Stats Show Talking is Passe – it’s All About Texting

It’s official – talking is passé. Texting is the way to go.

Can you imagine your grandmother 60 years ago, typing away on a mini keypad, writing in abbreviated teenspeak and lol’ing with her friends? Hard to picture. And yet in today’s world, text messaging has already become an old standby. A form of communication so commonplace it’s overtaken phone calls in terms of volume. You heard me right – people send texts more than they make phone calls.

According to recent Nielsen report, as of Q2 2008, mobile subscribers sent or received an average of 357 text-messages per month, compared to 204 phone calls.

In addition, the report shows that more than three-quarters (77%) of wireless subscriber lines in the U.S. subscribe to or purchase text-message capability. So it’s not just the teenyboppers typing away – it’s the baby boomers and thirty-somethings too.  It’s almost everyone.

I’ve got front line experience with this, as my boomer father recently adopted texting. I’ve endured sloppy texts ( I suspect the keys are too small for his fingers), made-up spellings and abbreviations so short I can’t understand them at all. What exactly does “wzu?” mean, Dad? He rarely calls me anymore, but instead all communication has been relegated to 160 character messages via cell phone. And I’m not the only one – texting isn’t going anywhere, folks. It’s here to stay, and it’s growing all the time.

So marketers, take heed! This is a medium you can’t afford to ignore. While addressing the mobile internet market is key as well, texting is even more ubiquitous, accessible on all phones, even those without internet capabilities. It’s the great equalizer, so harness that power and reach people where it counts – right on their handsets.

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