It is fair to say that pretty much everyone in the civilized world would agree that technology is changing the way we live at a pace never before experienced. This article is about texting, but allow us to put some things into perspective. Just 100 years ago in 1915,
- The number one form of transportation was four-legged horse power.
- Most women washed clothes by hand.
- Most meals were cooked on wooden stoves.
- The first coast-to-coast long-distance telephone call was made.
Time Marches On
In 1966, there were still parts of the United States that required operator-assisted dialing. The first hand-held cellular phone call was not made until 1973. It was not until 1983 that the first analog cellular phone system was widely deployed in North America. By 2007, 3G technology (High-Speed Downlink Packet Access) had become widely available, providing access to mobile internet. Only two years later in 2009, 4G was introduced, with speeds of up to ten times greater than 3G.
Technology Rushes On
Chances are that the younger you are, the less impressive that perspective of progress may be. But for those who are old enough to remember the first lunar landing in 1969, the progress of technology is astounding. The point is that time continues to advance at the same rate it always has.
“For the vast majority of human existence, it was safe to assume that the world in which you died would look pretty much the same as the one in which you were born.”
Meaningful technological advances used to take centuries. Over time, mostly the last 100 years, technology has accelerated from taking decades to develop and deploy to taking months or less.
It has become difficult to grasp the statistical rush of technological advancement, especially as it pertains to mobile communications. Here is some additional data:
- In 2007 approximately 278 million people had mobile broadband subscriptions, according to the United Nation’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
- By 2013, the number had grown to approximately 2.1 billion people.
- In November 2014, one source predicted that the number of cellphone subscriptions would be 7.5 billion by the end of 2015.
- The entire world population is about 7.2 billion.
What Does This Have To Do with Home Improvement Lead Generation?
In a nutshell – everything. Some of the technologies home improvement businesses have been using for lead generation are being displaced before our very eyes. It is happening because texting has become the overwhelmingly preferred means of communication. For instance, compared to emailing, marketing text messages have an open rate of 98% versus only 1% of marketing emails. Click-through rates to URLs sent in text messages are 20% higher than through opened emails.
We’ve offered you a lot of statistics to prove a point. The point is that, once again, businesses need to assess and change the way they market themselves to generate leads. The good news is that it is not a difficult transition and that, now that we have your attention, Keyword Connects will be sharing more about using texting for home improvement lead generation in an upcoming article.
ONE MORE THING: 91% of all U.S. mobile users keep their phones within arms’ reach at all times.
ONE OTHER THING: Only 43% of smartphone users use their phones to make voice calls, but more than 70% use them to send and receive text messages.
Do you see where we are going here? Of course you do. Look for our follow-up article in which we will show you how to get there. Contact us and let us share our home improvement lead generation expertise with your business.
