Mele’s Musings

Consumers Want Your E-Mail

Not your text messages!  Even among regular text users, only 9% said they preferred getting marketing messages via text over email.

photo: cache.consumerist.com

Article excerpt:   Text and instant messaging are fine for friends, but not for marketers.  That was the main finding of ExactTarget’s “2008 Channel Preference Survey.”  Nearly two-thirds of US Internet users surveyed said e-mail was their preferred channel for written communications between friends, with text messaging the next-favorite choice. The phone was the most popular way to communicate with friends overall, with 41% of respondents naming it as their channel of choice.  “There is a clear trend within younger demographics toward communication via text messaging and social networks,” said Morgan Stewart, director of research and strategy at ExactTarget, in a statement.
the rest: emarketer.com

Musing:  The findings in this article have big implications for how we think about mobile.  I am still a big believer that mobile texting can be an effective way to communicate with consumers, but it has to be done very carefully.  We are all so eager to get into the space, but clearly, we have to be careful.  Texting and voice tend to be very personal communications, and for a business to be invited into that space is a very delicate thing.  Most people still prefer to get business communications via email.  So, the questions are really a) how do we get invited to be part of a consumers text messaging world, and b) is that really the right place for us to play?