As you plow your way through your fat Email inbox, you might think that all the time you spend in Email is not so unusual. After all, Email is the main way we communicate these days, isn’t it?
While Email is still the number one way of digital business communication, messaging is now the method of choice for 30-40 percent of the population, especially young people. When we talk about messaging, we usually think about text messages. However, communicating through social media (Facebook, Twitter…) or dedicated messaging apps like WhatsApp have also become very popular.
So why is messaging on the rise? Here are some big reasons why people prefer to communicate via messages rather than Email.
- Messages can be short, more casual, and to the point. Emails tend to be more verbose and formal.
- Messages are immediate, especially if you have notifications enabled on your mobile device.
- Similarly, messages are read faster than Email – typically within ten minutes.
- Because of the immediacy, messages are closer to a conversation than Email.
- You can more easily look up the recipient of a message by name, rather than remembering a long Email address.
- Messages are great for “use and done” situations like sending an address or phone number.
For meeting and event planners this has a big impact on how mobile event apps should be deployed. In particular, your app should foster communication via messages both through real-time “pop up” notifications and app messaging. Here are some reasons and examples.
- There are often changes at events that happen at the last second, such as a workshop being moved to a new room. Sending messages via notifications and your app allow you to quickly communicate such last second changes.
- Attendees can message each other via the app simply by connecting through a person’s app profile. Emails do not need to be exchanged. This is particular good for buyer-vendor relationships where the buyer may not necessarily want to provide his or her Email or phone number at the outset.
- Messages offer the ability of attendees to provide continual feedback about the event. Wouldn’t it be better to find out that the coffee is gone when it happens rather than later after everybody has complained?
- The event app should support popular social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. This will enable attendees to communicate via these platforms.
Text and social media messaging is often more convenient and appropriate to use for communication than Email. Your mobile app environment should give attendees the ability to use their platform of choice.
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