Text message service trends in Canada

If you didn’t already know, the SimpleTexting platform is compatible with all major carriers across both the U.S. and Canada. Everything from our pricing structure to our number types can be structured to meet the needs of our neighbors to the north!

While the real bread and butter of text marketing remain the same, there are certainly some updates relevant to our Canadian audience that we want to share.

We’ll begin with some general information about the current mobile usage climate in Canada and follow with how this affects all text marketing-related business practices.

Canadian mobile usage

Recent studies conducted by Dx3 Canada have revealed some enlightening information on the Canadian state of mobile this day in age. Similar to the U.S market trends, mobile as a business tool continues to grow and evolve as more people open themselves up to SMS-based brand communication.

Some significant takeaways from their study include:

• 89% of respondents use text messaging for daily communication.
  • Nearly 9 in 10 respondents said they send and receive text messages on a daily basis.
• A full 75% percent of respondents said they would consent to receive communications (“opt-in”) from a brand they trust.
  • With a small 4% of survey respondents signifying that they currently communicate with brands via SMS, this leaves immense opportunity for growth.
• Mobile usage in Canada is one of the highest in the world with the country’s total number of mobile subscribers already surpassing 30 million in just 2016.
• In 2019, the Canadian internet traffic was 33% comprised of mobile phones, second only to desktops and laptops coming in close at 56%.
  • The 33% figure is up from just 17% back in 2015.

In summary, mobile communication is only growing in Canada, but the number of brands adopting SMS is still relatively low. The recent data points to a positive perception of texting with businesses, so to jump in with a text marketing service now is to find yourself an early and successful adopter of the technology.

Canadian text message marketing trends

Texting is similar to other marketing tools in the sense that how it’s used can be completely tailored to your goals and needs. However, any geographic territory comes with a general list of similarities. There are a few trends specific to Canada that we can point to.

Here are three interesting Canadian text marketing trends for you to know.

Canadian text marketing & gaming

Ever since Microsoft’s decision to give Xbox users the ability to stream their games to mobile devices, the gaming industry has seen tremendous growth across Canadian SMS marketing. The mobile gaming sphere is highly popular, especially among the younger demographics. The rise of advertising and push notification opportunities via mobile is blown wide open with these developments.

Canadian text marketing & travel

The travel industry has evolved in a near 180 since the advent of the internet. While traditional travel agencies continue to disappear, the number of Canadians going on holiday hasn’t waned. It’s been replaced by online bookings. Especially mobile online bookings.

Way back in 2010, Canadian mobile users saw a huge spike in usage with 54% of buyers accessing travel sites via their cell. Every year since, that number has grown as much as 125%!

As Canadians continue to favor their cell phones as a source for travel-related purchases, texting has become the perfect tool for anyone across the industry to implement.

Canadian text messaging & e-commerce

Canadian e-commerce companies, similar to those in the U.S. have benefited from some of the latest Google algorithm adjustments. These changes to the crawl actually support more mobile-friendly pages on websites. Specifically, the ones that have actively worked to improve their mobile interface to more closely resemble the desktop presentation.

These trends are pushing more and more e-commerce retailers towards engaging with mobile-based marketing strategies, the premier of which is text marketing.

[Read: How Rimpy Sahota Dominates The E-Commerce Space With Beautiful TEXTiles]

The latest reports show that 70% of the population in Canada has a smartphone, which presents a huge opportunity for businesses. Plus, texting is capable of reaching all cellphones—not just smartphones. If your organization needs to reach people in Canada, feel free to try your hand with our 14-day, risk-free trial and see what the hype is about.