Text messaging may be a less satisfying communication option — due to its emotional superficiality, the inability to decipher nuance or sarcasm, and its use to avoid actual conversation.

But today's tech-savvy, forward-thinking insurers have little choice but to incorporate texting (along with app-based messaging) into their prospecting and customer relationship management plans as texting is overwhelmingly popular among consumers, especially millennials.

Consider how far text messaging has come in roughly two decades, based on 2015 reporting:

  • |
    • |

      • 97% of Americans sent and received at least one text message a day, according to the Pew Research Center.

      • Worldwide, consumers sent about 23 billion text messages a day, or 16 million per minute, according to Portio Research.

      • Text messages have a 98% open rate, while email has only a 20% open rate, according to Mobile Marketing Watch.

"Text messaging has proven itself to be a superior communication platform," software blogger Juebong Khwarg recently wrote. "It's fast, it's accessible and it's multi-functional."

Recommended For You

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© Touchpoint Markets, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more inforrmation visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Elana Ashanti Jefferson

Editor-in-Chief Elana Ashanti Jefferson is a veteran journalist and communications professional. Reach her by sending an e-mail to [email protected].