Benefits of Texting

Since 2015, Pew Research has deduced that 97% of Americans text at least once a day. An estimated 8.3 trillion text messages were sent that year, worldwide. Some quick math for perspective, that’s close to 23 billion messages per day. 16 million messages per minute.

Now, in 2019, that number has continued to grow, and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.

Texting began as a great tool to send short messages to family and friends, but over the years it has become one of the most popular ways to share important information, rivaling email & phone calls. In addition, it’s no longer just reserved for chatting with people you know. 80% of people are now using texting to communicate with businesses in some way.

Some things grow too large to ignore, in 2019 texting as a business tool is one of them. So whether you’re looking for ways to work texting into your business, school, nonprofit, or passion project, or you’re just looking to learn more, you’re in the right place.

The Advantages of Text Messaging

While the benefits of texting are vast, we’ll work to break them down based on the most popular reasons our clients see success with the platform.

The Reach of SMS

Over the last decade, the number of texts sent has increased by 7,000%! Texting is to 2019 what email was to 1999. It’s the new way to reach almost everyone instantaneously and rise above the noise of the other oversaturated marketing channels. But who are you really reaching and how far can you truly stretch? Here’s a glimpse behind the curtain.

• Researchers predict 6 billion people will send and receive SMS text messages by 2025 (GSMA Intelligence)
• The most popular demographic for texting is teens with American teenagers sending and receiving 67 text messages per day, on average (Pew Research Center)
• Texting is the most frequently used form of communication among Americans younger than 50 years old (Gallup)
• Women tend to spend slightly more time texting than men (RealityMine, AdWeek)
• Text messaging is 3-8X more preferred than face-to-face communication across all generations (Agility PR)
• 89% of people would like to text with businesses (BusinessWire)

Starting to get the picture? The deck is stacked in favor of texting, yet only 48% of businesses are currently equipped to communicate with customers via text. All the while SMS/Text remains the most requested channel for business use (Smarsh, Wealth Management).

The Speed of SMS

Now that you’re familiar with how accessible texting is, let’s take it a step further and have a look at how quickly texting enables us to reach one another.

• Texts have a 99% open rate (Singlepoint)
• 95% of texts are read within three minutes (Forbes)
• Average response time for a text is 90 seconds (CTIA)
  • Email, on average, is around 90 minutes
• Sending and receiving a text is 10 times faster than placing a voice call (PR Newswire)

Faster than phone calls. Better open rates than email. Giving people a more efficient way to communicate, especially with a business, is rewarded by stronger and quicker response rates. A study by Velocify even reports 45% of business text messages receive a response, compared to 6% of emails.

Texting is Personal

As we mentioned before, texting was once a space for connecting with close family and friends. Now, it’s more of an open space, but recipients still have control over who is able to reach out to them. Thorough text laws spell out why mass text marketing requires express written consent. But the subtext with this is that, when your business is welcomed into someone’s inbox, it’s regarded as equally as the messages from close friends and family.

Your business can use this close, personal connection to its advantage by sending targeted materials that provide added value and ultimately conversions into sales.

• 75% of people wouldn’t mind receiving an SMS text message from a brand (after opt-in) (MarketingProfs)
• 64% of all consumers are likely to have a positive perception of a company that offers texting as a service channel (Harris Poll)
• 70% of U.S. consumers appreciate getting texts or emails from healthcare providers (Loyalty 360)
• Sales prospects who are sent text messages convert at a rate 40% higher than those who are not sent any text messages (Velocify)
• SMS text chat converts a $6-$20 call to a chat that costs pennies per session (Forrester)
• 90% of people say they’d rather receive a text than a phone call from a business (Franchise Help)
• More than 50% of consumers would rather text for customer support than call (Customer Think)

Why Does My Business Need to Start Texting?

By this point, we imagine you’re a bit overwhelmed by numbers. So we’ll bring it home with our bread and butter: text(ing).

You’ve seen the quantitative evidence as to why your business should start texting, but what about the qualitative, benefits of texting? For starters, you can check out some of our client success stories to get a feel for what texting looks like in the real world.

Otherwise, we’ll leave you off with the top 10 benefits of texting for your business.

1. Texting helps your business stand out from the competition: Despite its growing popularity, SMS isn’t something a majority of businesses offer yet. Get in on the forefront of the trend and stand out among peers.
2. Communicate without a need for an internet connection: Because texting doesn’t require internet connectivity, it can be accessed by anyone’s cellphone anytime, anywhere!
3. You can step up your marketing with advanced features: At SimpleTexting we offer a host of advanced features like data collection, autoresponders, templates, custom fields, and more. Tools that help you save time (and money).
4. Texting can work to enhance your existing marketing strategies: Texting is a great complementary tool. With our Zapier integration, you can even automate your text marketing to work alongside 1,000+ apps and tools.
5. Create better customer service experiences with SMS: thanks to the speed and personal aspects of texting, you can connect with customers even faster. Serve customers more accurately and efficiently from your desktop, SMS enabled, platform.
6. Breed better internal communications: Texting isn’t just a tool for external comms. It’s also a great way to get in contact with your staff quickly with important updates, polls, and other information.
7. Communicate faster and secure the sale: Customers tend to favor the provider who is most responsive to their needs. Picture this. You’re new to town and looking for a place to get your dog washed. You send 5 messages to five different dog salons (via email, social media, online forms, phone calls, and texts). Three of them don’t get back to you for a few days, one gets back to you after a few hours, and one responds after 2 minutes. You are most likely to give your business to the fastest reply as they have demonstrated value and professionalism. Texting is one of the only methods that offers that kind of accessible turnaround.
8. Texting offers discreet communication methods: In some instances, discreet communication is preferred. Imagine you’re a recruiter trying to set up an interview. Your client can’t very well schedule their interview while they’re sitting at the desk of the job they’re leaving. The situations are more common than you think, and the privacy texting can provide for a conversation is valuable.
9. It’s inexpensive: Unlike some marketing tools, texting is relatively inexpensive. At SimpleTexting your pricing is based on volume, and we’re always happy to work with you to find the perfect price for your needs. The value your business can receive far exceeds the cost of the tool.
10. It’s easy to use: While technology can sometimes fly over the heads of some folks, texting is inherently basic. It’s a tool widely embraced across generations (albeit a bit more by the younger) but undiscriminating nonetheless. When it comes to setting up your text marketing platform, it only takes around 10 minutes to get up and running. And our attentive support team is there for you seven days a week.

Still have questions about the benefits of texting? Reach out to us by clicking the blue chat bubble on your screen. Happy texting digital warriors!