- By Matt Mills
- |
- Sep 20, 2024
Users Increasingly Prefer SMS Communication, So Why Do Websites Still Rely on Forms?
Have you ever browsed a website and then looked to get in touch to ask a question or find out more information only to be presented with a clunky and outdated contact form?
Yeah, me too.
Users increasingly prefer SMS communication to other forms of communication, so why do so many websites still rely on forms as the main communication channel?
Back in 2021, ZipWhip reported that 58 percent of consumers felt that the best way for businesses to reach them quickly is via text message. That’s nearly 6 out of 10 preferring SMS when given the option of texting, phone call, or email. And that was three years ago – what could that number be now?
An interesting supplementary statistic from that same report is that 70 percent of businesses were texting their customers at that point (2021). So with 7 of 10 businesses texting customers and nearly 6 of 10 consumers preferring SMS communication, why are so many websites sticking with outdated contact forms and the accompanying low response rates?
Abandonment Issues
One of the main issues businesses face with online contact forms is abandonment – users leaving before hitting the submit button, leaving businesses empty-handed.
A detailed report from ProFaceoff shed some light on the specifics of online contact form abandonment issues. According to the report, 81 percent of online users admitted abandoning a form after starting it, and about two-thirds (67 percent) claimed they would abandon a form for good if they encounter any complications while filling it out. Digging a little deeper, about 29 percent claimed security concerns as a top reason for abandoning, while 27 percent of users abandoned online forms due to forms being too long.
Research from The Mobile Spoon pointed to even higher form abandonment rates, and noted how rates vary between industries. For example, the travel industry showed a 81 percent abandonment rate, while the broader retail industry showed more than 75 percent abandonment.
Strikingly high percentages like these point to a lot of lost leads and contacts floating around in what-if land.
SMS is Preferred
Modern research continues to highlight SMS as a top communication vehicle overall. According to PCMag, 85 percent of smartphone users prefer mobile messages to emails or calls, while 90 percent open a text within three minutes.
Not only is the preference shifting to text messaging, but the immediacy and response rate comes into play, as well.
The Problem of Implementation
Regardless of statistics and data, web forms remain much easier to implement than other forms of communication attached to a website. In theory, yes, but times are changing.
Technological advances like click-to-text automations and dynamic QR codes make entry points to SMS communication with customers much easier and are bridging the gap. Adding a “text us now” button to a website is now an option alongside the tried and true web forms.
On the implementation side, turning to larger online ecosystems can help speed up the process of getting a viable SMS communication channel live on a website.
The best example of this in the web universe may be WordPress with its 83 million (and counting) downloads. WordPress site owners can tap into the WordPress ecosystem and install an SMS texting plugin to get things off the ground and modernize communication from the web channel.
With Gartner reporting SMS open rates as high as 98 percent and SMS response rates as high as 45 percent, testing out SMS communication channels should be climbing up priority lists across all industries as 2025 approaches.
