What is the first thing most of us check in the morning and right before we go to sleep? Yes, you are correct – our mobile phones. Recent studies show that 87% of us check our mobile devices one hour before going to sleep, while 69% check them within the first five minutes of waking up.

Deloitte’s Mobile Consumer Survey 2019 – which spanned 28 countries with 44,150 respondents– showed that mobile phone use is becoming more ubiquitous in people’s lives. Respondents said they constantly feel like they have to check their phone.

In the era of increased mobile users and their need for various types of communications (business, social etc.) there is a growing question of which communication channel is most effective and why  (sending email, texting via mobile phone, instant messaging).

For many years, email was the best option when it came to marketing activities, but due to low open rates and the huge impact of spam, SMS marketing has taken a leading spot. Statistics show that more than 5 billion people in the world own mobile phones, and by 2023 these numbers will increase to 7.33 billion. On the other side, according to statistics in 2019, there are 3.9 billion active email users. This one goes in favor of the SMS channel and its larger user base.

By utilizing SMS as a communications channel, companies can easily reach their customers and keep them engaged and informed. Businesses can use SMS to communicate offers, promotions, discounts, reminders/alerts and business-critical notifications.

Comparative Analysis: SMS vs Email

The choice between these two has been one of the most discussed topics, especially when it comes to marketing communications. Let’s take a deeper look and go through some of the main differences.

  • Inbox clutter

The volume of the business-related email messages received by an average consumer, compared to SMS messages, is far greater. This is one of the key reasons individuals prefer receiving notifications and promotions via SMS over email. On estimate, around 74 trillion emails are sent every year, compared to around 8 trillion text messages. Marketers who use the SMS channel don’t share the concern that their message will never make it to the recipient since SMS has only a 1% spam rate compared to mass emails.

  • Deliverability and open rate

When sending marketing offers/promotions via email, companies often experience low response rates and minimal effectiveness from their marketing campaigns. On the other hand, it takes only a few seconds for a recipient to receive and notice a new text message. When a user receives a new SMS, their cell phone alerts them immediately and visually reminds them of any unread messages. Last year, the average open rate for emails was just 22.7% compared to SMS with a 98% open rate. 98%!

  • Response rate

When choosing the right channel for communicating marketing-related messages, response rate turns out to be one of the main factors due to the direct impact it has on measuring marketing campaign effectiveness. Email response rate on average is 6% compared to SMS at 45%. Even if your email gets opened, it takes 90 minutes for someone to respond while for text messages, responses on average take only 90 seconds.

  • Coverage

If we consider the statistics mentioned above regarding the size of today’s mobile user base along with the fact that older generations are likely to view emails as something they either don’t have or don’t check regularly, SMS becomes the obvious channel for marketers to achieve scale.

  • Personalization

In terms of engaging potential and current customers, SMS offers more space for personalization since most of the users associate text messages with family and friends, which is not the case for email. While both channels can be used for business purposes, SMS is more aligned with the way customers use technology today.

No matter the size and budget of the company, SMS can ensure a far higher return on investment than traditional channels. Here at Mitto, our customers understand the value of SMS and have benefited from our trusted platform to deliver the communications THEIR customers want to receive.