What’s the one thing most people can’t leave home without? Their mobile phone. Your phone screen is the first thing you check in the morning and the last thing you see at night.
There is a huge opportunity for businesses who understand how much we use our mobiles. Savvy marketers know that it’s easier to meet customers where they are — in this case, their phones — rather than trying to get them to come to you.
That’s one of the reasons why SMS marketing and text messaging for business is seriously effective. There’s plenty more. And we’ve got the stats to prove it.
The best SMS marketing statistics in 2023
How can you reach your target audience, without investing big in campaigns. SMS marketing is a budget-friendly and effective way to reach your customers — and get them to respond. Reach our SMS Marketing statistics to find out why.
- 98% of text messages are read in minutes.
- 75% of consumers like receiving messages from brands (after they’ve opted in).
- 20% of customers said they made a purchase after receiving a text from a small business.
- 87% of businesses rate SMS marketing as important to their future marketing strategy.
- 38% of businesses use text marketing for sales and promotions.
- Consumers redeem SMS-delivered coupons 10 times more than other types of coupons.
- 91% of consumers are subscribed to at least one SMS marketing program.
The statistics of why SMS beats email
1) Texts are opened 5x more than email
98% of text messages are read within 2 minutes compared to 20% of emails. We can see who the clear communication winner is here.
2) 53% of people check their text messages 11 times a day.
Only 29% check their email that frequently. Get on their radar with SMS.
3) SMS response rates trump email by 750%.
Email response rates average just 6% – compared with 45% for texting. When you need clicks or responses you can convert more sales with SMS.
4)86% of small business owners say text messaging offers higher engagement than email.
Engagement is one of the most powerful indicators for strong customer conversions.
5) More people unsubscribe from email lists compared to SMS.
Less than 5% of SMS subscribers ever unsubscribe, while 20% of email subscribers leave each year.
6)41% of consumers would rather receive brand update texts than emails.
Text messages are short and to the point. They’re perfect for busy customers who want fast updates for sales, announcements or time-sensitive information.
7) SMS clickthrough rates are at least 17% higher than email.
Typically SMS marketing has clickthrough rates of 20-35% compared with under 3% for email marketing.
8) 97% of text messages don’t get stuck in the spam folder.
About 3% of SMS messages are considered spam, compared to nearly 85% of emails.
9) On average, it takes people 90 seconds to respond to a text message
It takes 90 minutes to get a response to an email, by contrast.
Mobile usage statistics — how customers use their phones
10)91.54% of the population own a mobile phone
Text messaging is available on every mobile phone. Which means you can potentially reach 91.4% of people via texting — that’s an audience of over 7 billion.
11) Almost65% of people prefer SMS.
Rather than other messaging channels like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, and others.
12) 55% of web traffic comes from mobile.
Customers use their phones to browse the internet — so send customers a text with a link and watch your web traffic grow.
13) Americans surveyed said they check their phones 144 times per day.
Other countries report similar data. If you want to get your brand in front of your customers, text is a great way to do it.
14) 45% of people of all ages say their device is the most important shopping tool.
Forget in store advertising or billboards — the mobile phone is the new shopping trolley.
15) While 75% of Gen Z and Millennials use their smartphones to shop online.
Take advantage of their phone shopping addiction. You can send them abandoned cart reminders or targeted promotions via SMS.
The facts: customers prefer texts
16) 60% of consumers would rather text a business for customer support.
Set up a customer support text line and give the people what they want — customer support via text. With a two-way texting tool you can automate answers to common questions too.
17) 75% of consumers appreciate shipping updates via text
People want to know where their packages are. If you’re an e-commerce business, send automatic delivery notifications via text. Too easy.
18) 46% of customers want the option to pay via text message.
Nearly half of consumers say they would like the option to pay a business by text if it was done securely. That’s a huge opportunity.
19) 53% are frustrated when they can’t reply via text
Luckily, it’s easy to allow replies — you just need the right business SMS service.
20) 12.9% of consumers will choose companies that offer two-way messaging.
Don’t snooze on two way messaging.
21) 75% of consumers like to get promotional offers via SMS
Tell your customers about sales and offers via text. Make sure you add a link so they can shop or sign up, right from their mobile.
22) While 41% respond to promotional SMS offers.
Not only do they shop your offer, they respond. Hello, valuable customer insights.
23) In 2022, 70% of consumers subscribed to receive business texts.
Your customers are happy to sign up for appointment reminders, shipping notifications and special offers or discounts via text.
24) 64% of consumers value appointment reminder texts over other texts they receive from businesses.
Plus, appointment reminders can significantly reduce no-shows — which is great for business.
25) Over 50% of people are more likely to buy if they receive a text message with images.
It’s time to add MMS to the mix. You can add GIFs, pictures or videos to get people buying.
26) 34% of customers texted a business without being texted first.
So get your business number out there, as customers are taking the initiative to text in first.
27) Consumers are twice as likely (1.8x) to prefer texting to any other communication method.
How businesses and industries use text messaging
28) 55% of businesses contact customers via text message.
Your competitors are likely already using texting — don’t get left behind.
29) 83% of consumers received an SMS from a business in 2020.
Your customers are comfortable with receiving text messages. In some cases, like for delivery notifications, they expect it.
30) SMS can cut customer support costs for businesses.
Messaging channels, including SMS, can cut up to 60% of support costs per customer interaction.
31) 60% of business owners planned to increase SMS budgets this year.
And they wouldn’t be doing that if they weren’t seeing great results.
32) Real estate is the leading industry for using SMS
73% of real estate businesses use SMS. Compared to 65% of agriculture, 63% of entertainment and leisure, 57% of contraction and 53% of utilities businesses.
33) Everybody wants a piece of the SMS pie
70% of businesses want to tap into SMS marketing for its high engagement rate.
34) 42% of retail stores expect to increase their SMS marketing budgets in the next three years.
There’s two reasons for this — the ROI delivered via SMS and customer preferences for text.
35) Texting can improve healthcare outcomes
More than 95% of patients who received text message updates felt more connected to their care team.
36) 97% of companies that have launched texting initiatives say texting helps them communicate with consumers more efficiently.
37) 50% of the top 1000 online retailers are already using text messaging for marketing.
And they’re using text messaging to grow their business and stay at the top.
SMS hacks for your next campaign
38) Time-sensitive promotions will help motivate opt-ins.
49.9% of consumers will be motivated to opt-in with time-sensitive promotions.
39) 42.5% of consumers would also opt for “back in stock” SMS.
If you’ve got it, flaunt it.
40) Omni-channel campaigns that included SMS were 47.7% more likely to end in conversion.
If you’re struggling with your advertising campaigns, try adding SMS to support.
Give your business an SMS boost
We’re ready to help you. We’d love to show you how SMS can improve your business communication. You can sign up for a free trial or start a chat with our support team, 24/7.
