SMS Marketing Statistics: Is Your Outreach What 60% Want?

“SMS (marketing) allows us to engage with customers in real-time and help them find joy in their shopping experiences by guiding them to the perfect gift at the best price point.” Lauren Zarzour, senior director, Kendra Scott, told Chain Store Age, when speaking about SMS marketing statistics.

These words highlight the importance of SMS marketing and how the numbers are now driving more and more businesses toward it. To summarize most SMS marketing statistics, highly personalized SMS marketing lets you reach customers in real-time on their mobile phones, nudging them towards sales with a speed and acceptance far superior to email or calls. 

Image: Representative SMS promotion text. Source

There is also its sheer nimbleness, especially in the retail sector. Emails require hours of work by a creative using imagery and graphics for an average 25% open rate. In SMS marketing, you can create a marketing segment and landing page, provide a link, and craft an SMS in an hour that can be instantly sent out (with over 95% of those receiving the text reading it). This also helps your internal SMS marketing statistics, in which you can see results instantly.

Check out the most important SMS marketing best practices and how to implement them on CallHub

Please Note: SMS marketing is regulated under US law, and marketers must follow codes of practice enacted under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and CAN-SPAM Act. 

The most important SMS marketing statistics in 2024

• More than 26 billion SMS messages are sent every day worldwide. The business SMS messaging market will exceed 1.1 trillion messages in 2024 when reaching out to mobile phones. 

• SMS marketing statistics show marketers have spent $2.41 billion on SMS advertising in recent years. In 2024, an estimated $760 million will be spent on advertising via SMS. 

• 66% of all customers engage with businesses through SMS, which has been growing steadily in the digital marketing space. 

• 60.5% of US marketers claim higher customer engagement levels through text message marketing than on other channels. 

How effective is SMS marketing?

The simplicity and low cost of SMS marketing contribute to its high ROI. Unlike other forms of advertising, SMS doesn’t require extensive design, development, or high ad spending, making it accessible and profitable even for small businesses​. 

A simple example – you don’t need to spend much time thinking about a catchy ‘subject line’ to get people to open and read your SMS. 98% will read it simply because their phone buzzed. 

Image: SimpleTexting Survey 2023. Source 

So here are some statistics about the ROI: 

• In the e-commerce sector, SMS campaigns account for approximately 8.5% of retailers’ online revenue​. Businesses typically see a $36 return for every $1 spent on SMS marketing.

• SMS campaigns have been shown to deliver click-through rates that are 36% higher than email campaigns. Additionally, SMS coupons have a redemption rate of over 20%, more than 20 times higher than print coupons or other digital marketing efforts​.

• From 2021 to 2024, there has been a 62% rise in businesses that report average SMS click-through rates higher than 35%. 

• For the 2023 Black Friday sales, Attentive says brands saw up to 36.6% of their behavior-based text messages convert into purchases. 

• In a real-life case study, Toroe stated that SMS marketing helped them boost their sales by $7000 in 30 days – an ROI of 165X.  

• American Eagle Outfitters claimed in 2021 that their daily SMS campaigns achieved a 60% clickthrough rate. Erica Dudash, the director of marketing, said SMS was the key to the marketing success in that year. 

SMS marketing for B2B – how can you use it for lead generation and engagement?

SMS marketing: What do customers say?

Targeted advertising is nearly universally seen as annoying. Six years ago, a viral tweet joked that just because someone bought one toilet seat from Amazon doesn’t mean they are now open to buying ten more. 

The viral tweet. Source.

Amazon’s algorithms have vastly improved since then, but the point stands – people don’t like random offers in response to purchases that are often reactions to events – not deeply held desires. 

However, it is not true that people don’t want to hear about brands. Everyone wants a discount or an update. The annoyance is when the communication feels random, unconnected, and offers no real value to the consumer. 

As Attentive CEO Amit Jhawar said in an interview – “The mobile device is not a research device. It’s an action device. In the limited space of a mobile screen, personalized content is critical to drive engagement.:

Personalized SMS marketing beats all these challenges, so the ROI is quite high. Here are some stats:

• In a survey conducted by SimpleTexting, 79% of those surveyed opted in to receive texts from businesses – showing a willingness to receive such text messages regularly. 

• 60% of consumers in a survey said they felt more confident about making purchases when they went to a store after getting details or offers through SMS. 

• 71% of customers surveyed by McKinsey for a report indicated they expected their communication to be highly personalized. 

• Approximately 90% of consumers prefer receiving text messages over direct phone calls, and 37.5% prefer SMS over other forms of business communication. So the personalization will have to be through SMS marketing. 

• According to market research from Klaviyo, 65% of consumers reported they purchased something because they were reminded about it via SMS.

• Two-way conversations matter. In 2024, two-way SMS conversations drove a 55.6% click-through rate and up to 48x ROI for Kendra Scott – who simply chatted with customers about the gifts they wanted before sending them links. 

Image: Representative image of an SMS discount promotion

Takeaway: People prefer SMS communications because they can reply and converse with the business. Consumers are open to opting in for brand offers and will react to click-through or redeeming coupons for discounts or new sales at a higher rate than other forms of communication compared to text messages. 

SMS vs email: Statistics

Image: Source

• While the actual open rate of SMS has never been conclusively proven despite the number being widely used in SMS marketing statistics, anecdotal evidence indicates that, on average, more than 95% of SMS are read. This is far higher than the average email open rate, which market leader MailChimp offers at 35%.  

• SimpleTexting says marketing SMS has a click rate between 21% and 35%, while MailChimp says it is 3% for emails. Even in targeted segments, like finance sector services, where there is a large reliance on emails, the click rate is 16%. 

• According to a study by Retail Dive, SMS engagement rates (whether someone interacts with the message in any way) are upto six times higher than email marketing.

• In terms of ROI, text messages works out far better since you have to send out fewer SMS for returns. As per a study by SubText, SMS marketing generates 17x more revenue than email, accounting for all costs. 

SMS marketing statistics: Are businesses using it?

Image: Source

• 63% of businesses use SMS regularly—mostly for appointments and reminders, not sales. Meanwhile, email marketing dominates long-form communication, consumer engagement, and long-term loyalty. 

• Major industries using SMS include healthcare (55%), banking/finance (46%), and e-commerce/retail (45.9%)​​.

• In terms of expenditure in the US, SMS marketing cost $7.15 billion in 2022 and is expected to surpass $37.45 billion by 2031 – showing how heavily businesses are investing in it for the long term. 

• 86% of business owners used SMS marketing in 2023, a 56% increase from 2022​​.

Takeaway: Know your audience. Use SMS for quick communications in your marketing strategies, such as reminders to purchase items in carts, flash discounts, or appointment reminders. Email is better for long-term engagement and sharing your brand story through newsletters. 

Running a business? 12 SMS Marketing Best Practices To Skyrocket Conversions

SMS marketing: Important factors

• Ensure that recipients have explicitly opted in to receive SMS messages. Compliance with regulations such as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in the US, GDPR in Europe, and other local laws is crucial. Same for Opt-outs. 

• SMS vs. MMS: MMS offers a 15% higher clickthrough rate and is more likely to be shared or viewed. However, it is more expensive than SMS and has a higher fail rate in delivery. If you have the budget, MMS is better. 

• Have a shortened branded link for consumers to click (e.g., dominoes/party150). A long URL is untidy to read and takes up too much of an SMS’s 160-character limit, while unbranded shortened URLs are seen as suspicious by customers. 

• You must personalize the message through segments like location, last purchase, age, gender, spending limits, etc. 35% of Europeans and 29% of US customers said this convinced them to purchase. 

• Have an Omnic-Channel Strategy: Integrate SMS with other marketing channels like email, social media, and mobile apps. Consistent messaging across channels helps reinforce your marketing efforts.

• Short Code vs 10 DLC: Short codes are the better choice for high-volume, time-sensitive campaigns where brand visibility is important. 10DLC is a viable alternative if you don’t plan to message a lot or to a smaller audience. 

Short Code Texting – How to Get Started and Make it Work For You

What do SMS marketing statistics say about your strategy

After considering all the statistics listed above, here is a round-up of all the lessons you need to take away from these numbers and how you can guide your marketing strategies. 

• You need SMS marketing to maximize customer interaction as a one-way communication (reminders, discounts, etc.) and as a two-way conversation to tailor their shopping experience. This will significantly boost your marketing efforts.

• You must use SMS for immediate and instant communication, using the shortest possible sentences and getting to the point as soon as possible. Use email for longer conversations.  

• Campaigns should be limited to a few personalized messages every so often. Consumers must always feel like they are being rewarded for reading your messages. Do not send more than one message a day, SMS marketing statistics show.  

• If you have an event or occasion and a loyal customer base, SMS is the best way to convert customers. The faster you build loyalty, the more ROI you will have. 

How to grow your sms marketing lists? Read more here to maximize your returns.

Feature Image: Gustavo Wandalen Corrêa from Pixabay