Texting As A Business Tool

Oct 7, 2016 by Mark Maier

I have a couple of clients that don't mind texts as a way to immediatly respond but I find myself picking up the phone to talk to them as compared to sending a text...I know, I am old school according to The Center For Media Research....

"According to a new study and report by OpenMarket, SMS is the first choice for customers age 18-34 engagement, with texting cited as the most preferred communication channel for receiving notifications from businesses. 72% of millennials say they text 10 or more times a day and 31% say they text more than 50 times a day. The leading factor in millennials’ preferences for texting is its ability for two-way communication with businesses, providing convenience, speed, and ease of use, says the report.

60% of millennials want to be able to text their preferred businesses, but currently they’re only receiving five or fewer messages a week from companies, with 20% noting they don’t receive any texts from business at all.

The summary following is selected material directly from the OpenMarket report.

As a follow-up to the OpenMarket’s first millennial survey earlier this year, this new research identifies what communication method millennials prefer, and why and how they’re utilizing the channel with businesses. The results revealed that over 83% of millennials polled say they open a text within 90 seconds of receiving it.

Jay Emmet, general manager for OpenMarket, says “… this survey… dives deeper into the mobile-millennial mindset, and learns not only why this age group prefers text messaging as their main communication tool for business interactions, but at what level they are looking to engage… ”

“Key findings from the OpenMarket survey include:”

• Texting is the #1 preferred channel of notifications from businesses, with email coming in a close second, and voice a distant third
• Social media channels aren’t a significant factor for business-to-millennial communications as of yet. Postal mail has a higher preference than Twitter and Facebook
• 62% of Millennials prefer to receive texts from businesses for appointment reminders; 59% for delivery notifications; and 48% payment reminders
• Currently, less than half of millennials actually receive appointment and payment reminders from business, signaling an engagement opportunity for companies
• Millennials desire a combination of both one-word responses (yes, no, help, info, etc.) and natural language feedback at the level of two-way communication with businesses

To view the OpenMarket Infographic illuminating this summary, please visit here: http://www.openmarket.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Millennials-Text-with-Businesses-Infographic.pdf"

 

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