The Power Of SMS Marketing [Infographic]
Updated April 22, 2024
Have you ever considered using SMS marketing for your business? If not, you may be leaving money on the table.
Statistics show that mass text messaging is one of the most powerful ways to reach and engage audiences. From Starbucks to IKEA, more and more successful businesses are implementing SMS in their marketing strategies.
So why SMS? To put it simply: people look at their phones — a lot. In fact, our research shows that people check their phones an average of 150 times daily. Not only that, but text messages have an open rate of 98% within the first 3 minutes of sending, vastly outperforming email’s average open rate of 20%.
Our helpful infographic shows the most important text marketing statistics to keep in mind as you consider your next marketing strategy.
The Power of SMS Marketing Stats
- 98% of text messages are read.
- Only around 20% of emails are opened.
- Only 2.65% of TikTok followers will engage with your content.
- Facebook and Instagram fare even worse. On Facebook, 5.9% of posts are read, while on Instagram, it’s estimated that as few as 0.7% of followers will engage with your content.
- Twitter is, perhaps surprisingly, one of the best-performing social media platforms. A good engagement rate is between 1% and 3%.
- The average person looks at their phone 144 times a day.
- Mobile phone users have their phones within arm’s reach for 14 hours a day.
- SMS marketing campaigns are opted out less than 5% of the time.
- 70% of Americans would like to receive mobile coupons from their favorite businesses.
- SMS coupons are 10 times more likely to be redeemed and shared than mail or newspaper coupons.
- 22% of mobile coupons are shared with at least one friend.
- 83% of people receiving mobile coupons would like 2 messages per month.
- The average response time for a text message is just 90 seconds, while an email averages 2.5 days.
- In 2023, it was estimated that 92.3% of digital coupon redemption happened on smartphones.
- People are most likely to open offer messages, with a click-through rate 10% higher than any other type of message.
- 45% of potential customers will choose one brand over another because of SMS.
- More than 85% of businesses sent text messages to customers in 2023.
- People are almost 5 times more likely to respond to a text than an email.
- 60% of people would like to be able to reach customer support through text messaging.
- Over 80% of people would like appointment reminders through text.
Key Takeaways for SMS Marketing
How do these texting statistics apply to your marketing plan? Here are some key takeaways that you can use to help craft your broadcast text marketing strategy.
1. Send Mobile Coupons
The statistics show that 70% of people like to receive coupons from their favorite businesses. Since so many people prefer text promotions over other forms of communication, that’s a prime opportunity to send mobile coupons.
You can create a digital image with all of the information about your text promotion, and send this to your list using an MMS message. Designing a beautiful image can help grab the attention of your customers and convey all of your information at once. If you’d prefer to use text, you can opt to send an SMS message with all of the information.
Mobile coupon example: “Receive one free appetizer with the purchase of a large pizza today before 7PM at our 114 St PizzaPerfect location!”
2. Send Text Reminders
The average person looks at their phone about 144 times a day, according to statistics. What’s more, current research shows branded text messages are opened about 98% of the time.
If you need to reach someone in a hurry, or if you need a response from them, it’s best to rely on a text message instead of an email — and definitely use an SMS message to contact your customers over direct mail reminders. Sending out a text reminder for a reservation or appointment has the highest likelihood of being seen. You can even schedule reminders to go out at set intervals, like weekly payment reminders or monthly shipping updates.
3. Communicate Across Multiple Channels
Text messages are more likely to be seen over social media posts, so keep that in mind when you’re deciding where to focus your time. You should never rely on only one platform or communication method. Instead, have several ways to contact your audience.
If you’ve only been relying on social media this far, start finding ways to integrate text messaging. Not only will it increase your reach, but you can also own your audience and list of subscribers. You can advertise your text list on social media to start capturing the attention of your audience through SMS, then start growing your text list through exclusive offers, opt-in methods, and engagement strategies like text-to-win sweepstakes.
4. Consider SMS for Customer Service Communication
People prefer to be reached on their phones through text messages — not through email. Meet customers where they are, and consider offering support chat through your text marketing program. If you automate your customer service messages, you can improve efficiency and keep customers happy. In fact, a chatbot can save up to 30% of costs associated with customer support.
Even if you choose to manually respond, SMS allows you to easily (and privately) chat with customers one-on-one.
Key SMS Marketing Resources
Ready to start your text marketing program but not sure where to get started? At SlickText, we’re proud to provide comprehensive resources to help you navigate the ins and outs of SMS marketing.
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How It Works
It might be intimidating at first, but text marketing is actually pretty simple. Our How It Works page breaks down the three basic steps to getting started, with helpful resources for crafting your message, growing your list, and following best practices.
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The Components of a Great SMS Marketing Campaign
When you’re starting a text marketing campaign from scratch, you may run into writer’s block. You may wonder what to include to keep your subscribers interested — and maybe even more importantly, prevent them from opting out. The Components of a Great SMS Marketing Campaign is packed full of everything you need to know, from examples of calls to action to pro tips on getting more engagement.
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Text Marketing Case Studies
If you’re still considering text marketing or are looking for new ideas, you can reference case studies. This provides concrete social proof of how other businesses have benefitted from using SMS. We’ve written up case studies on several of our customers, in industries ranging from marketing to restaurants and food service. Take a look at how they’ve used text marketing to grow their business, with specific methods and data included.
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Ecommerce Marketing in 2024
The world of ecommerce has exploded in the years since COVID-19 — and text marketing can help you take advantage of customer preferences. From recovering abandoned carts to sending inventory updates, texting your audience brings higher open rates and increased potential for traffic and engagement.
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Types of SMS Sending Numbers
Before you start sending texts, you’ll need to pick a sending number: toll-free, short code, or 10DLC. The number you choose will depend on how you plan to use text marketing and the number of texts you want to send. We break down your sending number options, and our internal team is happy to help you narrow things down if you’re still not sure what to choose.
Start Your SMS Marketing with SlickText
Few other marketing methods are as effective as SMS — want to try it out for yourself? Get started today with a free SlickText trial, and get in touch with our team if you have any questions.
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