Messaging, such as emails, announcements, alerts, or phone calls, are often used as a way to inform or clarify course content or expectations, remediate or encourage student performance, or to build community. Drawing on research related to best practices in online education and student–teacher interactions, this paper provides a theoretical framework for messaging based on two dimensions: motivation for the message and content of the message. Instructors can use this framework to implement and more precisely target messaging to improve student learning outcomes.