Even with the growing number of new communications the old school classics reign supreme: email and text.
New apps have all new shiny features, so why do customers prefer vintage channels like email and SMS? Good question. To learn more about consumer communication preferences, Twilio surveyed 2,500 consumers of various backgrounds—and the results amazed just about all of us.
Here’s a highlight of the findings:
• 83% of participants said email was the ideal method of communications between them and businesses
• Texts are 2.5x more ideal than email when receiving urgent communications from businesses
• 34% of customers make a purchase as a result of businesses communicating with them in their ideal way
• 7 in 10 customers sue a business for communicating with them in unpreferred way
• 94% of consumers reported they’re irritated by the current communications they receive from businesses
SMS + Email = Powerful Engagement Duo
Alone, SMS is a quick and simple way businesses can send timely messages to recipients. Email, on the other hand, is great for longer messages and for keeping an account of security messages. Together, the two create unified consumer engagement experiences that are reliable, and effective.
Email and SMS aren’t alternatives for each other, though—they complement. Each has its own unique use cases and audiences. If you want to stay relevant with your clients, you’ll need to send messages where your clients want to receive them: and that’s via text and email.
However, customers don’t want too much of a good thing. Most consumers only want to receive promotional emails from a business about once a week. But millennials prefer more frequent promotional posts than baby boomers, so make sure you’re targeting your audience correctly. Afternoons are the preferred time to receive messages, while evenings are the least popular hours of the day.
These might seem like minor details, but any small changes in your open and CTR can lead to huge results.
