There are some other evident factors that should also be taken into account when deciding whether you should launch an SMS campaign or mass messaging via voicemails, such as nature of your content. If your mass-messaging campaign will include sensitive and personal data such as company proprietary info, recipient’s social security number, and other confidential information that should not be viewed by anyone else, then phone call is the safe way to go. But, when urgency means the most like in case of sending an emergency alert, then mass messaging via text is the absolute solution. Not only will you able to transfer your messages or notifications to hundreds and thousands of people in just a few seconds but also there is every chance that your message will be read and replied, thanks to 98% open-rate of SMS marketing.
In the course of the discussion whether you should blast SMS or opt for automated phone calling to get your message across, the selection of one medium over the other is highly based on the audience you are trying to reach out to, as well as your organization’s needs to do broadcasting.
In our previous article, we simply broke down the important pros and cons of text messages vs. automated phone calls. If you really want to dig deep on deciding which channel is better for your next campaign and to engage with customers/prospects, read on to figure it out.
When considering your audience, first of all, you need to know the common age of those who make up your target audience. If we talk about a vast majority of the younger generations, they have actually grown up with smartphones and they prefer to conduct their daily online activities like checking emails, posting to social media, chatting with friends, sending and receiving texts, listening to music, playing games, and even shopping and travel booking over their mobile devices. When looking to get through to this particular audience, then, texting, obviously, presents an easier way of communicating with them.
For a relatively younger crowd, what you need to understand is that they tend to stay away from calling and when they actually use their smartphones for calling, those phone calls are usually shorter if you compare them with the phone calls made by people in an older age bracket. In fact, texting has quickly made its way to communicate things that used to be done over the phone. If your audience or business’s clientele majorly consists of the young generation, the busy smartphone users, sending a mass notification or text may be the easiest choice of mass massaging.
Well, the opposite can also be true – there may be certain situations or industries where making phone calls is the most preferred choice of delivering important information than texts, such as in the healthcare community. If you are in the healthcare industry, then people age 60 or older will require you to provide medical information over the phone because senior citizens find phone calls a familiar and comfortable way to get served. Similarly, if you specialize in geriatrics or fields related to geriatrics, then automated phone calls may also be the preferred mass communication of choice.
Due to the fact that older people have not grown up with smartphones, they may find it difficult to receive all the important information through text messages or get accustomed to sending or receiving text communications. While you may think that there is no problem sending text information to senior citizens, some surveys show the facts where older individuals are more likely to ignore texts and give importance to a ringing phone instead.
