SMS vs. In-app Chat vs. Push vs. Messaging Apps

"Choice has made us not freer but more paralyzed, not happier but more dissatisfied." Barry Schwartz, Psychologist, TED Talk 2005

I face this paradox of choice whenever I try to message my friends, especially ones that I work with. Should I text using SMS or WhatsApp? We exchanged messages on Facebook Messenger the last time, should I continue using that? Wait, how about Slack?

To keep things straight, I use a mental messaging formula:

You too have many channels to choose from to message users. The goal should be to use the best channel at any given time rather than just sticking to one without any other considerations.

What you’re trying to communicate plays a big role in channel selection. But also, so does the person you’re trying to reach, where they are, what devices they typically use and what they prefer to talk to you about.

In general, there are four ways for businesses to message users: SMS, chat within their app, push notification (one-way), or messaging apps. Let's find out benefits and challenges of each so you can understand how to make best of use of them. A big thanks to Robert Fenstermacher for helping to research each of these channels.

SMS

SMS or “Short Messaging Service” is the granddaddy of messaging, with its invention dating back to 1992 and it is still the most-used mobile feature. SMS initially became popular as a person-to-person (P2P) messaging service, but more recently, SMS has seen its most aggressive growth as an application- to-person (A2P) messaging service for businesses. With A2P messaging, SMS are sent between a subscriber (typically a consumer handset) to an application (usually a business).

SMS serves well as a channel for urgent communication.

90% of SMS messages are read within three minutes. (1)

In-app Chat

Many businesses add full-featured chat directly to their web or mobile app. For instance, a consumer looking for flight information in an airline mobile app can chat with a reservations agent without leaving the app. Or in a mobile marketplace, buyers and sellers can coordinate transactions in the context of listings. Chat not only lives in the app, it also makes the users more productive by bringing context into the conversation. Contextual information such as recent activity in the app and data typed into fields can be shared between parties over chat.

67% of people prefer chatting inside of an app they already use because it’s convenient. (2)

Push

Push notifications let an app send one-way messages, badges, and alerts even when the device’s screen is locked and the app is closed. Notifications use GCM (Google Cloud Messaging) and APNs (Apple Push Notification service) to send messages to Google and Apple devices. A unique token is created for every device associated with a user.

This year’s killer app will be your notification screen. (3)

Messaging Apps

There’s a lot of excitement around using messaging apps to reach consumers. Examples include Facebook Messenger, Viber, Apple iMessage, WeChat, WhatsApp, and Kik. However, the ability for businesses to use these apps varies widely based on access to the app APIs and use case.

So How Do You Make Your Message Read

The use case primarily drives the messaging channel you choose. You need to consider the type of message you want to send, the preference of the user, the content of what you’re sending, the device the recipient used last, and so on. It’s a complex set of considerations, but thinking these things through for your business scenario will pay off with higher read and response rates.

Explore what uses cases can you build using messaging.

Sources:

(1) Conversational Advertising Report - SinglePoint + mobileSQUARED

(2) Global Consumer Messaging Survey 2016 - Twilio + Vanson Bourne

(3) Annual Predictions for 2016 - Leo Burnett London