Some people think SMS marketing is dead.
In truth, almost every SMS marketing report shows it’s precisely the opposite of dead. SMS marketing statistics say this route might be more profitable than ever. For example, 64% of consumers think businesses should contact them more often through SMS.
Therefore, don’t sleep on the mobile phone messaging marketing channel. As it will become apparent from this article, text marketing has incredible untapped potential.
In fact, other channels, such as social media, are not overshadowing regular targeted SMS marketing. Those channels are making people check their phones more, increasing the effectiveness of text marketing. If that isn’t enough to sway your opinion on this channel, the following statistics will.
SMS Marketing Statistics in a Nutshell
In case you’re looking for most significant statistics in one place and want to get all the facts, here they are:
- 78%* of consumers prioritize text messaging over other phone activities like social media (66%) and emails (50%).
- 71% of consumers opted in to receive texts from businesses in the past year.
- 86% of business owners and marketing managers used SMS marketing in 2023, a 56% increase from 2022.
- SMS campaigns have a 98% open rate and a 10.66% click-through rate, significantly higher than email.
- Major industries using SMS include healthcare (55%), banking/finance (46%), and e-commerce/retail (45.9%).
- 58%* of consumers prefer receiving texts from brands multiple times per week.
- Approximately 84%* of the world’s population owns smartphones, enhancing the reach of SMS marketing.
- 90% of recipients open SMS marketing messages within 3 minutes.
10 SMS Marketing Statistics
We’ve gathered the most interesting SMS marketing stats in one place for busy marketers like yourself:
SMS Marketing is Received Positively
Overall, SMS marketing stats point towards the conclusion that consumers want more businesses to contact them through this channel.
Even after going in-depth into engagement metrics, it’s evident that they are effective. SMS marketing statistics show that 71% are comfortable receiving SMS messages from brands as long as they opt-in to messaging.
Additionally, 75% of users want to receive texts with special offers. Your best bet is to deliver the most promotional, limited-time offers through mobile messaging marketing. Sending promotional offers through this channel has the added benefit of requiring little preparation work, as SMS messages are usually short.
Engagement to SMS Marketing is Through The Roof
For B2C marketing, SMS is one of the most heavily engaged channels without additional effort. Facebook, Instagram, and other famous avenues for marketing often require building, maintaining, and engaging an audience constantly to retain effectiveness.
SMS usage statistics show that this channel is compelling and engaging – 98%* of people say they open every text they receive, and the click-through rate is 10.66%!
Additionally, younger audiences engage with SMS messages quickly. Over 83% of millennials* open SMS messages within 90 seconds of receiving them. Essentially, you get much more out of each SMS than any Facebook, Instagram message, or email.
SMS is the Preferred Channel by Consumers
As people move away from phone calls, SMS takes preference over every other form of communication. Businesses, especially those in B2B services, have a long-standing love for emails.
However, consumers share different feelings and prefer to receive SMS messages. Consumers are more likely to open text messages before any other form of mobile communication.
These trends will likely continue in the future. Text message marketing statistics state that 60.8% of consumers prefer SMS over phone calls for customer service. If you still need to get someone to take care of that type of messaging, the best time to begin is right now.
SMS Marketing and Messaging is Effective
SMS marketing messages’ open rates are unlike any other avenue for marketing. No other channel can brag about 98% open and read rates. However, these text marketing facts should put the final nail in the coffin. There’s no way around it – SMS marketing strategy works and is effective.
Of course, you should always treat SMS marketing campaigns as a part of your entire strategy. However, leaving it out because this channel feels “old-school” or “ineffective” is simply factually incorrect.
Consumers are basically asking you to send them advertisements through this channel. Over 77% of users who opt-in to receive texts see those messages as useful.
SMS Marketing Works in All Industries
Regardless of what industry we look at, all of them can significantly benefit from SMS marketing. SMS messages have some of the highest response rates out of all marketing channels; in some industries, they are nearly unbeatable.
For these reasons, these industries are the primary users of marketing text messages:
- Healthcare: 55%
- Banking & Finance: 46%
- Ecommerce & Retail: 45.9%
The Importance of SMS Messages is Likely to Increase
Nearly 5 billion* people around the world engage in text messaging, which represents about 65% of the global population. This widespread use demonstrates the potential reach of SMS marketing on a global scale.
As long as smartphones (or mobile phones in general) are not replaced by something else, SMS and text-based communication will remain king.
People have a preference of keeping mobile devices close to themselves. That unintentionally increases the effectiveness of SMS marketing as they nearly always can be pinged. As we know from our own experience, we are very likely to check our phones if a notification is received.
SMS Benchmarks to Compare Your Marketing Efforts Against
Want to know how your SMS marketing campaigns are really performing? It’s time to look beyond vanity metrics and compare your results against industry benchmarks.
For example, let’s look at abandoned cart recovery – a goldmine for ecommerce businesses:
- Studies show that abandoned checkout SMS messages boast an impressive click-through rate of 10.1%-14.2%* and a conversion rate of 24.6%-39.4%;
- Checkout messages achieve the highest revenue per message at $3.46-$10.05*;
- A healthy SMS list sees an average opt-out rate between 0% and a mere 1.5%*, while general SMS campaigns enjoy a CTR between 20% and 35%*.
SMS vs. Email Marketing Showdown
Let’s dive into the numbers. SMS marketing lists are considered 10x more valuable than email lists, and for good reason. The average click-through rate for marketing SMS messages is a remarkable 19.3%* – a whopping 15% higher than email’s 4.2%.
And if you’re looking for high engagement, look no further than SMS’s astounding 98%* open rate, dwarfing email’s 21%. Even subscriber retention favors SMS, with fewer than 5%* of subscribers jumping ship, compared to email’s 20% annual churn rate.
While these SMS marketing statistics paint a compelling picture, don’t write off email marketing just yet. Depending on the industry, this veteran channel still boasts a healthy ROI of $36-$45.
The real winning strategy? Combining the two. For example, sending a well-timed SMS message as a follow-up to your email campaigns can boost open rates by 20-30%*, amplifying your message’s reach and impact.
SMS Marketing Market Size
The mobile technology and commerce world is going through some exciting changes, and it’s all about smartphones and SMS marketing! Between 2017 and 2022, smartphone users globally jumped by almost 50%. This rise isn’t just because everyone has a smartphone; these devices are becoming a more significant part of our daily lives.
And guess what? This mobile party isn’t stopping anytime soon. By 2026, we’re looking at a whopping 7.52 billion mobile users worldwide. That’s much potential for all industries, especially in communication and commerce.
But here’s the real star of the show: SMS marketing. Projected to reach a staggering $12.6 billion in the USA by 2025, SMS marketing is taking the business world by storm. And it’s no wonder why: the ability to craft direct, personalized messages makes SMS a uniquely powerful tool for forging genuine connections with customers.
Speaking of texting, it’s not slowing down, either. A staggering 5.9 billion* people worldwide are expected to send and receive text messages by 2025. This lines up perfectly with the rise of mobile commerce, which is set to make up 10.4%* of all retail sales in the U.S. by 2025, more than double before the pandemic.
Conclusion
Start advertising with SMS as soon as possible. Though the adoption of SMS marketing strategies continues to grow, many businesses still haven’t begun utilizing this channel for marketing purposes.
In fact, today only 47% of brands use text messaging to communicate with their customers at present.
If you haven’t found your favorite SMS marketing platform, we’ve done the hard work for you and compiled a list of the best SMS marketing platforms.
If SMS marketing has caught your interest, you can find more super valuable info here:
What is an SMS Notification? Definition, Examples
Also read: 45+ Online Advertising Statistics (Facts and Figures for 2024)
*Sources:
- https://mobile-text-alerts.com/articles/how-to-utilize-sms-for-customer-service#why-is-customer-service-important
- https://simpletexting.com/blog/2023-texting-and-sms-marketing-statistics/
- https://www.sender.net/blog/sms-open-rates/
- https://www.luisazhou.com/blog/sms-marketing-statistics/
- https://www.smsglobal.com/blog/best-must-know-sms-marketing-statistics/
- https://www.smscomparison.com/sms-statistics/
- https://dexatel.com/blog/sms-marketing-statistics/
- https://techreport.com/statistics/sms-marketing-statistics/
- https://www.slicktext.com/blog/2018/11/44-mind-blowing-sms-marketing-and-texting-statistics/#:~:text=1.,65%25%20of%20the%20world’s%20population.
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/218984/number-of-global-mobile-users-since-2010/
- https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/us-sms-marketing-market
- https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/mcommerce-double-its-share-of-retail-sales-by-2025
- https://www.attentive.com/2023-sms-marketing-benchmarks-report
- https://www.sender.net/blog/sms-open-rates/
