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Consumers are changing—and so are their preferences. As business climates grow and adapt, so do communicative services. Pew Research Center has recorded an increase in young adult texting, focusing on the younger generation’s 95-percent use rate between ages 18 and 29 years old. Younger generations, too, are adapting, increasing overall SMS text messaging preferences both in and outside of buying environments.

The New Medium

Companies capable of utilizing text messaging services succeed in engaging new shoppers. Goods-delivery services have become ‘text-contingent,’ basing astounding percentages around SMS-based procurement. The modern buyer prefers this method, and the trend is only increasing.

A CIO article researching SMS messaging’s industry impact has recorded that 30 percent of consumers answer branded text messages. Mobile coupon redemption rates, similarly, are 10 times higher than physically distributed coupons. Really, transformation of technology, alone, constitutes the shift. Yet a good few reasons do support buyer preferences. Let’s take a look.

Reason One: Opt-In Services

No longer do companies approach consumers in unbridled ways—shoving marketing efforts in their faces. Technology, adhesive to private consumer culture, creates an excellent opt-in environment. Customers have the choice to engage brands. That choice is a key factor in rising SMS-based culture.

Reason Two: Better Customer Support

eWeek’s article dives into consumer response culture, stating 52 percent of consumers prefer texting customer support agents. Additionally, 52 percent prefer texting a business’s customer support more than their current communicative methods.

Instant contact breeds excellent customer support. Text messaging services are inherently personal, and the consumer’s ability to contact, receive support from and give feedback to support teams is important. In fact, it’s a driving factor in consumer satisfaction. Small, medium and large businesses, alike, have examined sales-boosting tactics, implementing text-based customer support options as primary tools.

Reason Three: Efficiency

While efficiency is a marketing ‘given,’ it can’t be overstated. Text messaging is quick, and consumers prefer instant responses. SMS text messaging services are a self-fulfilling prophecy, garnering more popularity as the very existence of mobile messaging drives instant communication needs further.

Already, consumers view brand reviews, directions and product pages via mobile. Their knack for dominating platforms is keen, and businesses are rightfully responding with text-based support. The consumer thrives on efficiency, and it’s the marketer’s responsibility to simplify the sales funnel.

Reason Four: Benefits, Amenities and Deals

Mobile apps and opt-in SMS text messaging services have popularized specialty deals. Consumers love benefits, and modern technology has simplified the bonus avenue. Building a consumer foundation needn’t be difficult when a slew of benefits await. Trade shows, signage, location-based services, coupons, in-store events and one-time-only goods aren’t preferred anymore. They’re a necessity.

As brands increase amenity availability, the industry morphs to procure more. These days, coupon benefits are a standard. Consumers still prefer brick-and-mortar buying for the time being, but they’re greatly increasing their want of in-store-based digital coupon purchases. Discounts, specialty purchases and upcoming events encourage purchases, still.

Reason Five Social Media

Social media has become a mobile-maximized platform, too. More often than not, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr and Reddit media is accessed via mobile. Traversing into ‘efficiency territory’ again, social media cross-accessibility has become a driving factor of SMS text messaging preference. Calls to action are simple, and website backlinks, text-based coupons and social media web apps are in the same bag, now.

Reason Six: The Shift from Call to Text

Referring to the Pew Research Center study again, an estimated 53 percent of cell owners prefer voice calls, while 31 percent of users prefer text-based communication. This statistic, at first, seems call-centric. Yet, avid texters, it seems, are much more likely to prefer text-based communication (53 percent) more than their call-preferred counterparts. While callers like calls, texters really like texts. The massive influx of SMS text messaging lovers is powerful—very powerful.

We live in an age defined by instant communication, and SMS text messaging services have become the norm. Consumers are receiving upwards of 50 messages per day, and the paradigm shift is only gaining steam. Modern marketers are keeping up, too, redefining, expanding and enhancing SMS text messaging services. The shift alone is enough to further the industry’s adoption of text-based services. As more companies become ‘text-centric,’ the more businesses lacking in such areas will be shut out.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, either. Consumers have always deserved the ‘right of way’ in terms of good customer service, and SMS text messaging services imbue communication with privacy, efficiency and flexibility. Text-based services reflect marketing’s top goals, and they’re still gaining steam.

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