The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio are almost over. Did you watch it? There was a lot of good competition – from the different countries and athletes fighting for the gold, silver, and bronze to the different sports competing for viewers’ attention. My question is: if you could choose only one sport to watch – forget your DVR or on-demand – which one would it be? I personally would go with gymnastics…
Any who, these competitions got me thinking – the Olympics, and the fight for a medal, are very similar to the fight that brands go through to keep up with and leverage the latest and greatest communication channels to distribute content and/or supply service and support through every day. Any given consumer has so many channels – mass-media, email, ads and plenty of others. So how can you determine the gold, silver and bronze channels that your users prefer, and how can you leverage these channels to keep customers happy and loyal?
Well, in spirit of the Olympics, we put the ‘preferred’ customer communication channels through a head to head competition, and in the end, there was only one winner – text messaging!
Today, text messaging is the preferred communication channel. Why? Because your customers just don’t want to call you for support. They want a more accurate, relevant and complete answer without waiting on hold, without having to go through an automated system; they want a communication channel that can allow them to accomplish whatever their immediate need may be so they can get back to what they were doing prior to having to contacting you.
But don’t take my word for why text messaging is taking home the gold, just check out the data:
US adults are more than twice as likely to have adopted SMS as any other form of mobile messaging, such as email, MMS, or instant messaging. – source
Smartphones represent the majority of mobile phones in many geographies and on the rise in all of them, messaging capabilities are expanding and delivering content that is immediate, contextual, and serves customers right in their moment of need. – source
79% of marketing leaders agree that mobile marketing – inclusive of SMS, push notifications, mobile apps, or location based functionality is core to their business. – source
With more than 80% of the US population owning a mobile phone and with almost 70% of these phone owners regularly sending or receiving text messages, SMS will remain a significant part of the mobile landscape for the foreseeable future. – source
73% say that valuing their time is the most important thing a company can do to provide them with good online customer service. – source
Mobile marketing and support increases from 2015 – 2016; Mobile text messaging grew by 111%. – source
And there you have it, when it comes time for the various communication channels to compete; text messaging takes the lead by a landslide.
Is text messaging your preferred customer communication channel when getting in touch with a business? Let us know @HeyWireBiz using the hashtag #LetMeText!
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