45 Texting Statistics That Prove Businesses Need to Take SMS Seriously

Texting has been around for over 20 years, but it’s only now just hitting its stride when it comes to business. Formerly just a way to send silly photos and emoticons (and to some extent, it still is), text messaging is now being viewed as a powerful way for businesses to connect with their customers.

For example, it’s widespread, affordable, real-time and flexible. It’s also brief, preferred, and can be used in any industry to satisfy customers.

What’s not to like?

At OneReach, we’re not shy about singing text messaging’s praises—it’s a great way to interact with friends, family and customers alike. However, we know it’s important to back up our opinion with some cold hard facts, so that’s why we’ve compiled 45 texting statistics on why text messaging is such a powerful business tool. Check them out below, then let us know what you think of texting for business in the comments.

General Texting Statistics

1. Texting is the most widely-used and frequently used app on a smartphone, with 97% of Americans using it at least once a day. (Pew Internet)
2. People worldwide will send 8.3 trillion text messages in just this year alone. That’s almost 23 billion messages per day, or almost 16 million messages per minute. (Portio Research)
3. Over 6 billion text messages are sent in the U.S. each day. (Forrester)
4. Over 80% of American adults text, making it the most common cell phone activity. (Pew Internet)
5. Text messages have a 98% open rate, while email has only a 20% open rate. (Mobile Marketing Watch)
6. Text messaging has a 45% response rate, while email only has a 6% response rate. (Velocify)
7. Texting takes up 14.1% of cell phone users’ time. (Nielsen)
8. 90% of all text messages are read in under 3 minutes. (Connect Mogul)
9. Text messages are read on average in under five seconds. (SlickText)
10. 75% of phones worldwide (4.5 billion) are text-enabled (DuoCall Communications)
11. 96% of smartphone users text. (Acision)
12. Americans sent 69,000 texts every second in 2012 (CTIA)
13. The average adult spends a total of 23 hours a week texting (USA Today)
14. The average Millennial exchanges an average of 67 text messages per day (Business Insider)
15. On average, Americans exchange twice as many texts as they do calls (Nielsen)
16. Only 43% of smartphone owners use their phone to make calls, but over 70% of smartphone users text (Connect Mogul)
17. 55% of heavy text message users (50+ texts per day) say they would prefer to receive a text over a phone call (Pew Research Center)
18. In 2011, 31% of Americans said they preferred text messages to phone calls (Pew Research Center)
19. It takes the average person 90 minutes to respond to email, but only 90 seconds to respond to a text message. (CTIA)
20. American women text 14% more than men. (Nielsen)

Business Texting Statistics

21. 79% of companies believe customers want SMS/text support. (ICMI)
22. 38% of contact centers currently offer SMS, and 23% have plans to add it in the next 12 months. That means 61% of contact centers will offer SMS support in 2016. (Dimension Data)
23. 80% of people are currently using texting for business. (eWeek)
24. One in five consumers is just as likely to prefer a text message from a business to a phone call. (ICMI)
25. The activities people with text capabilities would most prefer to do via text are: check order status (38%) schedule or change appointments (32%) and make or confirm reservations (31%). (Harris poll; link below)
26. Over half of customers said they would be likely to text with a customer support agent. Similarly, 52 percent would prefer texting customer support over their current preferred form of communication. (eWeek)
27. A 2012 study found that text was the highest rated contact method for customer satisfaction out of all other customer communication channels. Text earned 90 out of 100 points, while phone earned 77 out of 100 and Facebook earned 66. (CFI Group)
28. Millenials prefer automated text messaging over IVR, including speech-based solutions (Frost & Sullivan)
29. Over one-third of business professionals say they can’t go 10 minutes without responding to a text. (eWeek)
30. SMS text chat converts a $6-$20 call to a chat that costs pennies per session. (Forrester & ContactBabel)
31. At least five types of social media channels are used in more than 50% of call centers, including SMS/texting (VoIP Info)
32. Sales prospects who are sent text messages convert at a rate 40% higher than those who are not sent any text messages. (Velocify)
33. Over 80% of people use text messaging for business, and 15% said that more than half their messages are for business purposes. (eWeek)
34. Almost 25% of marketers are currently using text messaging. Over 65% of them report SMS as being “very effective.” (ExactTarget)
35. 70% of U.S. consumers appreciate getting texts or emails from healthcare providers. (Loyalty 360)
36. 75% of people would like to have offers sent to them via SMS. (Digital Marketing Magazine)
37. Over 80% of people would only like to receive a maximum of two marketing messages per month. (Digital Marketing Magazine)
38. 44% of consumers with texting capabilities would prefer to press a button to initiate a text conversation immediately, rather than waiting on hold to speak with an agent. (Harris Poll; link below)
39. Texting in the sales process can lead to conversion gains of more than 100%. However, sending text messages before establishing contact with a prospect can adversely affect both contact and conversion rates. (Velocify)
40. 20% of financial services companies use mobile messaging to ensure business continuity and add to their multichannel capabilities. (Loyalty 360)
41. 77% of consumers with texting capabilities aged 18-34 are likely to have a positive perception of a company that offers text capability. (Harris Poll; link below)
42. 44% of consumers would rather receive product details and other marketing messages through text over any other channel. (Direct Marketing Association)
43. 72% of business professionals prefer texting to messaging apps. (eWeek)
44. Nearly 70% of employees think their organization should use text messaging to communicate with employees, and 86% say it should not be reserved for just customer communication. (Vitiello Communications Group)
45. 64% of all consumers are likely to have a positive perception of a company that offers texting as a service channel (Harris Poll; link below).

So, what did you think of the texting statistics? Do you think more companies should start offering text messaging? Is there another, better channel that we’re missing, or are you just not fond of text messaging altogether? Let us know in the comments, and don’t forget to download our 2014 Harris Poll report detailing why 64% of customers want to text your business.

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45 Texting Statistics That Prove Businesses Need to Take SMS Seriously