Key Insights
Essential data points from our research
SMS open rates are as high as 98% compared to just 20% for emails
The average response rate for SMS marketing is 45%
SMS marketing campaigns generate a 19% click-through rate usually
75% of consumers are comfortable receiving SMS messages from brands as long as they opt-in
58% of consumers say text is the most effective way for business communication
64% of consumers think companies who text value their time more than those who do not
SMS marketing coupons are redeemed 10 times more than print coupons
Brands using SMS marketing see a 20%+ increase in revenue
96% of marketers rated mobile and SMS marketing as a significant source of revenue generation
39% of businesses use some form of text messaging to communicate with customers
61% of marketers planned to increase their SMS marketing budgets in 2020
The number of people who send and receive text messages is predicted to rise to 5.9 billion by 2025
90% of SMS messages are read within 3 minutes of being received
The average response time to a text message is 90 seconds
It takes the average person 90 minutes to respond to an email compared to 90 seconds for text
Consumer Preferences
- 175% of consumers are comfortable receiving SMS messages from brands as long as they opt-in
- 258% of consumers say text is the most effective way for business communication
- 364% of consumers think companies who text value their time more than those who do not
- 491% of customers would opt-in for texts from brands
- 567% of people would rather text with a business about appointments and scheduling than by email or phone
- 648% of consumers prefer direct SMS updates from brands over email or app notifications
- 754% of consumers want to receive marketing texts from businesses
- 877% of consumers have a positive perception of companies that use text messaging
- 960% of consumers want to be able to respond to SMS messages they receive from businesses
- 1085% of consumers prefer receiving an SMS over a voice call or email
- 1169% of consumers appreciate receiving a text for customer service inquiries
- 1250% of US consumers make direct purchases after receiving a branded text
- 1380% of people use text messaging for business
- 1459% of users say they want communications about billing via text
- 1533% of consumers check their phones immediately upon waking up
- 1644% of consumers state they would prefer to press a button to initiate a text conversation rather than wait on hold
- 1766% of consumers state they would pay more for something if it was supported by a mobile messaging channel
- 1843% of consumers text businesses proactively
- 1990% of customers prefer text messages over direct phone calls
- 2055% of consumers prefer SMS for appointment reminders specifically versus other methods
Interpretation
Ask permission, keep messages useful, and text like a human, because consumers overwhelmingly prefer SMS for appointments, billing, customer service and purchases, want two-way, timely contact, are more loyal to brands that respect their time, and will even pay more for the convenience.
Engagement Metrics
- 1SMS open rates are as high as 98% compared to just 20% for emails
- 2The average response rate for SMS marketing is 45%
- 3SMS marketing campaigns generate a 19% click-through rate usually
- 4Text messages suffer from a spam rate of less than 3% unlike email which is much higher
- 5About 29% of targeted marketing SMS recipients click on links within the messages they receive
- 6Companies sending SMS messages experience 209% higher response rates than those using phone or email only
- 782% of people say they open every text message they receive
- 8Users are 4.5x more likely to reply to an SMS than an email
- 970% of customers say that SMS is a good way for businesses to get their attention
- 10SMS engagement rates are six to eight times higher than email engagement rates
- 11Marketing texts have a 10-15% conversion rate on average
- 1236% of click-throughs form SMS marketing result in a confirmed conversion
- 13Only 10% of SMS marketing messages are considered spam by consumers
- 14The average SMS campaign conversion rate is approximately 29%
- 15Response rates for SMS are 295% higher than response rates for phone calls
- 16SMS produces six times more engagement than retailer apps
- 17Verification SMS messages have the highest open rates of all categories
- 1857% of consumers are willing to embrace SMS marketing for transactional alerts which increases engagement
- 19Welcome messages in SMS marketing have roughly a 32% click-through rate
- 20Abandoned cart SMS reminders recover between 20% to 30% of lost revenue due to high engagement
Interpretation
SMS is the marketing equivalent of a polite, impossible-to-ignore tap on the shoulder: with open rates up to 98% versus 20% for email, average response rates around 45%, click-through and conversion rates often in the double digits, engagement many times higher than email, phone, or apps, low spam complaints, and strong results for verifications, welcomes and abandoned cart recoveries, it actually gets customers to notice and act.
Market Adoption
- 139% of businesses use some form of text messaging to communicate with customers
- 261% of marketers planned to increase their SMS marketing budgets in 2020
- 3The number of people who send and receive text messages is predicted to rise to 5.9 billion by 2025
- 442% of millennials check their text messages 10 or more times per day
- 565% of brands reportedly do not have a formal strategy for SMS marketing yet
- 6Smartphone penetration in the US has reached over 85%
- 792% of the US population owns a mobile device capable of receiving SMS
- 8The application-to-person (A2P) SMS market size is valued at over $62 billion
- 968% of businesses use texting to schedule appointments
- 1080% of business professionals use text messaging for business purposes
- 11Over 23 billion text messages are sent worldwide each day
- 12SMS marketing grew by 197% in B2B efforts between 2015 and 2017
- 1356% of retail brands have integrated SMS into their marketing stack
- 1470% of employees think text messaging should be used for inter-office communication
- 15There are over 5 billion unique mobile subscribers globally capable of SMS
- 1639% of businesses text their customers during the sales process
- 17The insurance industry sees a 25% wider adoption of SMS year over year
- 18Non-profits using SMS see a 30% increase in donor retention
- 1953% of marketers are using SMS data to personalize other channels
- 20Almost 3.5 million people signed up to receive SMS from political candidates in 2020
Interpretation
SMS is the unglamorous secret superhero of modern communication, already reaching over 5 billion people and fueling a $62 billion A2P market with more than 23 billion daily messages and rising engagement across retail, insurance, politics and appointments, yet 65% of brands still lack a formal strategy, so the 61% of marketers boosting budgets and those using SMS for personalization, scheduling and donor retention are poised to turn a neglected channel into the next decade's essential marketing workhorse.
ROI and Conversion
- 1SMS marketing coupons are redeemed 10 times more than print coupons
- 2Brands using SMS marketing see a 20%+ increase in revenue
- 396% of marketers rated mobile and SMS marketing as a significant source of revenue generation
- 416% of businesses believe SMS marketing has the highest ROI of any marketing channel
- 5Using SMS for followup can increase sales conversion by up to 100%
- 6Retailers using SMS programs see a 23% conversion rate which is higher than desktop
- 7SMS campaigns perform 7 times better than email campaigns in terms of interaction tracking
- 845% of potential clients would choose a product or service after receiving an SMS
- 9Customers who receive SMS marketing messages are 40% more likely to convert than those who don’t
- 10Automated SMS workflows generate 306% more click revenue than one-off blasts
- 1150% of consumers entered a store or visited a website after getting a text from a brand
- 12Companies can save $6 to $20 per call by deflecting support calls to SMS
- 1325% of people purchase a product after successfully redeeming an SMS coupon
- 14SMS leads to 20% less customer churn when used for engagement
- 15Businesses using SMS see a 34% improvement in customer satisfaction scores
- 16SMS marketing costs cost pennies per message making the ROI potential exponentially higher than PPC
- 17Loyalty programs utilizing SMS have a 98% retention rate
- 1813% of all consumers have redeemed a coupon code sent via SMS in the last month
- 19Real estate agents using SMS see a 100% increase in lead conversion
- 20Ecommerce stores using SMS see an average of $71 revenue per recipient
Interpretation
Put simply, SMS is the tiny, relentless salesperson you can afford: coupons are redeemed ten times more than print, campaigns drive seven times the interaction of email and often lift revenue by over 20%, automated workflows produce 306% more click revenue, and pennies-per-message costs plus $6 to $20 saved per deflected support call mean SMS turns short texts into outsized sales, savings and loyalty.
Timing and Speed
- 190% of SMS messages are read within 3 minutes of being received
- 2The average response time to a text message is 90 seconds
- 3It takes the average person 90 minutes to respond to an email compared to 90 seconds for text
- 462% of businesses convert leads within the first hour using SMS
- 5SMS messages are delivered in under 5 seconds on average
- 680% of millennials have their phone with them 22 hours a day ensuring rapid read times
- 734% of people read a text message within 5 minutes of waking up
- 8Flash sales sent via SMS effectively drive traffic within the first 15 minutes
- 9Customers respond to support texts 10x faster than support emails
- 1095% of texts from businesses are read within 3 minutes
- 11Sending text messages between 8 am and 12 pm yield the highest response speeds
- 12Appointment reminders sent 24 hours in advance via SMS reduce no-shows by 50% instantly
- 13Real-time SMS alerts perform 40% better than push notifications in speed to open
- 14SMS facilitates 2-way conversation in real-time unlike email which is asynchronous
- 15The average user spends over 4 hours a day on their mobile device aiding SMS visibility
- 16Consumers check their text notifications 150 times a day on average
- 17Immediate follow-up via SMS increases contact rates by 200%
- 18Delivery receipts for SMS are returned in milliseconds confirming speed
- 19Users are 30% faster to click a link in SMS than in email
- 2075% of phones are in silent mode but SMS vibration alerts still trigger rapid reads
Interpretation
Think of SMS as a polite but insistent tap on the shoulder; delivered in milliseconds, read in minutes and answered in under two minutes, it drives far faster opens, clicks, conversions and two‑way support than email or push, slashes no shows with timely reminders, and reaches customers who check texts dozens of times a day, especially when sent between 8 AM and noon.
