If your customers are in the US, this is for you.
Today, SMS is one of the primary sources of marketing communication. Millennials use it, baby boomers cannot escape it, and Gen Zers are also typing away.
But who is more prone to read and respond to your SMS?
This article examines Americans’ texting habits and some message statistics from Infobip.
Infobip polled 1000 consumers across the U.S. to learn their SMS consumption patterns
We collated their report, analysed them and described how the US texting habit affects your business.
Let’s start.
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Some words you should know to understand these stats
First, let’s get some basics out of the way. The survey used a sample of adults across the age groups of 18 to 65+.
Here is what you need to know about the different generations that use SMS.
- Baby boomers: Born between 1946 and 1964, boomers were born into unprecedented post-war growth. They were also the first generation to receive a label.
- Generation X or Gen Xers: Born between 1965-1980, Gen Xers grew up at a time of a lot of uncertainty. The boom was over, and so was job security.
- Generation Y or Millennials: Born between 1981 and 1996, technology affected millennials’ formative years like no other generation. Millennials are creative, more people-oriented and tend to think abstractly. Surveys predict that Gen Y will be 75% of the workforce by 2025.
- Generation Z or Gen Zers or iGen: Born 1997- 2010, Zers were born into the era of social media from their childhood. Their knowledge spans the internet and the offline world. They have an astounding amount of knowledge as compared to their predecessors.
6 US texting and SMS habit in 2024
Now, let’s dive into the survey results and see what stats about texting emerged for all four generations.
1. Americans prefer SMS and instant messaging to phone calls
41% of Americans prefer instant messaging platforms. This (includes WhatsApp and other forms of instant messaging). And 24% preferred phone calls.
27.5% of people surveyed checked their text messages within one minute. Another 40% reported they checked them within 1- 5 minutes. These texting stats tell you that Americans love instant messaging.
What does this mean for your business?
As a business in the US, you should explore SMS as your first marketing tool. Your customers will more likely read your messages.
According to SMS marketing statistics, 70% of people say SMS is one of the best ways to grab their attention.
Combined with the survey results, this is a compelling reason to use SMS as a marketing tool in your business.
2. Young Americans lead the way with SMS and instant messaging
Stats reveal that 48% of Gen Zers prefer to message. 53% of millennials also choose the same.
This shows a skew in data towards the younger generations compared to the older ones.
What does this mean for your business?
This is a significant texting stats if your business caters for Gen Zers or millennials.
Create promotional SMS campaigns targeting customers in the given age range. Use bulk SMS tools to communicate with your audience periodically.
For example, as a gaming business, you can use SMS to promote your new Web3 game to GenZ. Alternatively, a new minimalist fashion line can periodically SMS millennials.
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3. Americans can text anywhere- Even in the face of death
This may not be the exciting text message statistic you were looking for, but we bet it got your attention.
You can find Americans texting in odd places and on odd occasions.
52% of the millennials, 40.7% of the Gen Xers, and 30% of the Boomers and Gen Zers have the habit of driving and texting. As if that was not enough, 45% of the millennials texted while drunk.
A surprising number of people have texted during weddings and funerals. 36% of millennials and 30.8% of Gen Zers messaged as other people tied the knot. 26.8% of millennials reported texting while attending someone’s last moments.
What does this mean for your business?
Generations most exposed to technology since early childhood believe in connectivity.
According to the texting statistics above, millennials communicate from anywhere. Gen Zers follow them in this behaviour and are close to outdoing them.
Create non-invasive SMS campaigns that they will be happy to read. Creating non-invasive SMS means messaging when people are glad to read your messages.
During weekdays most people in the US check their phones after arriving at their offices. So sending an SMS early in the morning, between 9 AM and noon, is ideal. The next best time is after 6 pm but before 9 pm. This is when most people are already on their phones for various reasons.
Avoid sending messages on Mondays. Your SMS will compete with other marketing material delivered over the weekend. See the best time to send promotional messages in US.
4. The iPhone is the name of the game for young Americans
Next up is a text message statistic that you will agree with. iPhone has not been able to charm its way into the hands of older generations. Not quite yet.
A whopping 71.8% of Gen Zers and 45.5% of millennials report the iPhone as their favourite phone to message with. The Gen Xers have a different phone of choice- 56.9% favour the Galaxy. Not just that, 55.6% of Boomers favour Samsung too.
So where do other phones like the grand Blackberry stand? Less than 5% across each generation prefer it for texting purposes.
What does this mean for your business?
The choice of phone does not affect communication. However, it affects the way your consumers receive and perceive it.
This is an important figure related to messaging for a business with iPhone lovers. iMessage is the default messaging app that comes with iPhones. It helps you create exclusive messages that look like conversations with a friend.
You can make longer messages for iPhone recipients and add multimedia. You can also leverage high-resolution iPhone screens for exclusive video content.
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5. Americans across age groups love emojis
Irrespective of the phone choice, the love of the visual stood out.
People across all generations showed interest in emojis compared to gifs and screenshots.
34.6% of Gen Zers and 32.2% of millennials preferred emojis. Surprisingly, 44.5% of Gen Xers and 42% of Boomers favoured it.
What does this mean for your business?
No matter which generation they belong to, people respond to emojis. As you add emojis, your message becomes more humanised.
However, make sure you do not overpopulate your message with emojis.
This statistic is only helpful if you stick to what your audience is familiar with. People may not understand what a sequence of emojis means, so try and avoid sending your message like so.
But, if your audience is not responding favourably to emojis, try toning it down. You can also revert to sending plain texts to keep your brand relationship going.
Remember, emojis will serve to enhance what already exists.
6. Americans still want you to connect with them via SMS and WhatsApp
We are sure you have figured this out by now. But wait, there’s more.
The demographic that prefers to receive marketing SMS has shifted over time. Gen Xers were the original users of SMS 30 years ago. Now 33% of Gen Zers and 32.7% of millennials prefer receiving marketing communication via SMS.
However, people have chosen email as their preferred mode across the generations. SMS comes in as their second option to receive marketing communication.
What does this mean for your business?
Most people wish to receive important communication via SMS.
If you need instant action, send your messages via text only. Keep this text message statistic in mind when you are sending time-sensitive messages. Like an offer that may expire in a few hours, use SMS instead of email.
The best way to do this is to add links to your message that can bring them to your desired web pages. Craft a short and to-the-point message. Make sure to get permission from your customers before sending the communication.
Check out our video on promotional SMS best practices.
All text messaging statistics maximise your business
There you go.
We hope this report and analysis gave you insight into the US market. If you want to read the Infobip report, here you go.
If you need an SMS marketing tool to help you send SMSes that your customers will love, check out SMSCountry.
SMSCountry is a simple and reliable messaging platform for SMEs. It enables you to create timely and valuable conversations with your customers. Learn more about our service.
