Mobile communication has never been more important. As we navigate the new normal of the pandemic world, customers are increasingly relying on their mobile devices to communicate with businesses about changes in hours, new rules in place for entering a business or using its services, updates on availability of certain items, and more. What’s more, customers are using their mobile devices to find out information about products rather than approaching a store employee. Businesses need to get on the mobile communication bandwagon, but not everyone has gotten the message.
Sometimes people literally aren’t getting the message. As many as one in every three customers who have sent a text message to a business never received a response, and more often than not it’s just because that business hasn’t enabled two-way messaging capabilities. When businesses send text messages to customers for things like appointment reminders and other updates without enabling customers to respond, it sends a message that the customer’s communication preferences aren’t a priority. It’s not just poor customer service, it’s also affecting your company’s bottom line.
85% of smartphone owners prefer messages to most other kinds of communication, including emails. In fact, 55% of people ignore emails because of inbox overload, and 29% never listen to voicemail messages.
Texting is an important way to communicate with customers, but it’s also crucial to a company’s marketing strategy. 98% of people open text messages, and 90% open them within three minutes of receiving them. That’s compared to just 20% of marketing emails. Response rates for text messages are five times higher than that of emails, and response time is eight times faster than emails.
Before the start of the pandemic 68% of businesses used some form of mobile messaging, and mobile messaging has become more important than ever in these uncertain times. Learn more about the power of mobile communication from the infographic below.
Infographic source: Soprano