How To Leverage Mobile Communication For Your Small Business

We are increasingly reliant on our mobile devices, using them to get directions, for multiple forms of communication, and even to reserve a table when we go out to eat. But these days mobile communication is more important than ever.

Customers are looking for updated store hours and policies in an ever-changing and unpredictable world, and increasingly the way they are getting that information is through SMS messaging. SMS messaging is an important tool for small businesses to use to reach out to customers, and those businesses that aren’t using this powerful communication tool are being left out.

Even before COVID-19, 69% of people would rather look something up on their phones than approach a store employee. Now the pandemic has made smartphones a necessity, and customers are not only looking up information on them but also ordering their necessities from an app and then picking those orders up or having them delivered, using SMS messaging to determine when they should arrive or expect their orders.

85% of smartphone users prefer SMS messaging to voice calls or even emails, and in fact 55% ignore emails completely because their email inboxes are oversaturated.

Consumers are using smartphones more and more for everything from banking to managing their finances to accessing government services. These days they are using phones to order food for takeout or delivery, order groceries for pickup or delivery, to communicate with businesses about new policies and hours, and more.

90% of people open a text message within a few minutes and 98% of text messages are opened as opposed to just 20% of emails. The response rate for text messages is five times that of emails, and the response time for text messages over emails is 60 times higher.

Even before the pandemic 68% of businesses used some form of SMS messaging to connect with customers, and thanks to the contactless economy we are now in this has become crucial. 60% of consumers say they feel more confident and prepared when they can easily check on things via mobile communications, and businesses not using this technology are missing out on potential customers.

Curbside pickup has doubled over last year, and 59% of consumers say they will continue to use it after the pandemic is over.

Unfortunately, one in three customers say they have sent a mobile message to a business and not received a reply, which is usually because that business has not enabled two-way messaging.

Consumers want your business to use mobile messaging because they feel it shows you respect their time. Are you on board with mobile communications?