Kaitlyn Orred
The mass messaging industry underwent significant changes in the past year. As the pandemic's impact lessened, businesses decreased their reliance on pandemic-related communications. Economic factors such as inflation and job losses also played a role. However, there was a notable increase in communications related to general health and safety and weather warnings.
Text-only broadcasts remained the most popular among our users, with the trend continuing for the third consecutive year. However, there was an unexpectedly high percentage of voice-only broadcasts being sent, with a 10% increase from the previous year.
This year the breakdown of messages was as follows:
- 43% text-only broadcasts
- 27% voice-only broadcasts
- 30% combo (text & voice) broadcasts
Methodology
To identify the order of the most popular messaging topics for the year, we analyzed the broadcast names of messages sent by our users, searching for specific keywords.
While it took a short hiatus last year, weather rose to the top as the #1 mass messaging topic of 2022. Hurricane Ian, the North American winter storm in December, and the Kentucky floods were all major contributors to the number of weather messages sent in 2022.
Over the past two years, we’ve seen quite the hiring boom, with more employees and staff required to fulfill demand regarding the pandemic in hospitals, logistics, and more. This year we, unfortunately, saw many large companies lay off workers as demand waned, leading to a decrease in the number of staffing messages sent from our platform.
Rounding out the top 3, we have mass message reminders. There are many different types of reminders our users send from our platform, including event reminders, payment reminders, and appointment reminders.
If they hadn’t already, many businesses started operating under pre-COVID-19 regulations, significantly decreasing their need for communication about the virus. Still, many healthcare organizations and assisted living centers still communicate daily about outbreaks, safety protocols, and testing.
Prayer messages are consistently in the top 5 top-ranking mass messaging topics for us, and this year looks no different. Our customers sent many prayers and prayer requests to their contacts last year.
Messages regarding general health and safety saw a significant increase this year. These messages can include information about lab results, open shift alerts for healthcare workers, regulations for visiting a hospital or assisted living center, and much more.
Studies show that 36% of no-shows happen because someone simply forgot about their appointment, which is why sending reminders about appointments is such a great way to use a mass messaging platform.
Coming in at #8, we have surveys. Our customers send out surveys that range from finding a meeting date that works for everyone to learning if employees had a positive experience during their first day of work.
Using mass messaging for collections is a great way to help your contacts stay on top of their bills and avoid late fees. With our platform, you can schedule messages to be sent out on each payment due date. It’s a win-win situation - your contacts will avoid extra fees, and you’ll get more payments on time!
With Hurricane Ian being the deadliest weather event in the United States in 2022, it’s not surprising that we saw a significant increase in this mass messaging topic. Messages about hurricanes include evacuation alerts, safety information, and water, electricity, and gas updates. These messages save lives each year by quickly getting information out to those affected.