2024 SMS marketing benchmarks [Report]

March 25, 2024

Benchmarking for SMS marketing involves setting standards or reference points against which the performance of campaigns can be measured. This process involves establishing key performance indicators (KPIs) such as open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and overall ROI, and comparing these metrics to industry standards or competitors’ performance.

By comparing their SMS marketing performance against benchmarks, business owners can assess how well their campaigns are performing relative to industry standards or competitors. SMS benchmarks can also highlight areas where SMS marketing efforts may be falling short, allowing businesses to identify weaknesses and make adjustments to improve performance.

What does this mean for you?

By understanding what constitutes good performance in the industry, you’ll be able to set targets that align with those standards and drive innovation and optimization in your SMS marketing strategies.

So what are others doing?

In 2023, we conducted a comprehensive survey targeting 400+ business owners and marketing managers across various industries to gather insights into the performance of SMS marketing campaigns. The main aim was to provide actionable data for businesses like yours to benchmark their SMS marketing efforts effectively.

Upon analyzing the survey responses, we calculated the average performance metrics for SMS marketing campaigns, including click-through rates, conversion rates, and unsubscribe rates. Additionally, we segmented the data by industry to provide more targeted insights you can use straight away.

Note we’ll also share the top highest-converting use cases by industry to give you more ideas of ways to use SMS.

Using this benchmark report effectively can provide valuable insights into the performance of your SMS marketing strategy. Here’s how you can interpret the data:

• Matching industry averages: If your click-through rates (CTR) and conversion rates (CVR) fall within the average ranges provided for your industry, it indicates that your SMS marketing strategy is performing in line with your peers, on average. This suggests that your approach is effective and competitive within your industry.
• Outperforming industry averages: If your CTR and CVR are higher than the industry average, congratulations! This shows that your SMS marketing campaigns are exceeding expectations and outperforming your competitors. It might also suggest your messaging resonates well with your audience, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.
• Lower unsubscribe rates: If your unsubscribe rate is lower than the industry average, it signifies that you’re doing a great job at keeping your audience engaged and interested in your SMS communications. A lower unsubscribe rate might also indicate that your messaging is relevant, valuable, and non-intrusive, leading to better retention and long-term engagement.

	Click-through rate	Conversion rate	Unsubscribe rate
SMS marketing benchmarks for commercial services	21-35%	21-30%	1-2%

The majority (23.53%) of commercial services companies report customer satisfaction surveys and feedback are their highest-converting text marketing use case. In fact, customer satisfaction surveys and new product/service offers are the most-used text marketing tactics in the commercial services industry with almost 56% of respondents working with them.

Marketers are also using SMS for customer service and support efforts (17.65%) as SMS acts as a direct and convenient channel for customers to seek assistance, ask questions, or resolve issues. Sharing new products and service offerings (11.76%) as well as sending SMS reminders for appointments or reservations (11.76%) also results in high conversion rates.

So what’s losing ground?

Only 2.94% of commercial services companies use texting to collect reviews from customers, making this an opportunity to outperform your competition.

	Click-through rate	Conversion rate	Unsubscribe rate
SMS marketing benchmarks for construction	21-35%	21-30%	1-2%

Business owners in the construction space are seeing high conversion rates thanks to five core tactics:

• Sending customer satisfaction surveys and feedback (17.78%)
• Sharing discounts/promotions/sale alerts (15.56%)
• Using texting for customer service (13.33%)
• Sending appointment or reservation reminders (13.33%)
• Billing and collections (11.11%)

	Click-through rate	Conversion rate	Unsubscribe rate
SMS marketing benchmarks for consumer services	21-35%	11-20%	1-2%

Sending customer satisfaction surveys and using SMS for gathering feedback (25.93%) is the number one method that gets the best conversion rates for consumer service businesses. This hack is seconded by sharing discounts and sale alerts (14.81%), sending invitations (11.11%), asking for reviews (11.11%), and offering support (11.11%).

	Click-through rate	Conversion rate	Unsubscribe rate
SMS marketing benchmarks for ecommerce/retail	21-35%	11-20%	1-2%

While SMS is best used for letting people know when you have a sales campaign (22.22%), using it for customer support (17.78%) yields great results for shoppers looking for quick and convenient replies. For instance, Whisker Seeker Tackle, an online fishing store, has successfully used SMS to announce offers and improve conversion by 25%. 

Shockingly, 17.78% of respondents said they don’t use text marketing at all. Ecommerce businesses though are significantly increasing their revenue and upping their conversion rates from SMS messaging.

	Click-through rate	Conversion rate	Unsubscribe rate
SMS marketing benchmarks for education	11-20%	21-30%	1-2%

Sending appointment reminders is by far the most used tactic in the industry (42.86%) and also the best converting one (23.81%). When Maharishi International University tried traditional marketing strategies, they just didn’t work. SimpleTexting’s two-way messaging and text reminders were able to increase attendance at their online events by 10%.

This strategy is closely followed by three others:

• Billing and payment collections (14.29%)
• Customer support (14.29%)
• Discount alerts (14.29%)

	Click-through rate	Conversion rate	Unsubscribe rate
SMS marketing benchmarks for	21-35%	21-30%	1-2%

One of the things clients need the most in the finance space? Good and fast support. Hence, 21.74% of respondents in the finance space say it’s the most effective use case for SMS. Alternatively, texting also works for gathering feedback (17.39%) and billing (13.04%).

	Click-through rate	Conversion rate	Unsubscribe rate
SMS marketing benchmarks for	21-35%	21-30%	1-2%

Professionals on healthcare marketing teams use SMS heavily for sending customer satisfaction surveys (41.38%). While this is the top use case with an effectiveness of 17.24%, it’s actually closely followed by billing, new releases, and support — each with 13.79%.

Tip: You’ll want to make sure you’re integrating SMS as part of a two-way texting. MJH Life Sciences’s Cure Magazine lowered attrition rates with SMS event reminders. When the team relied solely on email, attrition rates averaged 19%, with fluctuations ranging from 0% to 45%. However, after implementing two text reminders sent on the day of the meeting, the average attrition rate decreased to 12.75%.

	Click-through rate	Conversion rate	Unsubscribe rate
SMS marketing benchmarks for	21-35%	11-20%	1-2%

27.78% of marketers and business owners in the hospitality space name abandoned cart follow-ups as the most effective use case. They also used it for promotions updates (16.67%), customer support (11.11%), and getting reviews (11.11%).

	Click-through rate	Conversion rate	Unsubscribe rate
SMS marketing benchmarks for	36-50%	11-20%	1-2%

An equal percentage of respondents (26.32%) named customer support and customer feedback as their top use cases. Surprisingly, these are only the second and third most used tactics in the industry.

The most popular strategy is using SMS to set up appointment reminders. This method was only named as effective by 10.53% of human resource marketers.

	Click-through rate	Conversion rate	Unsubscribe rate
SMS marketing benchmarks for	21-35%	31-40%	3-5%

Half of respondents use SMS marketing for client satisfaction surveys and just as many name it as their top best-converting tactic. 

Meanwhile, compared to other industries, the legal space seems to have a couple of strategies that don’t work at all. Namely, no respondent has yet seen results from using texting for billing, appointment reminders, asking for reviews, event invites, and even support. This is likely since these strategies require a more personal approach (like a call or in-person talk).

	Click-through rate	Conversion rate	Unsubscribe rate
SMS marketing benchmarks for	21-35%	21-30%	1-2%

An equal number of respondents (18.18%) name customer satisfaction measuring and support offerings as their top use cases. 9.09% also use SMS effectively for sending appointment reminders, billing, and sharing new service offerings.

	Click-through rate	Conversion rate	Unsubscribe rate
SMS marketing benchmarks for	21-35%	21-30%	1-2%

Marketers in the manufacturing industry are seeing some whooping results from a diversity of tactics:

• Customer satisfaction surveys and feedback (21.43% say it’s their highest-converting SMS strategy)
• Appointment reminders (14.29% say it’s their highest-converting SMS strategy)
• Payment collections (14.29% say it’s their highest-converting SMS strategy)
• Customer support (14.29% say it’s their highest-converting SMS strategy)
• Discount alerts (10.71% say it’s their highest-converting SMS strategy)

	Click-through rate	Conversion rate	Unsubscribe rate
SMS marketing benchmarks for	11-20%	21-30%	Less than 1%

25% of respondents name event invites and special offers as being the most effective for driving conversions. As an example, Alabama Head Injury Foundation noted an impressive 88% retention rate in meeting attendance from reminder text messages.

How to: You can save time with text reminders for regular donations people need to make as well as special events and offers. SimpleTexting makes scheduling easy allowing you to personalize reminders and facilitate one-on-one conversations with your contacts.

	Click-through rate	Conversion rate	Unsubscribe rate
SMS marketing benchmarks for	21-35%	11-20%	3-5%

36.36% of marketers in real estate name customer service as their most effective use case. 18.18% also referenced texts on new product/service offerings.

	Click-through rate	Conversion rate	Unsubscribe rate
SMS marketing benchmarks for	21-35%	31-40%	1-2%

Technology companies get the most replies (20.59%) from simply using SMS texts to ask clients for feedback. You can get similar results by keeping your texts short and straightforward while also giving people a quick way to share their feedback or rate your product. 11.76% of tech companies also effectively use text messaging for customer service.

	Click-through rate	Conversion rate	Unsubscribe rate
SMS marketing benchmarks for travel	1-10%	21-30%	1-2%

There’s no single most used tactic in the travel space. All strategies are used equally. Yet, 42.86% of marketers in this field note that sending discounts and special offers is the most effective strategy. This is closely followed by asking for reviews, sending reservation reminders and event invites, as well as highlighting new travel packages or destinations (for 14.29% of respondents).

You can use these SMS benchmarks as a guide to compare your own SMS marketing metrics (e.g. CTR, CVR, unsubscribe rate) to the industry averages. 

If your metrics fall within or exceed the industry averages, identify what aspects of your strategy are contributing to your success. Conversely, if your metrics lag, they should pinpoint areas where improvement is needed.

Benchmarking should also help you get a reference point for setting achievable goals. Use the industry averages above as a point of reference to set custom targets for improving your SMS marketing performance over time.

To learn more about how to track and improve your SMS marketing performance metrics, check out our “Walk-Run-Sprint” methodology which allows you to break SMS marketing measurement into three stages. This will give you all the practical insights and strategies you need at every stage of your SMS marketing journey — regardless of whether you’re a beginner or advanced practitioner.

Stay tuned for our upcoming webinar where we’ll delve deeper into advanced SMS marketing techniques and strategies. This webinar will provide actionable tips and best practices to help you further optimize your SMS marketing campaigns for success.