak compared to other platforms. Besides tracking the employees who engage with your posts, data like reach and impressions are missing.

Omni-directional communication

Blink leans on user-generated content for their feed, making it ideal for organizations that want to open up lines of communication and encourage engagement.

In contrast, Speakap prioritizes a top-down style of communication. This could be a disadvantage for organizations looking for maximum engagement and collaboration between all levels of employees.

The communication style is less targeted to individual groups and teams, and some reviewers report that they “can’t target multiple recipients per post.”

Integrations

Along with a feed for daily updates, a hub for document sharing, pages for long-form content, and a multi-directional chat, Blink can be tailored to the needs of each organization. 

You can customize the look of your app through personalized branding and many integrations. You can also add any essential software through Blink’s API. 

Using Blink’s micro-app feature, you can add just about any functionality to your centralized app. Complete end-to-end customization can take some work through micro-apps and necessary integrations. 

In Speakap, you do have a good range of integrations for HR and e-learning. But you only get read-only interfaces, links, and iframes rather than something more substantial. 

Speakap is unlikely to be an overall internal communications solution as it lacks a native way to customize the functionalities within the app.

Besides linking integrations, users can’t add additional functions like payroll tracking into the app itself. Users say a con for their experience with Speakap is that there is “no ability for custom features.” and you “can't connect different apps easily.”

Customer service

Blink’s newness is a major plus for user experience and feature adoption, but this means some essential features are still being rolled out, and bugs do occur.

However, the customer service and development teams are quick to resolve any issues. Blink offers each client a dedicated support contact that oversees the transition and helps to optimize the platform for each business.

Blink also takes customer input and feedback heavily into consideration when developing new features. 

Speakap’s users also frequently say they appreciate the company’s customer support, which also assigns a dedicated customer success manager to each account. Nonetheless, users report that “There are some features that would need better customer support.”

Speakap vs Blink: pricing

Blink offers four levels of paid service based on company size, while Speakap offers three pricing tiers based on features and customer service. 

Blink levels: 

• Essential: $3.40 per person, per month
• Business: Price on application
• Enterprise: Price on application
• Enterprise Plus: Price on application

Speakap levels: 

• Basic: Price on application
• Premium: Price on application
• Additional features, customer support 
• Premium+: Price on application
• Additional features, priority technical support

Speakap vs. Blink: final thoughts

Both Blink and Speakap are good employee communication tools for organizations with a number of frontline workers. If your goal is to encourage across-the-board engagement with a total communications solution, go with Blink. 

If you’re looking for a more targeted top-down communication app that fits into your organization’s existing platforms, go with Speakap. 

If you’re not sure, try Blink’s powerful frontline employee communications solution for free.

Looking for a Jostle alternative that fits your internal communication or employee experience goals better? Whether you're aiming for a more modern UX, greater mobile accessibility, or better analytics, you've come to the right place. In this guide, we explore the top 10 alternatives to Jostle — with detailed comparisons on features, pricing, reviews, and suitability — so you can make the best choice for your organization.

What to look for in a Jostle alternative

Before choosing your next platform, it’s essential to understand what separates the best Jostle alternatives from the rest. Whether you're upgrading your employee intranet, switching to a more intuitive internal communication platform, or adopting employee experience software with better analytics and mobile access — here are the key features to prioritize:

#1. Mobile-first design

Look for platforms that prioritize mobile accessibility, especially if you have frontline, hybrid, or distributed teams. A Jostle replacement should offer native mobile apps with offline support, push notifications, and responsive design.

#2. Two-way communication

Modern comms tools should enable employee feedback, not just top-down broadcasting. Tools with surveys, comments, polls, and chat improve engagement and support a transparent workplace culture.

#3. Targeted messaging & personalization

The best Jostle competitors let you segment your workforce and personalize updates by location, department, or role — ensuring that the right message reaches the right employee at the right time.

#4. User-friendly interface

A clean, intuitive UI helps boost platform adoption. Look for solutions that are easy to use for both end users and admins, with minimal training required.

#5. Integrated ecosystem

Ensure the tool integrates with your existing systems — such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, HRIS, payroll, or shift scheduling tools — to centralize information and streamline workflows.

#6. Real-time analytics

Powerful communication analytics help you measure reach, engagement, and campaign effectiveness. This is a crucial upgrade over Jostle’s limited insight capabilities.

#7. Frontline communication tools

If you serve deskless workers, you’ll want features like QR code logins, broadcast alerts, digital forms, and mobile-first feeds. These features make platforms like Blink a better choice for engaging non-desk teams.

#8. Scalability and customization

As your company grows, your intranet should grow with you. Choose a platform that supports multilingual content, governance, and custom branding as your workforce evolves.

By keeping these capabilities in mind, you'll be better equipped to evaluate not just an intranet replacement — but a platform that powers the entire employee communication lifecycle.

Top 10 Jostle alternatives

#1. Blink (Best overall Jostle alternative)

G2 Rating: 4.7/5
Gartner Peer Insights: 4.8/5
Pricing: Free trial available — Start your free trial

Overview:
Blink is an employee experience platform that goes beyond traditional intranets by combining communication, engagement, and productivity tools in a single mobile-first interface. It enables two-way communication, real-time targeting, and frontline accessibility that Jostle lacks.

Pros:

• Mobile-first experience designed for frontline, hybrid, and HQ teams
• Smart content targeting and audience segmentation
• Real-time analytics and engagement insights
• Integrates with Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, HRIS, and payroll systems
• Fast deployment with a free trial available

Cons:

• Does not offer a desktop-only intranet for organizations without mobile needs

#2. Simpplr

G2 Rating: 4.5/5
Gartner Peer Insights: 4.4/5
Pricing: Estimated $8–$12/user/month (custom quotes)

Overview:
Simpplr is a modern intranet platform with AI-powered personalization, search, and structured content experiences. It's designed to support internal comms and knowledge sharing, primarily for desk-based knowledge workers.

Pros:

• Sleek user interface and strong personalization features
• Native integrations with Salesforce and Microsoft 365
• Good support for structured org-wide communications

Cons:

• Setup and onboarding can be complex
• Lacks flexibility for frontline or mobile-first teams

#3. Staffbase

G2 Rating: 4.6/5
Gartner Peer Insights: 4.3/5
Pricing: Custom pricing

Overview:
Staffbase is a communications-first platform with mobile and desktop experiences. It offers a branded app, newsletter tools, and internal comms analytics — with a strong focus on top-down messaging.

Pros:

• Branded employee app for mobile communications
• Easy publishing tools and editorial workflows
• Excellent for large, distributed enterprises

Cons:

• Limited peer-to-peer or two-way communication features
• Advanced features may require paid add-ons or integrations

#4. Workvivo

G2 Rating: 4.7/5
Gartner Peer Insights: 4.5/5
Pricing: Custom pricing (~$6–$9/user/month)

Overview:
Workvivo is a social intranet that combines engagement tools like shoutouts, polls, and live streams with content distribution. It’s geared toward companies looking to foster culture and community.

Pros:

• Social-first design boosts engagement
• Easy to use with intuitive content tools
• Supports recognition, wellness, and culture initiatives

Cons:

• Not ideal for task-oriented communications or operational updates
• Can become cluttered in large orgs without moderation

#5. Haiilo (formerly Smarp)

G2 Rating: 4.4/5
Gartner Peer Insights: 4.3/5
Pricing: Custom pricing

Overview:
Haiilo focuses on employee communications and advocacy, enabling companies to distribute and amplify internal messages and external content.

Pros:

• Built-in advocacy tools for social sharing
• Strong analytics for campaign tracking
• Intuitive for content managers

Cons:

• Lacks full intranet or productivity suite features
• Not ideal as a standalone hub for internal tools

#6. Unily

G2 Rating: 4.4/5
Gartner Peer Insights: 4.3/5
Pricing: Starts around $50,000/year

Overview:
Unily is an enterprise-grade digital workplace platform with a highly customizable intranet, multilingual support, and robust governance capabilities.

Pros:

• Enterprise-ready with deep customization
• Excellent integration with Microsoft 365
• Highly secure and scalable

Cons:

• Expensive for mid-sized companies
• Implementation can be complex and resource-heavy

#7. MangoApps

G2 Rating: 4.3/5
Gartner Peer Insights: 4.2/5
Pricing: Starts at $6/user/month

Overview:
MangoApps offers a modular intranet and collaboration platform where organizations can pick and choose features like messaging, wikis, task tracking, and HR portals.

Pros:

• Flexible modular pricing
• Supports multiple use cases beyond communication
• Simple UI with broad capabilities

Cons:

• Interface can feel outdated compared to newer tools
• Requires configuration and training for full potential

#8. Igloo

G2 Rating: 4.2/5
Gartner Peer Insights: 4.1/5
Pricing: $8–$10/user/month

Overview:
Igloo provides a structured intranet ideal for content-heavy orgs with needs around documentation, department pages, and policy hubs.

Pros:

• Strong content management features
• Suitable for policy-heavy or regulated industries
• Supports team collaboration and forums

Cons:

• Less mobile-friendly than modern alternatives
• More of a static portal than a dynamic engagement tool

#9. Happeo

G2 Rating: 4.6/5
Gartner Peer Insights: 4.4/5
Pricing: ~$10/user/month (based on org size)

Overview:
Happeo is a social intranet tailored for Google Workspace users. It offers channel-based communication and integration with Google tools like Drive and Calendar.

Pros:

• Deep Google Workspace integration
• Quick deployment and low learning curve
• Clean, social-style UI

Cons:

• Limited integration support beyond Google ecosystem
• Less customizable than enterprise-grade tools

#10. Noodle

G2 Rating: 4.1/5
Gartner Peer Insights: Not listed
Pricing: Starts at $6/user/month

Overview:
Noodle is a no-frills intranet platform geared toward small businesses. It offers employee directories, file sharing, and discussion forums.

Pros:

• Affordable and simple to use
• Good for small, budget-conscious teams
• On-premise or cloud deployment options

Cons:

• Dated UI and limited engagement tools
• Lacks mobile-first design and integrations

Final thoughts

Jostle has served many organizations well, but its limitations around scalability, two-way engagement, and analytics have prompted many teams to look elsewhere. Platforms like Blink offer a more modern, mobile-first experience — giving you the power to connect, engage, and support every employee, no matter where or how they work.