Have IM Apps Made SMS Messaging Irrelevant?
Earlier this year there was big news. WhatsApp users were sending more messages each day than SMS users were sending. According to the Telegraph, WhatsApp was 50% more popular than SMS messaging.
And the truth is the number of SMS messages sent each day has declined over the last few years. In the UK it was down almost 25% from 2012 to 2013. In an analysis done on his blog, Benedict Evans charted SMS use in various countries, and almost all of them peaked between 2011 and 2012 (France being the biggest European exception to the trend). His chart only went through 2013 though. According to Statista, however, the decline continued in the UK through 2015 (so far).
Looking at those stats, you might bet SMS messaging won’t be around for long. But you’d be wrong.
The facts are true of course, but like any statistics, it’s all in how you look at them. Here’s what I see.
People chatting with people
People are communicating more using apps than SMS. Generally this is with friends or groups of friends. For example, I use Line for many of the gaming communities I belong to. I also belong to groups that are stubbornly stuck on using Facebook for group interaction. Many apps, like WhatsApp and Line, make it easy to chat with groups of people, as well as one on one conversations. They also have fun things like stickers which offer more, ah, expression possibilities than the average emoticon.
But to use the apps, your friends and family need to install the same one. And if not everyone agrees on the app (remember that FB group I mentioned?) then conversations can be disjointed at best because there may be chats in more than one place.
The apps are also “free”. People get the sense they can chat as much as they want and it doesn’t cost them extra. That isn’t exactly true because depending on the app and what is being sent (i.e. pictures) they could be using data, which is often limited on many mobile plans. But people also think of SMS messaging in terms of pay-per-message, so the apps feel free even if they aren’t actually free.
Why the SMS decline isn't what is seems
So all these people having casual conversations with friends on apps have led many to conclude SMS is on the way out. But there’s a problem with that conclusion. It ignores all the other ways SMS is being used, and all the other types of organisations that use it.
Probably the biggest factor that all but guarantees SMS use will remain is application to person (A2P) use cases. This is when a company sends SMS messages to a person directly from one of their applications (meaning business applications, not mobile “apps”). A great example is a bank sending an SMS notification of a deposit to the person’s account. Another example is an appointment reminder sent directly from an organisation’s scheduling software to a person’s mobile number via SMS.
The global A2P SMS market is set to grow at 4.2% CAGR between 2014 and 2020 according to Transparency Market Research. That’s the equivalent market value of about £46B in 2020. I don’t know about you, but that kind of growth doesn’t match up with the idea that SMS is being replaced with apps.
Is there anything besides A2P helping to keep SMS relevant? There certainly is. Mobile marketing is continuing to grow, and SMS is a huge part of that sector. While brands experiment with custom apps, and marketing on IM apps, most are still relying on SMS as the only mobile technology that lets them reach every possible customer. There’s no barrier to the customer using SMS – no app to install, or notification system to circumvent.
Another potentially huge market is SMEs. These companies may not have the resources for custom apps, or the marketing budget to hit more than one or two channels on mobile. Using SMS ensures they can cost effectively run a mobile marketing campaign and grow their business even more. Many businesses have also found that using SMS for internal communications helps reduce costs and streamlines operations.
What about the statistics?
As Evans notes in his blog I referenced earlier, there’s absolutely no way any of us can predict how the mobile IM app market will shake out in the coming years. There’s so much competition at the moment it may be that it never settles down, or something else might pop up to replace it entirely.
But will A2P, mobile marketing or the SME sector using SMS be enough to alter the downward trend of global SMS usage? I’m willing to hazard a guess it won’t. Not initially anyway. There are millions, no, billions, more people potentially using IM chat apps than companies or applications who use SMS. But at some point I do think the trend will level off. Unless something else comes along to replace it that is. And that probably will happen someday. But SMS is old technology that’s still finding and growing in relevance today.
So while the world of IM apps is unsettled and chaotic, SMS is steady as she goes. What do you think about the future of SMS? Is the technology ubiquitous enough to stand the test of time, or will apps eventually make it obsolete?
Related Articles
4 Basic Metrics for Your SMS Marketing Campaigns
One key to successful marketing is to know when you’re doing it right. And when you’re doing it wrong. The great thing about SMS marketing is you can get that information pretty quickly. But to understand how your messages are performing, you need to do a little maths. Thankfully, it’s all rather simple once you see it.
10 Steps to Launch a Successful SMS Marketing Campaign – Infographic
Three Things You Must Do Right in Your SMS Marketing
SMS messaging can be one of your more effective marketing techniques, but only if you do it right. A poorly executed SMS marketing campaign could have disastrous results for your future budget, and for your organisation.
5 SMS or Mobile Facts You Need to Know
So many of us are used to having our mobiles around nearly 24 hours a day that it’s easy to forget it’s still a growing industry. And though SMS has been around for over two decades, the ways we use it and people’s willingness to use it continues to grow. So for this blog I picked out five facts about mobile and SMS that really make the case that SMS for business has come of age. Let’s see if you agree.
An A-Z of SMS Marketing: C is for Character Count [Infographic]
Build Brand Loyalty with SMS Messaging
In a world where your competition can be found in just a few seconds, instilling brand loyalty in customers is a greater challenge than ever. One way to proactively reach out to customers is via SMS. The personal nature of SMS messages, combined with high read rates, gives you the opportunity to develop relationships with each customer.
5 Things To Consider Before Launching Your First Text Marketing Campaign
SMS is well established as a successful marketing channel - however that doesn't mean you should just dive in head first. Here's five things you should consider before launching your first SMS marketing campaign.
How SMS Messaging can Boost your Social Media Marketing
Is your social media struggling? Read this article to learn how businesses of every shape and size can use SMS messaging to drive social media engagement and generate revenue from increased brand exposure. Whether the goal is to support a one-off sales campaign or a long term drive to increase reach, SMS messaging offers an unparalleled opportunity to make your brand's voice heard in the increasingly noisy social media space.
How to Choose the Incentive for Your SMS Marketing Opt-In Campaign
You’ve decided to try out SMS marketing. But you’re stuck on that first step of choosing the offer for your initial opt in campaign. Don’t worry, if you know the story of Goldilocks then you’ll understand just what to do after reading this blog.
Top Five Questions You Need to Ask Before Choosing a URL Shortening Tool
If you're using social media or sending SMS marketing messages then you know all about link shortening. Or do you? Are all services the same, and are there options you didn't even know you had?Here are five questions you should ask before choose a service to shorten your links in your SMS messages.