Henry Ford, the founder of the eponymous car company, was famous for many reasons–including his quotations. He is perhaps best known for saying, “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long it is black.” While said somewhat tongue in cheek, it does have a serious undertone to it. So much of life comes down to choices, and too much choice can lead to paralysis.
It can often feel as though a lack of options or resources is holding a business back from unleashing its creativity and true potential. We say this feeling isn’t a result of a lack of options but a result of having too many options. How many restaurants have you been to with a menu that reads like a short novel? Choosing what to eat can be debilitating, just as if no choices were available. This abundance of options is the paradox of choice.
Author and psychotherapist Esther Perel wrote: “We live with the Paradox of Choice. We have infinite choice, yet we want to eliminate the uncertainty of choice by finding the perfect one.” These words ring true when it comes to the world of mobile customer engagement today.
Are Too Many Options Holding Businesses Back?
Research by Mobilesquared unearthed that 80% of all businesses worldwide are yet to embrace the myriad benefits a solid business messaging strategy could bring them. The business messaging market is booming, yet there is still plenty of headroom for growth.
Voice has been around for 125 years. Email is 50 years old this December. Chat platforms have been around for over 40 years, and SMS for nearly 30. And then there is Push Messaging, Rich Communication Services (RCS), and too many others to list here. So why are so many organizations not using the likes of application-to-person (A2P) SMS, chat apps (i.e., WhatsApp Business), Google Business Messaging, and far more today? We know the answer, and it’s tied to mythical misinformation.
Show Me the Facts
Many myths swirl around business messaging, and each day our global industry has to work to dispel them. Here are some of the top myths we find in the world of messaging:
Myth #1: “My customers will find it annoying if I text them.”
Billions of people worldwide use text messaging daily, and it has become ubiquitous and familiar. So long as you deliver content that your customers find valuable and at a frequency they are comfortable with, your customers will appreciate the communication. If you’re still concerned, why not ask your customers what content they want to receive and how frequently? That way, you’ll never go wrong.
Myth #2: “Only younger generations will be receptive to texting.”
Pew Research Center found that 61% of people in the USA aged 65+ own a smartphone. Amongst those with an annual income of $75,000 or more, this rises to a whopping 96%. These statistics indicate that texting should be used as a channel to reach all clients as seamlessly as possible. After all, practically everyone uses SMS.
Myth #3: “Conversations with our clients are what builds trust with them and drives loyalty. Texting is one-way only, so it has no role to play here.”
Business texting functionality today mirrors what we are used to in the world of person-to-person (P2P) texting; two-way messaging is present and available. Mitto does all the heavy lifting for you and allows businesses to speak with their customers as if talking to one of their friends.
Myth #4: “Business messaging is expensive and difficult to access. Therefore it is only relevant for large organizations with deep pockets and substantial technical resources at their disposal.”
Extensive research by the Danish Institute for Human Rights shows that 400 million SMEs worldwide are the primary source of job creation, accounting for over 95% of firms and 60%-70% of employment. In the EU, SMEs represent approximately 99% of all businesses.
Taking this data into account, it wouldn’t be the best move for messaging platforms to develop a robust, two-way messaging channel that hundreds of millions of businesses could not utilize. Mitto itself is proof that this notion is a myth.
Leave the Myths Behind and Start Engaging Your Customers
Mitto has developed an omnichannel communications suite that allows businesses of all sizes to interact on each customer’s preferred platform. We’ve made it easy to implement and manage, all at a reasonable price. Plus, when it comes to customer support, texting can convert the cost of an expensive support call to mere pennies—allowing you to use these savings to improve other areas of your business.
While these and other myths and misconceptions might continue to circulate, with Mitto in your corner, you’ll be leveraging the best of what business messaging has to offer. Together we can help you produce fantastic engagement, all while boosting profits. And that, we guarantee you, is not a myth.
