Text messaging is twice as likely to irritate recipients than cold calling, according to new research from telecommunications group Cable & Wireless (C&W).
The research, which focused on the retail, travel and financial sectors revealed that new marketing techniques such as text messaging are damaging trust in brands, as consumers become increasingly inundated in unsolicited text messages.
C&W said that unwelcome messages are more than twice as likely to annoy recipients than a cold call if received outside working hours. Outbound marketing was cited as the biggest bugbear in this area, with a 21% dissatisfaction rate, compared with after-sales service at 11%.
One survey respondent, known as Mr X said: “I’m inundated by text messages from my mobile phone operator, it’s rubbish. I just delete them.”
Now it looks as if Mr X’s problem isn’t about to disappear anytime soon as new C&W forecasts show that by 2005 new media marketing techniques are expected to have cannibalised to 13% of the direct mail market.
Text messaging and emailing are both rapidly expanding sectors in this market, growing at 17% a year and already constituting a £525 million industry.
C&W’s director of marketing and services, Mark Quartermaine said: “This research sets out a clear warning for organisations to consider how and when to promote their products or services. We commissioned this study to help our business customers better understand what makes consumers tick and through that to choose the media channel most appropriate to their message.”
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