Do People Prefer Text Messages or Phone Calls in 2018? Find out Now!

If you’re interested in mobile marketing, you may be wondering whether you should focus your efforts on SMS text messaging, or on pre-recorded automated phone calls. It’s a great question – and it has stumped marketers for quite a while!

So what’s the right choice for modern marketers? Do today’s customers and clients prefer phone calls or SMS messages? In this article, we’ll look at the pros and cons of text messaging and phone calls – and help you figure out which option is right for you! Let’s get started.

The Pros and Cons of SMS Text Messages

SMS text messaging is much newer than marketing with phone calls. SMS messages have only really been widespread for about two decades, but they are a very powerful marketing tool. Let’s take a look at the benefits and drawbacks of using SMS marketing now.

Pros

• 99% open rate – 99% of all text messages are opened, and 90% of these are opened within 3 minutes.
• Real-time delivery and marketing messages – Because SMS messages are opened so quickly, they are great for time-sensitive offers and marketing messages to your opted-in customers.
• Highly interactive – It’s easy to set up DialMyCalls to allow two-way SMS text messaging, polls, and more via SMS text messages – boosting customer engagement!

Cons

• SMS messages are limited to 160 characters – It can be tough to fit your marketing message into such a small space, so emails or voice messages may be better for some companies.
• Users may leave your service if you send too many messages – Users have to “opt-in” to receiving your SMS messages. If you spam them with messages, they will leave – reducing your market size.
• Not everyone uses SMS (businesses) – Some people still use landlines – especially at small businesses, so you can’t use SMS text messages to contact all your customers.

The Pros and Cons of Automated Phone Calls

Now that we’ve broken down some of the pros and cons of SMS text messages, let’s discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using phone calls to broadcast your marketing message.

Pros

• Simple and economical to get started – It’s easy to get a list of your customer’s phone numbers via opt-in and quickly begin sending your marketing messages.
• Can send pre-recorded messages – With DialMyCalls, you can record a message and send it to hundreds of people at once. You can even customize your message based on each individual list of phone numbers.
• You can reach a large audience quickly – Just about everyone has a phone, so you’ll be able to quickly reach thousands of people with your pre-recorded calls.

Cons

• Many people screen their phone calls – Most people aren’t going to pick up the phone when they see a call from a number that they don’t recognize. This means that many of your calls may go unanswered. This is especially unfortunate because…
• Most people don’t check voicemail – Only 18% of people check voicemail messages from numbers they don’t know. This means that, if your phone call goes unanswered, your customer is unlikely to listen to the pre-recorded message you leave behind.

Are SMS Text Messages or Phone Calls Better in 2018?

As a rule, we would say that SMS text messages are a better method for marketing to customers in 2018. SMS messages are not disruptive, they have a very high open rate, and almost everyone has a cell phone that supports SMS, so you can quickly reach your customers.

However, there is an exception. If you are marketing your services to businesses, cold-calling and using pre-recorded messages is often a better choice. This is because many business phone systems still don’t support SMS, and business clients are also more likely to check their voicemail regularly.

Still not sure what to pick? Good news! DialMyCalls supports both SMS text messaging and automated phone calls! With our service, you don’t have to choose – you can try both SMS and voice marketing, and see which is right for you! With our low prices and free trial, there’s no risk. Get started now, and get 25 free credits!