Using texting as a form of communication comes with many benefits, such as conveying your message instantly, in a concise format, discretion, and offering your recipient the freedom to answer when they feel comfortable.
Having seen the pros of text messaging, let’s discuss why texting is bad for communication.
One of the disadvantages of texting communication is that it can quickly become unprofessional. Texts are often ridden with typos, and people tend to use abbreviations – also known as “text speak.” More extended text conversations quickly get confusing as it is difficult for two people to follow what the other is saying on a small smartphone screen.
One may argue that the solution is switching to email communication, but the difference between text and email is that the latter has lower opening rates: 98% for text and 20% for email.
When it comes to marketing, especially, sending texts online from your computer will significantly increase efficiency. The benefits of text message marketing are wider reach, saving time by sending in bulk and scheduling text messages and tracking your campaign results.
Most business SMS services include computer software that offers a lot of advantages over texting from your mobile.
Here are the ten most surprising benefits of online text messaging:
1. Type faster
Slow typing speed is one of the disadvantages of SMS messaging. And as the quality and size of smartphones keyboards vary greatly, the average word per minute (WPM) rate on smartphones can be surprisingly low. One experiment showed a typical speed of 58 WPM on a keyboard vs. 39 WPM on an iPad Mini 2.
A non-related study found that people type on average 2.72 times slower on a smartphone than they do on a computer. It makes sense to type your text messages on a keyboard than on a smartphone if you’re looking to save time. And who isn’t?
2. Avoid autocorrect mishaps
Who hasn’t laughed at hilarious autocorrect errors? The Internet is full of lists of the funniest autocorrect fails. However, when running a business, a major autocorrect blooper can cost you a lot of money and maybe even some clients. To play it safe, type your messages on your desktop to ensure you’re sending out the intended message.
3. Fewer typos
The same goes for typos. It’s more common for people to make typos on smartphones than on desktop computers because they’re harder to spot on smaller screen sizes. Sending your messages on a desktop reduces the chances of including typos in your text, and you will appear more professional when communicating with clients.
4.Organize your text message work on the computer
There are many benefits of text messaging for business convenience, being one of the biggest ones. But there’s simply no comparison to a desktop when it comes to managing, merging, and working with several tasks, documents, and lists simultaneously. Therefore, allow yourself the luxury of space when organizing by sending out your texts using a computer instead of mobile.
5. You can get technical
Sending texts from your desktop allows you to use software that give you access to a wide variety of tools and features, such as:
- SMS Gateway API to send texts directly from your app.
- Email-to-SMS tools that convert your emails to SMS and then send them out. This feature also allows you to receive text replies as emails.
- Send and receive text messages in any language.
- Set up automated responses.
- Create segmented lists.
- Access important metrics, such as the delivery rate, opt-in and opt-out rates, reply rate, failure rate and help rate.
This way, you will enjoy the full benefits of texting in business.
6. Better customer service
Many businesses have discovered the advantages of SMS communication and use it for customer service. By texting from a computer, you can send messages faster and access chat histories to find a specific message or help solve a problem. This helps enhance your ability to serve your customer more efficiently and accurately. If it’s an emergency, you can also track your messages online to ensure they’re getting through.
7. Enhance team communication
Texting doesn’t have to just be for customers. Many businesses use texting in-house to set up meetings, plan events, or contact field staff. You can send text messages to employees online to communicate about any number of issues.
The best advantage of text messaging in communication is that you’ll have a record of all messages sent and be able to track who’s received them. You will also be able to receive the replies online.
8. Schedule texts in advance
Scheduling your future texts allows you to plan and shape your text message marketing campaign ahead of time. Things often come up, so you may not always have time to craft your text when you plan to send it. With text message scheduling, you can write texts in advance and easily schedule when to send them to save time and avoid forgetting prospects.
9. Save phone battery
Perhaps the biggest drawback of texting on a smartphone is that it drains your battery. You might not be able to wait around for your phone to charge, and using your phone while plugged in can affect battery health. Using a computer to send text messages will economize your phone’s battery health and help you communicate better with your customers.
10. Send in bulk
You can use text message software to send mass texts to thousands of contacts at once. While this software is also available for smartphones, it’s easier to navigate the platform on a big computer screen, allowing you to see everything in one place. Sending mass SMS from your computer increases prospect reach and productivity.
Having discussed the advantages and disadvantages of using text messages for communication, we can conclude online texting has many advantages over texting from your smartphone. You can send professional texts faster and more efficiently from your computer. You can also take advantage of many tools and features that may be difficult to navigate on your mobile.
Also, online text messaging software allows you to keep a record of your texts, which makes it easier to address the ongoing concerns of customers. It further benefits text marketing campaigns because you can see how successful they are, how many messages were opened, and how many people responded.
Are you not convinced yet of the benefits of online texting? Give it a try with a free trial for TextMagic text message software.
Alexa Lemzy
