OpenMarket – October 20, 2015
Short Message Service (SMS), often referred to as text messaging or simply texting, has been around for more than twenty years, yet its use by mainstream enterprises is just starting to take off. There are lots of stats about text messaging, but there are essentially four simple reasons why enterprises should be using text messaging to better engage with their customers and employees.
- Just about everyone you want to engage with has a mobile phone
There are over 3.5 billion people using more than 7 billion mobile devices globally according to GSMA. In addition, Ericsson predicts 6.1 billion smartphone users globally by 2020, overtaking basic fixed phone subscriptions.
- Text messaging is very popular with mobile phone users
Texting is the most widely-used and frequently used feature on smartphones, with 97% of Americans doing it at least once a day (Pew Internet). And, the average adult spends a total of 23 hours a week texting (USA Today). The net result is that people worldwide will send 8.3 trillion text messages in just this year alone (Portio Research).
- People respond to text messages quickly
It takes the average person 90 minutes to respond to email, but only 90 seconds to respond to a text message (CTIA). And, text messages have a 98% open rate, while email has only a 20% open rate (Mobile Marketing Watch).
- Text messaging is the preferred form of engagement
72% of business professionals prefer texting to messaging apps (eWeek). And millennials prefer automated text messaging over IVR, including speech-based solutions (Frost & Sullivan).
Summary
There are lots of other stats to support each of the reasons above, but I think you get the point by now. One more stat to think about: 80% of people are currently using texting for business (eWeek). This means that if you’re not using texting in your company, then you’re probably behind your competition.
Please connect with me on LinkedIn if you want to chat more about how enterprises can use text messaging to engage with their customers and employees.