SMS Marketing By Market Size, Adoption, Industry, Customer Engagement, Demographics, Consumers’ Preferred Channels And Regions
Maitrayee Dey
Updated · Nov 14, 2024
WHAT WE HAVE ON THIS PAGE
Introduction
SMS Marketing: Over the years, businesses have increasingly embraced text marketing as a direct means of communicating with customers. With high open rates, speed of delivery, and large audience coverage, it is expected that SMS marketing will grow significantly in the year 2024, progressing in step with the evolving mobile technology and marketing based on data.
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- With the growing reliance on mobile phones in business today, about 95% of such business activities can be conducted without an internet connection.
- The text marketing sector within the United States will expand to $12.6 billion by 2025 with a compound annual growth rate of 20.3%.
- According to SMS marketing, almost 75% of clients prefer messaging support over making phone calls and engaging in social media.
- The audience response rate through SMS marketing may reach as much as 36%, thus making it an efficient and cost-effective choice.
- In 2024, 65% of companies from various sectors implemented SMS services, with constant development from 45% in 2022 and 55% in 2023.
- The retail sector took the lead, with 80% – 85% of retailers integrating SMS into their customer engagement strategies, followed by healthcare, e-commerce, and real estate.
- In e-commerce businesses, promotions account for 50% of SMS applications, while retail businesses have an average SMS return on investment of 25 times.
- An estimated 26% of businesses embrace sending promotional campaigns via SMS, whereas 63% do so for customer appointment management.
- The open rates for SMS are 98%, with a conversion rate of 15%, and it takes 1-3 minutes to read 90% of the messages.
- In 2024, consumers had a particular inclination to receive short message service offers, which were very immediate and included time-focused content such as flash sales and exclusive deals.
- 97% of teenagers own mobile phones and send text messages. This means that they can be reached through SMS by businesses.
- 18-24-year-olds send approximately 128 text messages per day, 25-34-year-olds send about 75, and 45-54-year-olds send about 33.
- Millennials, on average, will spend 33% of their time on their mobile phones to make and receive texts.
- When it comes to receiving updates regarding loyalty offers, SMS is the most preferred channel by 48% of consumers; 22% prefer emails, 20% app notifications, and 8% prefer direct mail.
- 52% of consumers are receptive to receiving advertising messages via text, 30% like to receive delivery notifications, and 75% like to receive promotional messages via their mobile phones.
- SMS has a click-through rate (CTR) of 9.18%, which outranks that of Facebook (0.90%) and Google AdWords (1.91%).
- In North America, texting wins over every other form of communication as the most preferred (30%), with A/B testing for send times being suggested. Loyal consumers in Europe are more than brand loyalists, as 61% of them are loyal to three other brands, and they engage in SMS subscriptions and repurchases.
- In APAC, the content dissimilarity between email and SMS is preferred since 66 % of consumers usually request SMS coupons.
- Text messages do not require the installation of applications; therefore, they are much more straightforward in terms of communication than emails. 90% of users would, however, prefer SMS for business purposes in the case of reminders of any alerts.
- Business communication using SMS is also found to be within reach and fast, as well as not disruptive to nearly 80% of the consumers.
- In 2020, the number of individuals who employed SMS services in the conduct of business activities came to 7 million, and this number has changed quite rapidly.
- Text marketing response in 2024 is about 45%, which is relatively higher than that of other marketing channels. This high level of interaction is the reason why text marketing is most preferred when it comes to flash sales and exclusive offers or short surveys.
- On average, customers receive SMS responses within 90 seconds, which enhances the essence and effectiveness of SMS marketing.
- As of 2024, there are approximately 5.8 mobile users across the globe, thus offering a huge market scope for the SMS marketing strategy.
SMS Marketing Market Size
(Source: smscomparison.com)
- Today, SMS marketing is increasingly important to the success of businesses.
- The U.S. marketing of the SMS services market is expected to grow to 12.6 billion U.S. dollars by 2025, achieving a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.3%.
- One of the reasons for this noticeable shift is that nearly 75% of the customers are reported to prefer using text to reach customer support instead of calling or even posting on social media platforms.
- This change focuses on the ease of conducting advertising via text message as some online merchants have recorded up to 36% click-through rate via SMS.
- Such tendencies are encouraging a number of businesses to adopt the tactical approach of text marketing since it is straightforward and economical as far as reaching customers is concerned.
SMS Marketing Adoption
(Reference: smscomparison.com)
- Research shows that the year 2024 saw a notable increase in the use of SMS marketing, as approximately 65% of companies in various industries embraced SMS as a marketing tool. This is a remarkable improvement than in the recent past.
- In 2022, only 45% of enterprises carried out marketing via SMS; this figure advancing to about 55% by the year 2023.
- This somewhat consistent and gradual increase every year indicates a growing trend in the use of text marketing as more and more businesses take advantage of its potential to engage with customers in a more direct and personal manner.
- The ever-increasing rate of acceptance, in turn, reinforces the positioning of SMS as an effective device for engaging customers.
SMS Marketing Usage By Industry
(Reference: smscomparison.com)
- Retail, in particular, is the top sector that has embraced SMS marketing, with about 80% to 85% of retailers using text messaging to enhance customer connections.
- Other sectors that have greatly adopted SMS include e-health, e-commerce, and real-estate sectors.
- The benefits of SMS are in its personalized, simple, and cheap attributes that enable timely reminders, updates, and direct offers to the intended audience.
- In the case of e-commerce, up to 50% of SMS is used to advertise promotional offers.
- However, based on the customer survey, the retail business is mostly associated with the usage of SMS – 47%.
- Hence, SMS marketing is also one of the ways retailers make money, where the average expected return is 25x.
- SMS is highly utilized in industries such as retail and e-commerce, healthcare, real estate, and many more.
- Real estate also leverages SMS marketing to inform prospects of new properties for rent or sale, as well as the current market trends. It is also known that all businesses communicate with customers using this medium, especially during unfortunate events.
- Approximately 26% of organizations employ this means to communicate about promotional offers and discounts and to provide information to clients, while around 63% arrange client appointments to minimize non-attendance.
SMS Marketing By Customer Engagement
- Marketing through SMS has an open rate of approximately 98%, together with average click-through rate figures ranging from 19 % to 35 %, depending on the type of message and the industry.
- This enhances engagement, resulting in an average conversion rate of nearly 15%, which makes it possible to say that SMS is one of the greatest tools in digital marketing.
- This, too, is significant because 90% of the messages are usually read within one minute to three minutes of their arrival.
- Engagement patterns have changed, particularly in 2024, as there is a strong preference in consumers towards text messages that are instantly helpful, for instance, exclusive offers, flash sales, or information, which is degreed time-bound.
- This change emphasizes the need for businesses to ensure there is relevant, quality content in the SMS campaigns since customer demand is on the rise.
SMS Marketing Demographics
(Reference: smscountry.com)
- An impressive 97% of the teen population owns a mobile phone, and almost all are actively involved in texting, enabling businesses to reach out to them with ease.
- Globally, an average of 23-27 billion text messages are sent each day.
- When it comes to the age groups in use of texting os, ages 18-24 send 128 text messages on a daily average, while 25-34-year-olds send around 75 messages.
- For the 45-54-year-old age bracket, the average daily text messages sent via SMS is 33. In addition to that, millennials text approximately 33% of the time they are on their mobile devices.
SMS Marketing By Consumers’ Preferred Channels
(Reference: textdrip.com)
- As per consumers’ preference in the loyalty update channels from brands, SMS leads the ranks, with 48% of the respondents not preferring text messages.
- The other channels include, but are not limited to, email (22%), app notifications (20%), and direct mail (8%).
- Further research indicates that 52% of consumers do not mind receiving promotional texts, 30% appreciate delivery updates via SMS, and 75% are willing to be sent special offers through texts.
- Text messaging also enjoys a high click-through rate as compared to other advertising platforms, which are 9.18% CTA for text messaging services, Facebook at 0.90%, and Google AdWords at 1.91%. Moreover, 90% of the customers also regard loyalty programs sent through sms as being useful.
SMS Marketing By Regions
- North America: Practice Majors important le par SMS, 30% of the people cite it as the most preferred channel of communication while the global average is 24%. North American consumers are also the ones most likely to purchase things and have them done before noontime. Even then, this varies, therefore suggesting that brands should A/B test send times very frequently in this region compared to Europe and APAC regions. However, North Americans are more tolerant of receiving more than one SMS in a week. Still, they favor opcode even more than non-promo and informational messages.
- Europe: European consumers enjoy and demonstrate the highest level of brand devotion in the world. 61% of respondents confessed to being loyal to three brands or more, including the fewest NA respondents, 45%, and APAC ones, 48%. Besides, they are the most active in subscribing to multichannel SMS ‘brands’ as 46% tend to follow four or more ‘brands’ and 38% North America’, enabling them to have a full range of options. In Europe, SMS is functional in converting new customers into loyal ones, and this information is consistent with internal market studies; 23% of European people made SMI purchases 4-5 times this year, in contrast to 18% in the USA and 17% in the Asia-Pacifi region.
- APAC: In the context of the APAC, the potential for the purchase of a short message service is one of the more ambitious, for half of the respondents agree that a discount will render them able to register an sms subscription, as opposed to the global directory, which is 59%. APAC consumer behavior results in less tolerance towards SMS campaigns, optimally once a week, and content differentiation is required; 40% of APAC respondents feel it is boring to receive the same content via email and SMS channels as opposed to 32% in North America and 31% in Europe.
SMS Marketing Effectiveness
- SMS is already a fundamental part of today’s mobile marketing strategies, allowing companies to reach customers online and offline through any mobile device, desktop, or laptop.
- It is rather easy to communicate with this media since there is no need to install a specific program to receive those messages, and that is why it is very attractive to consumers.
- Furthermore, SMS texts are delivered rather than sent in contrast to emails, as they can get lost or buried in an inbox.
- 90% of the Americans surveyed say that they would prefer to get such notifications or reminders alerting them to some communication that they would have to carry out with the person or an organization using a text message.
- Almost 80% of the respondents like Inter-SMS communication in business activities due to its speed, convenience, and lack of intrusion; already, in 2020, 7 million people were fond of such services for texting to businesses only, illustrating its burgeoning status as a marketing tool.
- More than half of all consumers also report a preference for texting for customer service purposes rather than engaging in voice telephone conversations, and Americans are statistically much more likely to receive and send text messages than make voice calls.
- SMS was also favored the most for loyalty program updates, with 48% of consumers choosing this method over others, including email, in-app notifications, and direct mail.
- Moreover, 52% of the respondents do not mind receiving marketing texts, while 30% appreciate being updated about the progress of delivery via SMS.
- Sales offered through texts are also very common, with 75% of the consumers wanting them. The car (click-through rate) of SMS is 9.18%, which is quite high compared to other media such as Facebook (0.90%) and Google AdWords (1.91%).
- Additionally, 90% of customers prefer winning loyalty programs that attract them through SMS. This makes the channel useful for many companies looking to create and strengthen customer connections.
Challenges And Practices
- Executing text marketing campaigns always has its own set of positives and negatives, yet if stakeholders know these elements in advance, they will find the task less difficult.
- One of the greatest impediments is the effective management of subscriber sign-ups as the SMS list increases.
- Using text message marketing software makes it easy to create, schedule, test, and implement your text campaigns.
- Have a user opt-in to receive such messages before any delivery.
- Make sure to comply with TCPA and 10DLC regulations for campaigns targeting the US.
- Always provide clear instructions on how to unsubscribe from any message.
- Make sure that every audience group is addressed to make messages relevant.
- Make sure that messages are customer-oriented by considering their likes and other things.
- Restrict some periods of disseminating messages to the recipients so that they are not overwhelmed with information.
- SMS marketing shows that the average SMS unsubscribe rate does not exceed email-based unsubscribe rates, which are about 10% to 15%.
- Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons are also said to be the best days to send an SMS, as people are most likely to engage with it during their work hours.
- Messaging will also matter in SMS marketing as messages coming in certain hours may cause a rise in the opt-out rates.
Conclusion
In 2024, SMS marketing will be an essential element of the marketing strategies employed by many organizations worldwide because it is interactive and personalized and helps communicate with clients directly. Text message marketing will flourish as brands spend more on personalization, automation, and customer engagement because it has high returns on investment, fast delivery, and high open rates.
From the point of view of brands and services, text message marketing encourages existing customers and potential ones to patronize the business and make purchases, considering that the world has shifted to mobile devices.
Sources
FAQ.
How much is the text message marketing sector expected to grow in 2024?
Revenue in the SMS content industry is likely to undergo a rapid transformation, as the SMS services market in the U.S. is expected to grow up to $12.6 billion by 2025 at a CAGR of 20.3%.
What industry sectors have the greatest level of acceptance and use of text message marketing at the current time?
Within SMS marketing strategies, the retail sector is the most widely practised. Studies show that 80% to 85% of retailers interact with consumers through text messages. Other industries that are also quick to follow with mass SMS include healthcare, e-commerce, and real estate.
What advantages does SMS marketing offer to the company?
Unlike many other channels that suffer from very low open rates (typically 98%) and even lower conversion rates (approximately 15%), messages are usually read in a window of between 1-3 minutes after being sent. It also plays the role of immediacy in reaching out to customers, particularly for time-bound offers such as flash sales and exclusive offers.
How does the effectiveness of SMS marketing vary from region to region?
In the continent of North America, customers have indicated that SMS is the preferred channel of communication among 30% of them, thus making it possible to engage customers effectively. In Europe, the case is that what draws more clients to SMS campaigns is loyalty due to customer engagement, but in APAC, it is all about what catches the eye because if not done that way, it is best to space the SMS campaigns once a week.
What issues do companies come across when dealing with SMS marketing?
The main problem of message marketing deals with the ability to work with a huge list of subscribers. Companies have to deal with some kind of restrictions when it comes to putting up such services ( for instance, in the US, there are things like TCPA compliance or 10DLC) and also allow customers to subscribe or unsubscribe with ease.
Maitrayee Dey
Maitrayee, after completing her graduation in Electrical Engineering, transitioned into the world of writing following a series of technical roles. She specializes in technology and Artificial Intelligence, bringing her experience as an Academic Research Analyst and Freelance Writer, with a focus on education and healthcare under the Australian system. From an early age, writing and painting have been her passions, leading her to pursue a full-time career in writing. In addition to her professional endeavors, Maitrayee also manages a YouTube channel dedicated to cooking.
