As much it drives me insane that no one has an ACTUAL face to face (or even over the phone) conversation any more or that fact that no one seems to be able to sit down around the dinner table and have the “So how was your day?” conversation without some form technology being involved (or banned/thrown out from the table), I guess the overwhelming theme is “it’s the day and age in which we live.” Don’t get me wrong, I consider myself fairly technology sound and up on the latest and greatest, I guess I am simply old school that certain things should never change. I want, if not for a brief moment, to have electronics silenced and to unplug from this plugged in world and to sit with my loved ones and have their undivided attention while having mine and hear and see what is going on in their lives. Maybe that is outdated in this crazy world, but I think that would and should never go out of style.
Now with that being said, let’s examine these INSANE numbers on how texting has taken over the world! When I left you last, I had driven home how critical CRM is to your business. I am now going to show how vital it is to make sure whatever CRM you select that is has a strong texting component. A good portion of the statistic come from Gigi “45 Texting Statistics That Prove Your Businesses Need to Take SMS Seriously.”
It use to be that email was the preferred method of contact. It the last couple of years, this has changed. Why is that? Well, texting. Texting is king. Let’s think about the logistics of the two methods before jumping into numbers.
Texting vs Emailing
Texting: Instant-no delay
Email: Depending on setup and provider, there can be up to 15 minute delay
Texting: All phones receive text messages
Emailing: Have to have a Smart Phone to receive emails on phone. If on a regular phone, one will not receive email until he/she checks it on a computer.
Texting: Don’t have to an internet connection to receive text (only cell service)
Emailing: Have to have some type of internet/data connection to receive an email
Texting: Most plans now have unlimited text messaging plans
Emailing: Most plans are not unlimited data. If close on data, one will have to wait to check/open email
Texting: Generally more demographics feel more comfortable with texting vs email
Emailing: Generally email scares the older population vs texting
Texting: Texting has a phone number attributed to it, making it easy to call the other person
Emailing: One must scroll to the bottom of the page to find the phone number. If it’s a chain of emails, it can make it difficult to find a phone number.
There are many other pros/cons to each of these methods of contacts. I simply wanted to point out a few. To take these reasonings one step further, it is time to look into those numbers on why texting is so prolific.
- Texting is the most widely used and frequently used app on a smart phone. Not only that, 97% of Americans areusing it AT LEAST ONCE A DAY! (Pew Study)
- 64% of American Adults have a Smart Phone. This means the rest of the population does not. You have to be able to communicate with them. (Pew Study)
- According to DuoCall Communications, 75% of phones or 4.5 billion are text-enabled.
- 96% of Smart Phone users text. (DuoCall Communications)
- Worldwide we will send 8.3 TRILLION texts in this year alone! In case you are wondering, that is 23 BILLION/DAY or 16 MILLION/MINUTE. (Yeah I would say we are little dependent on our phones. (Portio Research)
- In 2012, Forrester stated that over 6 billion texts were sent in the US EVERYDAY!
- Between 2011-2014, it was estimated that the text message use for the US would grow from the 255 billion that were sent in June to 8.5 BILLION EVERYDAY.
- The same article that showed the above stat, stated that 81% of American text regularly. This means that of our population of roughly 323 million people that almost 262 million of them text regularly. I am not sure if you remember the last article, but this 81% stat is higher than the 73% of US households that have broadband internet. Hands down (pun maybe intended) texting is the most common and popular activity on one’s phone.
- A 2012 Study showed that Americans sent 69,000 texts EVER SECOND!
- In a Business Insider article, numbers show that the average Millennial sends/receives 67 texts/day. This is why we need Unlimited plans!
- Text message have 98% open rate. Emails have dropped to a 20% open rate. (Mobile Marketing Watch)
- Text messaging has a 45% response rate. Email: 6% response rate. (Mobile Marketing)
- 90% of texts are read under 3 minutes. We hate those emails that drone on forever!
- On average, texts are read in under 5 seconds. (Slick Text)
- USA Today stated that the average adult spends a total of 23 hours/week texting. In case you are wondering, that is a part-time job!!
- We all love those people over at Nielsen! They showed that Americans texts TWICE as much as they call.
- In 2010, Nielsen also reported that 42% of teens said the PRIMARY reason they had a phone was for texting. (Bizzuka)
- Also in 2010, eMarketer stated that Smart Phone owners aged 18-24 considered texting as meaningful as an actual conversation over the phone. (Bizzuka)
- When Carly Rae Jepsen said “Call Me Maybe,” we all must have taken her seriously as ONLY 43% of Smart Phone owners used their phones to actually call anyone anymore! OVER 70% of phone users text. (Connect Mogual)
- 55% of heavy text message users (50+ text/day) say they would prefer to receive a text OVER a call. (Pew Research)
- In 2011, Pew Research showed that 31% of American’s preferred text message to phone calls. This percentage has increased since 2011.
- 64% of consumers with texting abilities prefer to use texting OVER voice as a customer channel. (OneReach)
- It takes on average 90 seconds to respond to a text vs 90 minutes to an email. (CTIA)
- 79% of businesses believe customers prefer text/SMS Support. (ICMI)
- Dimension Data reports that 38% of contact centers currently offer SMS and 23% have plans to add it in the next 12 months. This means that a total of 61% of contact centers will offer SMS support in 2016.
- eWeek’s survey enlightens how 80% of people use texting for business. Additionally, almost 1/3 said they texted from a device other than a mobile phone (this goes back to strong SMS/Text integration with your CRM).
- 1 in 5 consumers is just as likely to prefer a text from a business as the are a call. This number jumps to 36% with 18-24 year-olds. (ICMI)
- More than 50% say they would text a customer support agent. 52% prefer texting support their current preferred form of communication. (eWeek)
- In 2012, text messages were the highest rated contacted method for customer satisfaction out of all channels. It earned 90/100. Phone earned 77/100. Facebook earned a meager 66/700. (CFI GROUP) As CSI is key, this is a very key factoid.
- Most are addicted to their phones (legally and mentally): over 1/3 of business professionals say they can’t go 10 minutes without responding to a text. (eWeek) The plus side to this is response time is phenomenal!
- SMS/Texts chats can convert a $6-$20 call to a chat that costs pennies/session. (Forrester & ContactBabel)
- Sales prospects who are texted convert at a rate of 40% HIGHER than those who are NOT sent any text message. (Velocify)
- Over 80% of people use text messaging for business. 15% state that more than half their messages are for business purposes. (eWeek)
- Almost 25% of marketers are currently using text messaging and 65% of them find it as being “very effective.” (ExactTarget)
- 75% of people would like to have offers sent to them via SMS. The sad part about this is the fact that around 80% of consumers have NOT received a marketing text/SMS from their favorite brand/company. There is so much money being left on the table by not engaging your customer base via texting. (Digital Marketing Magazine)
- 44% of consumers with texting capabilities would prefer to press a button to initiate a text conversation immediately, rather than waiting on hold to speak with an agent. (One Reach)
- 77% of consumers with texting capabilities aged 18-34 are likely to have a positive perception of a company that offers text capability (One Reach)
- 64% of ALL consumers are likely to have a positive perception of a company that offers texting as a service channel. (One Reach)
- 81% of ALL consumers agree that is frustrating to be tied to a phone or a computer to wait for customer service help. (One Reach)
- 44% of consumers would rather receive product details and other marketing messages through TEXT over ANY OTHER channel. (Direct Marketing Association)
- Around 70% of employees think their organization should use text messaging to communicate with employees. 86% say it should not be reserved for only customer communication. (Vitiello Communications Group)
- It takes on average 90 seconds to respond to a text vs 90 minutes to an email. (CTIA)
- 79% of businesses believe customers prefer text/SMS Support. (ICMI)
- Dimension Data reports that 38% of contact centers currently offer SMS and 23% have plans to add it in the next 12 months. This means that a total of 61% of contact centers will offer SMS support in 2016.
- eWeek’s survey enlightens how 80% of people use texting for business. Additionally, almost 1/3 said they texted from a device other than a mobile phone (this goes back to strong SMS/Text integration with your CRM).
- 1 in 5 consumers is just as likely to prefer a text from a business as the are a call. This number jumps to 36% with 18-24 year-olds. (ICMI)
- More than 50% say they would text a customer support agent. 52% prefer texting support their current preferred form of communication. (eWeek)
- In 2012, text messages were the highest rated contacted method for customer satisfaction out of all channels. It earned 90/100. Phone earned 77/100. Facebook earned a meager 66/700. (CFI GROUP) As CSI is key, this is a very key factoid.
- Most are addicted to their phones (legally and mentally): over 1/3 of business professionals say they can’t go 10 minutes without responding to a text. (eWeek) The plus side to this is response time is phenomenal!
- SMS/Texts chats can convert a $6-$20 call to a chat that costs pennies/session. (Forrester & ContactBabel)
- Sales prospects who are texted convert at a rate of 40% HIGHER than those who are NOT sent any text message. (Velocify)
- Over 80% of people use text messaging for business. 15% state that more than half their messages are for business purposes. (eWeek)
- Almost 25% of marketers are currently using text messaging and 65% of them find it as being “very effective.” (ExactTarget)
- 75% of people would like to have offers sent to them via SMS. The sad part about this is the fact that around 80% of consumers have NOT received a marketing text/SMS from their favorite brand/company. There is so much money being left on the table by not engaging your customer base via texting. (Digital Marketing Magazine)
- 44% of consumers with texting capabilities would prefer to press a button to initiate a text conversation immediately, rather than waiting on hold to speak with an agent. (One Reach)
- 77% of consumers with texting capabilities aged 18-34 are likely to have a positive perception of a company that offers text capability (One Reach)
- 64% of ALL consumers are likely to have a positive perception of a company that offers texting as a service channel. (One Reach)
- 81% of ALL consumers agree that is frustrating to be tied to a phone or a computer to wait for customer service help. (One Reach)
- 44% of consumers would rather receive product details and other marketing messages through TEXT over ANY OTHER channel. (Direct Marketing Association)
- Around 70% of employees think their organization should use text messaging to communicate with employees. 86% say it should not be reserved for only customer communication. (Vitiello Communications Group)
I would ask “What does this all mean to those looking for a CRM or those looking at marketing channels?” but I am really hoping by this point I have utterly inundated you all with these statistics on how vital texting/SMS is to your business! One key thing to remember is as with all things, there is a is fine balance. 80% of consumers only like to receive a maximum of 2 marketing messages/month (Digital Marketing Magazine). Use your head: don’t text a customer if he/she hasn’t given you permission. Don’t text before actually speaking with the customer. Most of the Do’s and Don’ts are common sense and if followed correctly will make your business flourish! Now go text like an American teenager!
Until next time,
BZ
