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New Research Shows Texting Has Reached Historic Popularity – And Businesses Can’t Afford to Miss Out

By: Get News

Since its creation in 1992, texting has become the cornerstone of mobile communication. Factors like data, Wi-Fi, multi-media messaging (MMS), and smartphone capabilities have changed the industry over time, but the growth of texting has remained steady. In fact the only thing that slowed its climbing prevalence was the eventual introduction and fluctuating popularity of apps like WhatsApp (created in 2011), Snapchat (2011), or FB Messenger (2014), until their subsequent declines in usage by 2018. In years following – notably since COVID as the world has gone more remote – texting has taken a steep increase in popularity once again.

Voice calling, by contrast, has declined worldwide. Today it has been all but wholly replaced by more purposed tools like video chat or conferencing, email, and SMS texting. In fact, ALL generations now prefer texting to calling or other forms of communication. This is a marked change from prior decades, wherein different generations have had distinct communication preferences:

–  Baby Boomers are now seven times more likely to text than to talk in-person, and twice as likely to send a text instead of calling.
–  An overwhelming majority (82%) of Millennials prefer texting over a voice call even for business interactions, and 20% report that they prefer texts because they do not regularly check voicemails at all.
–  70% of Gen Z Americans prefer texting even over face-to-face communications, especially for business and remote work purposes.

Statistic comparisons confirm that the annual growth in texting is met with stagnancy or declines in voice calling – and that trend isn’t stopping any time soon.

In fact, 87% of consumers now say they ignore phone calls from unknown numbers ‘often’ or ‘very often.’ Texts, on the other hand, have a nearly 100% open rate. Over 60% of phone users open a text within just 3 minutes of receiving a notification, and 58% respond within 5 minutes.

SMS/MMS texting has also remained the most consistently-used method of instant communication: 59% of phone users prefer texting through native SMS phone software versus other apps. Regarding business communication specifically, further studies conclude 90% of leads prefer to be texted rather than called.

Yet even as the landscape of mobile communication has changed, businesses haven’t pivoted accordingly: whereas 76% of businesses email their customers today, and almost 100% call them on the phone, only 14% of businesses are texting customers.

But its value speaks for itself: conversion rates for SMS marketing average between 30-45%. This is a stark contrast from other prominent marketing channels – only 2% of cold calls result in meetings, and conversion rates for email, SEM advertising, and social media ads are 3.26%, 3.17%, and 9.21% respectively.

So what prevents businesses from adding SMS to their marketing plans? Logistical setbacks could be one reason – especially if their landlines are not text-enabled. Other challenges like manual admin work or lack of accountability with personal device usage might also be to blame. However, many of these challenges and the like can be alleviated by business texting software providers.

Captivated Business Texting is one such provider. Elly Seitz, Director of Product Marketing for Captivated, says of SMS business messaging: “the problem with texting from your own phone is that your personal number gets shared with anyone you’re doing business with – which, regardless of whether you’re in a corporate BDC, are a dispatch technician, or are self-employed as a network marketing executive – can be an uncomfortable thing.

That’s one advantage of Captivated: you’re protected behind a business number, but your messages still deliver from our app as a text to your customers, so it feels personal and authentic. It’s also a step up from personal texting in that our app is business-wide, so you can create team calendars or see each other’s conversations, and there’s a sense of community and accountability that isn’t there with just traditional SMS.”

Another advantage of business texting software might be efficiency. Seitz notes “with Captivated, you can carry out booking, send forms, set up keyword routing, and you can send ‘campaigns’ out to large lists of customers [where you type the message once, and it delivers to each individual as a personal text]. You can even create automated workflows – so follow-ups, subscription refills, or survey requests can all be sent automatically, which reduces friction and admin efforts; customers could even check in for appointments using workflows. Beyond the desktop application, our Chrome extension helps with CRM integration, and our mobile app is as easy as regular texting. In general, we offer much more flexibility than texting alone would provide, but still deliver to customers with that familiar level of convenience.”

It is essential that businesses keep up with the growing need to communicate faster and more efficiently. Regardless of size or industry, texting is a key way for businesses to build stronger connections with customers.

Media Contact
Company Name: Captivated Business Texting
Contact Person: Bryan Anderson
Email: Send Email
Phone: (317)316-3188
Country: United States
Website: https://captivated.works/

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