The universal adoption of cell phones has altered the way we communicate. For businesses, this shift means staying on top of trends and meeting customers on their preferred communication channels.
Professionals today must balance the convenience and reach of texting with the relationship-building benefits of calling. Finding that balance requires knowing the optimal use cases, benefits, and drawbacks of both channels.
In this article, we’ll provide a definitive guide to calling vs. texting, including when to use (and when not to use) each method, and take a peek into future communication trends to keep your eye on.
Jump right to:
- Calling vs. texting: which is better?
- When (and when not) to use texting
- When (and when not) to use calling
- When to use both calling and texting
- Future trends in calling vs. texting
<h2 id="Better">Calling vs. texting: which is better? </h2>
While there’s not one method of communication that’s universally best, there are certain situations when one method is more effective than the other. The key to a good communication strategy is knowing when to use each channel.
When deciding which channel to use, consider the following factors.
- Target audience. Considering the demographics, preferences, and behaviors of your intended audience can help to determine which method to use. For example, 85 percent of people over the age of 65 want to talk to someone via phone call, while younger generations prefer digital communication channels over calling.
- Communication purpose. What is the purpose of the call or text? If it’s a nuanced or complicated issue, calling might be better suited to resolve the problem. However, if you’re looking to send a flash sale alert to hundreds of subscribers, a text message will be the most cost-effective, efficient way to share that information.
- Budget. Texting requires less staffing than phone calls and can easily be automated.
- Scale. How many people do you need to contact? While calls need to be placed by a human agent one at a time, text messages can be automated at scale, sending hundreds or even thousands of messages at once.
Both phone calls and text messages offer unique ways to connect with your customer base and build relationships. Let’s take an in-depth look at when to use texting vs. calling for your business communications.
<h2 id="Texting">When (and when not) to use texting</h2>
With the highest open rate of any communication channel, SMS text messaging is an extremely effective way to ensure your contact sees your message.
Best use cases for texting
Let’s look at a few ways that businesses are currently using text messaging.
1. Marketing or promotional outreach
SMS marketing is a great way to share flash sales, promotions, updates, and ultimately boost engagement and brand awareness.
Texting’s high open rate, instant delivery, low cost, and high click-through rates make it the ideal channel for marketing communications.
2. Reminders and confirmations
Rather than having a staff member call each customer to remind them of an upcoming appointment, businesses can set up automated text messages to send to patients at intervals before their next appointment.
Text message reminders ensure that the messages are sent in a timely manner and reduce workload strain on representatives.
3. Order and delivery notifications
Businesses can automate texts to send to customers when an order is placed, shipped, and out for delivery. These notifications can boost customer satisfaction and be sent without agent intervention.
4. FAQs and simple customer service inquiries
Having a dedicated text message support line for customers can cater to younger demographics that prefer digital support tools and can be used to provide quick solutions or answer frequently asked questions.
5. Service and urgent alerts
During times of crisis, service outages, or unexpected interruptions of any kind, mass text alerts can be sent to keep customers, the public, or employees informed and up-to-date. Plus, texts are discreet and easy to send, making them an ideal way to communicate in dangerous or life-threatening situations.
Pros and cons of texting
Knowing the benefits and drawbacks of texting can help to determine when it’s the best communication channel to use.
The benefits of texting include:
- High open rates
- Accessible
- Cost-effective
- Extended audience reach
- Scalable
- Easy to track
- Instantaneous delivery
- Automation friendly
On the other hand, there are certain instances where texting is at a disadvantage. A few drawbacks of texting include:
- Length restrictions
- Compliance requirements
- Contacts must opt-in
- Less secure
- Information gathering can take longer
- Lacks personal touch
- Can’t easily convey tone or emotion
<h2 id="Calling">When (and when not) to use calling</h2>
Calling customers, prospects, or other business contacts is an excellent way to build relationships and establish personal connections. It offers real-time, instantaneous feedback and information sharing, allowing for quicker issue resolutions and clearer communication.
Best use cases for calling
Let’s look at a few effective ways that businesses currently use calling.
1. Relationship building
When communicating with high-value clients, long-term customers, or other important contacts, a phone call can go a long way to establish a personal connection and nurture long-lasting relationships.
Because both individuals can converse more naturally, calling is much more effective at relationship building than other forms of digital communication like texting or emailing.
2. Customer support and complex issue resolution
For customer service interactions, 76 percent of customers still prefer phone calls. For complex issues that require back-and-forth information sharing, phone calls are the most efficient way to resolve issues and ensure customer satisfaction.
3. Sales outreach
Connecting with a prospective customer on the phone establishes a relationship and allows for a personalized touch that texts can’t deliver. Phone calls emphasize the human connection and increase trust between the lead and sales representative.
4. Handling sensitive topics or confidential information
Unless they are being recorded consensually, phone calls are generally more secure than text-based communications as they don’t leave a written transcript. When handling financial, legal, or otherwise personal information, phone calls allow for more privacy and security than text messages.
Pros and cons of calling
Next, let’s cover the essential pros and cons of calling for business communication.
The benefits of calling include:
- Complex issue resolution
- Rapid information sharing
- Secure and private
- Fosters personal connection
- Builds relationships
While it offers an opportunity for more in-depth communication and connection, there are areas in which phone calls aren’t the most effective. A few drawbacks of calling include:
- Requires both parties to be available
- Requires staff, equipment, or VoIP services
- Smaller audience reach
- Difficult to track analytics
- Limited scalability
- Slower response times
<h2 id="Both">When to use both calling and texting</h2>
The best practice for businesses is to adopt a hybrid approach to calling and texting.
For example, offering both contact methods for customer service issues caters to a wide demographic of customers by giving contacts the option to choose their contact method based on preferences, needs, and issue type.
From a sales perspective, representatives can call leads to establish relationships and build rapport while utilizing texting for quick follow-ups to help stay top-of-mind with prospects.
Calling and texting are complimentary contact methods that should be utilized in tandem to balance and supplement one another. Businesses that neglect to adopt a hybrid approach may alienate certain demographics or miss out on service or sales opportunities.
<h2 id="Trends">Future trends in text messaging vs. calling for business communications</h2>
When considering your business’ communication offerings, it’s important to keep an eye on the future. As texting and calling preferences evolve and change, customers will expect businesses to keep up.
Let’s explore a few communication trends we’ll see become more ubiquitous in the future.
- AI chatbots and automation. The influence of AI on communications is just beginning. With the rise of generative AI, predictive analytics, and virtual assistants, we’ll see more opportunities for businesses to leverage AI for communication tasks like issue resolution, after-hours support, scheduling, and more.
- Mobile-first strategies. Cell phones have become the primary method of communication for most Americans. This makes it essential for businesses to start designing their communication strategies with mobile users in mind. Offering text or in-app support and omnichannel messaging strategies to meet customers on their preferred communication channel will be a requirement for providing a top-tier customer experience.
- Adopting RCS. Rich Communication Services (RCS) is widely regarded as the future of text messaging. It offers users the opportunity to share large multi-media files, longer messages, and provides an interactive user experience. RCS will be crucial for businesses using texting for marketing or promotional purposes.
- Hyper-personalization. As competition for customers expands, businesses must utilize the wealth of consumer data available to create extremely personalized communications and purchasing experiences for their customers and prospects.
- VoIP. Adopting Voice over Internet Protocol enables businesses to provide high-quality, clear voice calls, conferencing, video, and instant messaging over the internet.
Equip your business to text or call customers with Textline
If you’re looking for a way to integrate text messaging into your communication strategy, try Textline’s SMS platform today. Textline helps you text-enable your existing phone numbers (VoIP and landline) so you can call and text when it makes the most sense.
Plus, with Textline’s powerful omnichannel message capabilities, you can centralize communications and easily manage all channels in one user-friendly platform.
