Is SMS Marketing Effective? 5 Reasons We Say Yes

Sick of Googling, “Is text message marketing effective?” Google no more, I’m here to break it down.

Because honestly, it’s impossible to be everywhere at once.

Resources are limited, whether you’re confined by hours in the day or by the almighty dollar. Marketing is about deciding the most effective way to use those resources. 

The stakes are high, too. Even if your product is brilliant, if you’re not getting it out there, you won’t get far. 

After all, a marketing strategy that sends resources to the wrong channels is a drag on your company’s bottom line.

So, that’s why it’s worthwhile to vet every marketing channel or tactic carefully. 

If you’re trying to figure out whether you should use SMS marketing, you’re in the right place. 

I’ll share the top five points in favor of SMS marketing’s effectiveness and how it stacks up to other marketing channels.

Although I’ll get into all the ways that SMS is effective shortly, here are a few chief reasons to adopt it right off the bat.

Above all, SMS is:

• Quick
• Cost-effective
• In demand

Trying a new marketing channel comes with some amount of risk, but texting is a safe bet. It’s relatively inexpensive and doesn’t take a lot of time to pick up.

The worst thing your marketing can be is outdated (looking at you, cold calling and non-targeted emails). Bring your business into the modern day with text message marketing.

Related Reading: What Are the Pros and Cons of SMS Marketing?

Still not convinced? Here are some of our favorite things about SMS marketing.

You and I have never met, but we have one thing in common. We both own a cellphone.

Chances are also good that almost every one of your potential and existing customers do, too. The vast majority of Americans—96% to be exact—own a cellphone of some kind.

Not only that, but they spend a lot of time with it. Nearly seven hours daily, in fact.

A recent study by SimpleTexting (that’s us!) found that 80% of respondents said checking, answering, and sending texts is the activity they do most on their phones.

TL;DR: Your customers are texting, so why aren’t you?

People enjoy texting. It’s the way they engage with their nearest and dearest. 

In the hierarchy of marketing channels, texting is by far the most personal. Where email brings to mind more formal business communications, SMS feels friendly and casual.

Unlike social media, which sends one message to many, anyone receiving texts can feel personally recognized.

The caveat here is that texting requires an invite. If you decide to crash someone’s inbox uninvited, you’ll annoy them and break TCPA laws on text marketing.

This may sound like an intimidating hurdle to overcome, but all you need is express written consent—a fancy term for permission. 

P.S. This makes your texts even more effective (more on that below).

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Consumers see a multitude of marketing messages every day, everywhere.

As people grow numb to the constant stream of social media and online ads, it can be challenging to get your message across. Text message marketing is the answer.

Want proof? Check out these stats:

• The average SMS marketing campaign conversion rate is 45%.
• SMS open rates are 98%.
• The click-through rates for SMS hover between 20 and 35%.

Plus, as of 2024, 80% of businesses use text message marketing with their customers.

Texts take seconds to send and seconds to read, which is why business owners love using them and consumers love getting them. 

38% of business owners leverage the sense of urgency texting provides to boost engagement on things like special offers and time-sensitive promotions.

Just ask Whisker Seeker, that saw a 25% conversion rate on its time-sensitive MegaDeals promotions.

People read new text messages almost immediately. More than half of consumers read text messages within two minutes of receiving them. It’s challenging to get that kind of instant exposure from email.

For the majority of people—nearly 38%, in fact—receiving texts is their preferred way of communicating. 

Most people ignore ads because they aren’t interested in the business’s message.

Consider how many times you scroll through Instagram and see a brand asking you to “Buy Now.” Chances are you usually keep scrolling.

This kind of marketing typically has a low success rate for one simple reason—it’s uninvited. 

Since people subscribe to receive your texts, your message is guaranteed to reach an audience that’s genuinely interested in what you have to offer. 

It goes a long way to explain the high level of engagement and conversion rates businesses see when they send texts.

To illustrate the unique benefits of SMS marketing, let’s quickly compare a few other common communication channels.

• Direct mail won’t do for alerting someone to your e-commerce store’s flash sale or your restaurant’s ribs deal. It’s slow, expensive, and can end up in the garbage.
• Phone calls are extreme if you’re just letting someone know you offer free teeth cleaning with a checkup. They can also be untimely and intrusive, and only about half of business calls get answered in the first place.
• We here at SimpleTexting love email marketing, but marketing emails can get lost in overflowing inboxes or junk folders. It explains why response rates to SMS marketing are 7.5x higher than email.

Recommended Reading: Email Marketing vs. Text Message Marketing: Which One Is Right for You?

In a word, yes. SMS marketing is effective.

Regardless of your industry—or whether you’re sending a national marketing campaign to hundreds of thousands or engaging a few customers around the corner—SMS marketing is a highly effective and friction-free way to market.

If you’re feeling ready to take the plunge, try out SimpleTexting for 14 days, totally free.