You’ve probably seen or heard the statistics many times by now: texting is the No. 1 use of smart phones, and millions of texts get sent every minute all around the world. But you may be surprised by who’s sending and receiving these messages, and why.

Back in 2015, 85 percent of teens in the U.S. had a smart phone, and Pew Research noted that it was their top choice as a way to get in touch with friends. Today, it’s more than teens and millennials who are using smart phones and texting every day. Recent statistics show that in, the U.S., more than 90 percent of adults own a smartphone. Among people ages 18 to 29 years old, 95 percent use their phones every day to send text messages, but only slightly fewer in the 30 to 49 age bracket (91 percent) use text messaging daily. What‘s more, 2017 saw 4.2 billion people sending 22 billion texts around the world — not including app-to-app messaging. So what does all this mean? Opportunity.

Put simply, messaging has become part of the culture. For many, it is the default method of communication. In fact, 80 percent of people say that a text message can be just as personal and warm as a telephone call. Plus, text messages have a 99 percent open rate, and 95 percent are read within three minutes. The response rate to text messages is 45 percent and the average response time is 90 seconds.

All this adds up to vast potential for business and organizations to deliver their messages and communications quickly, strategically and effectively.