These 10 Advantages and Benefits of Text Messaging Are Why SMS Beats Email and Voice
Email and phone calls have long been at the center of every business messaging strategy. They’re not new tools, but they’re reliable and some of the most widely adopted forms of communication in the world.
They still work well for lead nurturing, follow up campaigns, and everyday, back-and-forth, conversational messaging.
But fewer people are answering the phone and email response rates aren’t exactly great.
Why? You’ve really got to compete for attention once you get in someone’s inbox. Phone calls just don’t get answered and emails get marked as spam.
This is why more businesses and organizations are turning to SMS text messaging to keep connected to their contacts, customers, and clients.
But what are the advantages of texting?
Read on for more.
Try for free. No credit card required.
Email and Voice Versus Texting
Before we dive into the advantages of texting, it’s important to note how text messaging fits into a current communications strategy.
Everyone has different communication preferences. So some conversational messaging tools just do a better job of reaching different people, at the right time, in the right way.
This is why we advocate for text messaging as a complementary way to reach your contacts and customers.
Customers today aren’t trusting phone calls, especially from unknown numbers. Which speaks to a truth:
People want honest business conversations to occur quietly, in their own time, and at their convenience.
This is why more people are starting to prefer texting to talking. Texting is less obtrusive, more discrete, and just as instant as a phone call or email.
Top 10 Advantages and Benefits of Texting
Instant Delivery: contacts receive messages instantly 100% of the time
By comparison, text messages almost always get read immediately. 98% of texts are read in under 1 minute. Plus, average response times are much quicker than email too.
Everyone has a smartphone or cell phone capable of receiving texts. Texting’s reliable delivery also helps you avoid the “sorry, must’ve been in my spam folder” or “I didn’t have an internet connection” excuse.
But when you send a text message, your message goes straight to your contact’s mobile phone.
This is an advantage over email. With texting you’re no longer competing with other businesses and advertisements for attention.
Text messaging allows you to be one of only 10 text conversations your contacts receive each day. And not only is there less competition with texting, but your messages are almost 10x more likely to get a response.
Why does this really matter? Business communication revolves around reply rates. The more replies you get - the more conversations you can have. The more conversations - the more sales.
3. Text Messages Have High Open Rates
Texts have up to a 98% open rate. With texting, you spend less time chasing down contacts and following up.
Imagine the increase in customer support response time, sales conversations, booked meetings, payments received, and online reviews. With texting, you can manage a lot more conversations.
The truth is that many emails go unread and even get deleted without ever being opened.
5. Text Messages Can Be More Personal than Email
Texts aren’t as formal as email messages. They feel more conversational and relaxed.
With texting you’ve got a chance to loosen a few buttons here. Feel free to get a little more casual with messages that are shorter, sweeter and more personal.
Texts also make it easy to get right to the point. All your contacts need is to quickly read your message, know what’s going on and reply.
With texting it’s also easier to address people in a more friendly manner. Think about adding emojis, images or other media. Each element adds interest to your message and makes it feel more human and face to face than the average email.
The best text messaging platforms will also have personalization features like Tags. These make it easy to personalize and send messages at scale.
Texting allows you to utilize automated features that save you and your customers a ton of time. You can have preset keywords that customers can text that prompt answers including:
Plus, 67% of people would rather text with a business than talk to them on the phone.
Texting keeps you from forgetting to follow up with a lead or failing to successfully inform customers about a promotion.
You can spend an hour or two at the beginning of the week and schedule all of your appointment reminders. This prevents you from having to spend countless hours throughout the week, struggling to reach customers through call and voicemail.
9. Text Messaging Scales with Your Business or Organization
Texting allows you and your team to talk to more people in less time. The long email campaigns you’ve been sending still have a place (email isn’t going away). But texting gives message recipients a more immediate and conversational experience.
You’re likely looking at texting to accomplish a problem that relates to one aspect of a business.
Ready to start texting your contacts and customers? MessageDesk is here to help with smarter, simpler business text messaging for keeping connected.
Most messaging services allow you to set up a free training session when you first get started. At MessageDesk, we offer unlimited training sessions. Our goal is to get you up to speed as quickly as possible.