With more consumers welcoming texts from brands, businesses are doubling down on SMS to reach customers instantly, drive real revenue, and streamline customer service. Whether it’s sending an exclusive deal, automating appointment reminders, or solving a problem in real time, brands that prioritize SMS marketing are seeing stronger engagement and better results.

To get the full picture, we surveyed 1,000 U.S. consumers as well as 400 business owners and digital marketers about how they use and perceive SMS in 2025. We dug into everything from texting habits and AI adoption to SMS marketing conversion rates and opt-in trends.

So, which industries are seeing the biggest SMS adoption? How are businesses using AI to make texting more effective? And why are more consumers opting into business texts than ever before? Let’s break down the numbers.

Key SMS marketing statistics

1. In 2025, 66% of businesses use SMS marketing software to text their customers and 67% are increasing their SMS marketing budgets.
2. Businesses that text their customers are 5.89 times more likely to report digital marketing success than businesses that don’t use text message marketing.
3. Most businesses have an average SMS marketing click-through rate between 21 and 35%.
4. 82% of businesses agree that SMS marketing is an effective way to drive revenue.
5. Customer service is the primary reason businesses are using SMS marketing in 2025.
6. 81% of businesses say AI has improved their SMS marketing success, with most saving 4-6 hours per week on average.
7. 82% of consumers check their text notifications within just five minutes of receiving a text. And nearly a third check their text notifications within just 60 seconds of receipt.
8. 93% of consumers text every day, and nearly half (45%) check their text messages more than 10 times a day.
9. Texting is the top mobile activity for 83% of consumers.
10. In 2025, 84% of consumers are opted in to receive texts from businesses –– indicating a 6% growth in consumer opt-ins from last year.
11. Over half of SMS subscribers (52%) receive texts from four or more businesses.
12. Consumers are most likely to subscribe to texts from businesses within the ecommerce/retail and healthcare industries.
13. Appointment or reservation reminders, shipment tracking, and promotions are the biggest reasons consumers are signing up to receive business texts.
14. Most consumers now choose texting over email and phone calls for customer service issues, and 71% of consumers want the ability to text a business back.
15. According to consumers, texting too frequently is the fastest way to lose subscribers.

Consumer-related SMS marketing statistics

How are consumers using their smartphones?

People reach for their text messages before anything else on their phones. Texting is the top mobile activity for 83% of consumers, outpacing social media (75%) and email (66%). And it’s not just a passing trend. There’s been a steady rise in texting as the top mobile activity over the past few years: 77% in 2022, 78% in 2023, 80% in 2024, and now 83% in 2025. 

For businesses, this means one thing: SMS isn’t just a way to reach customers—it’s the way they prefer to communicate. With engagement levels continuing to climb, there’s never been a better time to connect with your audience via text.

How quickly do consumers check their text notifications?

When it comes to checking text notifications, speed is the name of the game. 32% of consumers open their texts within just 60 seconds of receipt. And if you zoom out a bit, the numbers are even more impressive. 82% of all consumers and 90% of Gen Z consumers check their texts within five minutes.

This isn’t just a one-time trend, either. Year after year, our reports have shown the same pattern: consumers consistently prioritize checking their texts almost immediately. For businesses using SMS, that’s a major advantage—your message isn’t just delivered, it’s seen and considered within moments.

How frequently do consumers check their texts throughout the day?

Grabbing consumers’ attention isn’t easy these days. People ignore marketing emails, scroll past sponsored posts, and mute push notifications without a second thought. Cutting through the noise takes a channel they’re already engaged with—and that’s exactly where SMS shines.

93% of consumers text every day, and nearly half (45%) check their text messages more than 10 times a day. Some take it even further—18% of all consumers and 26% of Gen Z check their texts more than 20 times a day. Whether it’s one-on-one chats or buzzing group threads, younger generations are glued to their messages, making SMS one of the most effective ways to reach them.

How many consumers are opted in to SMS marketing in 2025?

Consumers want direct, no-nonsense communication from businesses, and SMS remains their preferred way to get it. In 2025, 84% of consumers are opted in to receive texts from businesses, marking a 35% growth in SMS marketing opt-ins since 2021. Just last year, that number was 79%, showing a 6.3% increase in opt-ins year over year.

When breaking it down by demographics, women (88%) are more likely to opt in to business texts than men (78%), and Gen X leads the way in SMS subscriptions, with 85% currently receiving texts from brands.

How frequently do consumers want to receive texts from businesses?

There’s still plenty of room for businesses to grow their SMS marketing reach. Over half of SMS subscribers (52%) receive texts from four or more businesses, with Gen X leading the way at 60%. Meanwhile, most baby boomers currently receive texts from just 1-3 businesses but are open to opting into texts from 4-6 businesses, presenting a clear opportunity for brands to expand their SMS reach among older generations.

When it comes to how often consumers want to hear from businesses, most prefer texts every other week (49%) , while 34% are comfortable with weekly SMS messages. The key takeaway? Customers are open to more SMS engagement—but brands that respect texting cadence preferences will build stronger loyalty in the long run. You’ll want to avoid texting customers too much, so watch your SMS frequency.

Why are consumers opting in to texts from businesses?

It’s no mystery why consumers are increasingly opting in to business texts—SMS makes life easier. The top reasons people subscribe are appointment and reservation reminders (76%), shipment tracking and order updates (68%), and promotions or sale alerts (58%).

What do these have in common? Convenience and real-time updates. Consumers want timely reminders so they don’t miss important appointments, instant shipping notifications to track their purchases, and exclusive deals delivered straight to their phones. With SMS, there’s no digging through emails or refreshing apps—just fast, direct information exactly when it’s needed. 

Why would consumers opt out of texts from businesses?

What is the fastest way to lose SMS subscribers? Texting too often (53%), sending spam-like content (21%), or delivering messages that don’t feel relevant to the customer (11%). These numbers make one thing clear: successful SMS marketing is all about balance and personalization.

A simple rule of thumb—don’t overwhelm customers. Set clear expectations from the start by letting subscribers know how often they can expect to hear from you each month. Another key takeaway? Avoid text messages that feel robotic or generic. Before hitting send, ask yourself: Does this sound like a real person wrote it? If not, tweak it. A human touch makes all the difference in keeping customers engaged. Get our tips for effective text marketing opt-in language.

Which industries have the most SMS contacts?

Consumers consistently turn to SMS for updates from key industries, with ecommerce/retail (46%) leading the way, followed closely by healthcare (45%), and finance (27%). These three industries have topped the list since we started tracking this data in 2021, highlighting just how essential text communication has become in these spaces.

Ecommerce SMS marketing is useful for engaging shoppers with personalized promotions, reducing cart abandonment, and providing real-time order updates. In healthcare, text messaging improves patient communication, minimizes no-shows with appointment reminders, and enables instant responses to urgent requests. Financial institutions use SMS for secure account alerts, fraud detection, and seamless customer support.

Because these industries handle time-sensitive information—whether it’s a limited-time sale, a medical appointment, or a banking notification—SMS remains the most effective way to reach consumers quickly and ensure they stay informed.

How do consumers prefer to reach businesses for customer support?

Consumers increasingly value two-way conversations with businesses, especially when it comes to customer support. In 2025, texting officially overtook email as the top way consumers want to reach customer service. Most consumers (31%) now prefer texting a customer service rep over email and phone calls, marking a shift from last year when email held the top spot. 

The demand for two-way messaging is also growing. 71% of consumers want the ability to text a business back, 18% more than last year’s report. As customer expectations evolve, businesses that prioritize SMS for service inquiries will be best positioned to meet them.

Business-related SMS marketing statistics

What percentage of businesses use SMS marketing in 2025?

Texting has become a go-to marketing channel for businesses across industries. In 2025, 66% of businesses are using SMS marketing software to text their customers—a massive 55% increase compared to four years ago, when just 42% were leveraging text messaging. What’s more, with 82% of businesses agreeing that SMS is an effective way to drive revenue, it’s clear that text message marketing isn’t just a growing trend—it’s a proven strategy.

Industries leading the way in SMS marketing adoption rates include healthcare (83%), hospitality (80%), and finance (72%), where instant, direct messaging is key to customer interactions. According to hospitality businesses, SMS is their second highest-performing digital marketing channel, helping hotels, restaurants, and travel services stay connected with their guests. Meanwhile, healthcare and finance brands are well-positioned to maximize SMS marketing, as both rank among the top industries for consumer opt-ins.

Interestingly, there’s a disconnect between consumer demand and business adoption in ecommerce SMS marketing. When we asked consumers which industries they’d be most likely to opt in to for texts, ecommerce/retail ranked #1. But when we surveyed businesses, ecommerce/retail only came in 6th for SMS adoption (66%)—behind industries like construction and consumer services. This means retailers may be leaving opportunities on the table, missing out on a channel their customers want to engage with.

How does SMS marketing impact overall marketing success?

Adding SMS to your digital marketing mix isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a game-changer. 98% of businesses that text their customers say their digital marketing efforts are successful, compared to just 80% of businesses that don’t. That means businesses using SMS marketing strategies are 5.89 times more likely to report digital marketing success than those that don’t use text message marketing.

What are average SMS marketing click-through rates in 2025?

In 2025, most businesses (36%) report an average SMS marketing click-through rate between 21 and 35%, with the finance industry leading the way. 72% of finance businesses see click-through rates above 20%, making it the top-performing sector for SMS engagement.

Conversion rates tell a similar story. The majority of businesses (32%) see average SMS marketing conversion rates between 21 and 30%, with hospitality, finance, and consumer services standing out. In fact, 69% of hospitality businesses and 67% of both finance and consumer services businesses report conversion rates above 20%. With numbers like these, it’s clear that SMS isn’t just generating clicks—it’s turning them into real results.

How and why are businesses using SMS marketing?

SMS marketing isn’t just for promotions and payment reminders anymore. In 2025, customer service (51%) and customer satisfaction surveys/feedback (47%) continue to be the top two reasons businesses send texts, following the upward trend seen in last year’s report.

This shift reflects how brands are using SMS to create better customer experiences, gather real-time feedback, and provide instant support. Instead of just selling, businesses are focusing on building stronger connections one text at a time.

For half of businesses (50%), the ability to have two-way conversations with customers is the biggest advantage of SMS marketing. Unlike other channels, texting creates a direct, real-time connection where customers can ask questions, get support, and engage with businesses on their own terms, building stronger relationships with every interaction.

Beyond two-way messaging, businesses are also turning to SMS for its cost-effectiveness (42%) and real-time reach and instant delivery (41%), making it one of the most efficient and impactful marketing channels available.

How are businesses planning to adjust their SMS marketing budgets in 2025?

Businesses are doubling down on SMS in 2025. 67% plan to increase their text message marketing budgets this year, a clear sign that brands see SMS as a high-performing, must-have channel. And with good reason—most businesses (55%) saw their SMS opt-in rates grow over the past year, with finance (78%) and hospitality (69%) having the highest percentage of businesses reporting growth.

SMS isn’t just keeping customers engaged, it’s driving serious sales. Most businesses say text message marketing now accounts for 21-30% of their online revenue, proving that a well-timed text can do a lot more than just get opened—it can convert.

Artificial intelligence (AI) in text marketing

Which emerging trends are businesses incorporating into their SMS marketing strategy?

AI is taking center stage in SMS marketing, with 50.4% of businesses planning to use it for personalization and automation—making it the top emerging trend. Businesses are turning to AI to craft smarter, more engaging texts that feel tailored to each customer while driving better results. It’s working, too—81% of businesses say AI has improved their SMS marketing success.

Other trends gaining traction include chatbots and virtual assistants (44.3%), interactive polls and surveys (35.1%), and two-way messaging (30.2%), all pointing to a shift toward more conversational and dynamic customer interactions. Location-based SMS targeting (28.6%) and cross-channel integration (26.0%) are also on the rise, helping businesses create seamless, real-time connections with their audience. As businesses continue to refine their SMS strategies, expect to see even more innovation in how brands engage customers through text.

How are businesses using AI in their SMS marketing?

AI is transforming how businesses approach SMS marketing, helping brands analyze customer data for targeting purposes (47.7%), personalize messages based on customer behavior (45.4%), and optimize message timing (41.6%) to improve engagement. Businesses are also using AI to generate text copy (40.1%) and automate campaign scheduling (38.2%), making SMS marketing more efficient than ever.

But AI adoption isn’t without its challenges. High implementation costs (25.2%) and privacy and data security concerns (22.5%) are the biggest barriers businesses face. Some also struggle with understanding AI tools (14.9%) or accessing relevant customer data (11.8%). That said, 15.3% of businesses report no issues integrating AI into their SMS marketing.

How much time do businesses save each week with AI-powered SMS marketing?

AI isn’t just making SMS marketing smarter—it’s making it way more efficient. Most businesses (37%) say using AI tools for SMS marketing saves them 4-6 hours per week, while nearly 19% are reclaiming seven or more hours. That’s an entire workday freed up just by automating message personalization, campaign scheduling, and customer engagement. Whether it’s fine-tuning send times or crafting the perfect text, AI is helping businesses get more done in less time—without sacrificing results.

How comfortable are consumers texting with AI chatbots?

AI-powered chat is quickly becoming a standard part of how businesses communicate with customers. Nearly 70% of consumers have interacted with an AI chatbot via text in the past year, whether for customer support, appointment scheduling, order tracking, or other purposes. What’s even more interesting? 8% aren’t even sure if they’ve chatted with AI or a human. That says a lot about how seamless these experiences have become.

Consumers are warming up to AI-powered texting, but human backup is still key. Statistics show that 64% of all consumers feel comfortable interacting with AI chatbots via SMS , with Gen Z leading the way at 69%—significantly more than baby boomers at 56%. That gap makes sense: younger generations have grown up with AI-driven recommendations, voice assistants, and automated customer support, making chatbot interactions feel more natural.

But no matter the age group, one factor stands out—69% of consumers say having the option to connect with a human when needed makes AI chatbots far more comfortable to use. The takeaway? AI can handle the routine, but businesses that offer a seamless handoff to real agents will earn the most trust.

How can AI chatbots provide the most value in text conversations with consumers?

Consumers see the most value in AI chatbots when they make everyday tasks faster and more convenient. When asked what situations they’d find chatbot texting useful, the top responses were order updates and tracking (66%), scheduling appointments (58%), and customer support (54%). These are quick, straightforward interactions where automation can save time and eliminate wait times. Instead of sitting on hold or digging through emails, customers can get instant updates, book appointments on the go, and resolve common issues—all through a simple text message. 

The future of SMS marketing

If this year’s data proves anything, it’s that SMS marketing is only becoming more essential for businesses. Texting has officially overtaken email and phone calls as the top way consumers want to contact customer service. AI is also making a major impact—81% of businesses say it has improved their SMS marketing success, and most report saving 4-6 hours per week using AI-powered tools. Meanwhile, opt-in rates continue to rise, but there’s still untapped potential, especially in ecommerce, where consumer demand outpaces business adoption.

Check out our success stories spanning various industries, showcasing how SMS marketing has empowered both small business owners and corporations to connect effectively with their target audiences. Another good source of inspiration is our small business podcast where we work one-on-one with customers to help them solve their marketing challenges. Interested in starting your SMS campaign or engaging customers through two-way texting? Try us out for free today! 

Methodology

The statistics in this report come from two surveys conducted between December 23–26, 2024. We surveyed 1,000 U.S. consumers across various demographics and 400 U.S. business owners and marketing managers from diverse industries and company sizes. Interested in SMS marketing statistics from previous years? View our 2023 and 2024 SMS marketing reports.

FAQ

The post Texting & SMS marketing statistics in 2025 appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.

You’ve probably heard a lot about using generative artificial intelligence (gen AI) to help reduce your workload. The right AI tools can help you brainstorm new ideas and engage with your customers while saving you time. You just have to know how to use it. While you can use tools like ChatGPT to generate SMS messages for your business, you can also use custom AI-powered solutions that are built to do that specific job.

In this blog post, I’ll explain how to use AI text message generators to make your job easier while staying true to your creativity. Plus, you’ll learn about a new AI SMS tool you can try for free.

Two ways to use AI and text messaging

While there are many ways to use AI-powered SMS marketing, most people stick to the most well-known two options: brainstorming and chatbots. The first helps you come up with and refine the messages you’ll send to contacts. That’s where AI text message generators come in. The second use is more technical, it involves powering the entire conversation with artificial intelligence.

1. Use an AI assistant for text messaging ideas

AI assistants can write examples of texts for you or provide ideas of what to write about, depending on what prompts you give them. They do some of the “thinking” for you to give you more ideas to work with and save you time. The prompts you give the AI impact the results you get back. So, at the very lest, be sure to describe your business, your customers, and what you want your text messages to accomplish when you write the prompt.

Free and low-cost generative AI tools like ChatGPT are popular picks for this tactic. But, if you have a text messaging service with a built-in AI solution, you can skip a few extra steps. SimpleTexting and its AI Assist feature is one example.

Using an AI assistant in SMS marketing goes beyond simply asking it to write the text for you. You can also:

• Come up with new angles on an existing text campaign
• Find benefits or customer pain points to emphasize in your texts
• Think of selling tactics to use in your messages (such as fear of missing out)
• Generate multiple messages and combine their best elements
• Change your text’s tone for your target audience or campaign

Marketing consultant Nora Sudduth shared her process for creating SMS campaigns with generative AI for a business-to-business (B2B) software-as-a-service (SaaS) company. Before diving into the steps, she shared an important takeaway:

“AI is great for quickly brainstorming lots of different ideas around messaging and angles. Then you need to use your industry knowledge and expertise to pick and choose and refine.”

Nora Sudduth, Marketing Consultant

She took these actions to build a campaign for her client:

1. Start with a strategy: Nora and her client established the goals for the campaign, as well as details about the audience, tone, and offering.
2. Bring AI into the mix: Then, she input what she learned from the strategy session into a generative AI tool. “AI offered a variety of messaging options around time savings, ease of integration, increased productivity, and exclusive early-bird access,” Nora says.
3. Choose and adjust: After choosing the most effective options from the AI, Nora adjusted the AI output and rewrote texts to suit the client’s audience. Using data from customer surveys, she tailored each text to resonate with the audience’s needs.
4. Test (and test again): With the texts ready to go, Nora A/B tested different calls to action and customer pain points. Nora says, “Based on our conversion data, we continued to refine those messages until we hit numbers we were happy with.”

The results were texts like this one:

2. Develop an AI-powered SMS chatbot

AI can also automate simple one-to-one customer interactions. Building an AI-powered SMS chatbot is more complex than brainstorming with AI, but it offers a way for you to help your customers when you aren’t available. So, the extra work definitely pays off.

You can create an SMS chatbot without generative AI, such as how you can use Zapier to create a basic chatbot in SimpleTexting. This type of chatbot is built to recognize different questions or requests and then reply to people with a pre-defined answer. When building an SMS chatbot, you’d map out “conversational paths” that include auto-generated responses like this:

Chatbots built with generative AI can improve this process with more flexibility and personalization. That’s because they’re able to generate unique responses based on a “knowledge base” from which they are trained. The chatbot’s knowledge base could be anything from your support documentation to product manuals to your menu and hours of operation. If you’re worried that customers will be turned off by the experience, don’t be – 80% of customers told Sinch they’re open to using AI chatbots.

Already using Zapier? You can try out new features that allow you to create custom, AI-powered chatbots built on OpenAI’s technology. Train the AI on a specific knowledge source and connect it with SimpleTexting to start generating replies to texts from customers and contacts.

Be aware that genAI chatbots do have risks. As Sinch points out, generative AI sometimes provides incorrect information or “hallucinations,” completely nonsensical statements.

Meet SimpleTexting’s AI assistant for text messaging

Not every small business is ready to start building chatbots powered by generative AI. It’s new technology and even the biggest brands in the world are still figuring things out. AI text message generators, however, are an easy way to start taking advantage of generative artificial intelligence. For example, SimpleTexting’s AI Assist is an easy-to-use tool for text message generation and refinement.

AI Assist is built into every SimpleTexting plan – even the free trial – so you can use it whenever you need to write or improve a campaign text.

Using AI Assist’s text message generator

When you’re building a campaign and you need ideas that get your message across, SimpleTextings AI text message generator is there to help you brainstorm without ever leaving our platform.

Click Generate message under AI Assist when composing a campaign. A dialogue box will pop up where you enter a prompt describing the kind of text message you need for the campaign. Click Generate a message inside the window and SimpleTexting’s AI Assist will generate five options for you to review and choose from. Not quite what you need? Click Refresh suggestions for a new set of options, or try rewriting your prompt for different results.

Once AI Assist generates a text message you like, just click Select message and it will be added to the campaign building workflow. Of course, you can still change the text to meet your needs. For example, maybe you’d rather use an emoji at the end of your message than the hashtag the AI tool suggested.

Speaking of emojis in SMS campaigns… AI Assist can help you with that too! There are a lot of ways to use our AI text message generator as a creative partner in your customer communications and marketing. Here’s how a tax advisor might use our tool to keep in touch with clients during the holidays:

Using AI Assist to refine and rephrase your text messages

One of the most useful ways to take advantage of SimpleTexting is one-to-one communications and SMS conversations with your contacts. Our users do this directly from the Inbox where they can text back and forth with customers and clients without using their mobile device.

But finding the right words and striking the right tone isn’t always easy. That’s why we’ve added AI Assist to the Inbox as well. You can use the AI Assist Rephraser Tool to refine your message. Just click the lightbulb icon after you compose a text. Then, you can choose from one of four tone adjusters:

• Short and sweet: Get the same message across with fewer words. This option can come in handy when you’d like to save message credits on longer messages.
• Expand: Ask the AI to elaborate on what you’ve already written to get more detailed with your message.
• Friendly: A user favorite – add a friendlier tone to your message to connect better with your customers.
• Formal: When it’s time to get down to business, you can choose this option to make your message sound more formal.

Get creative with AI and text messaging campaigns

AI can go even further than brainstorming, writing, and chatbots. Check out how these businesses use AI text messaging to create unique campaigns.

1. Blue Barn’s custom pet poems

When Blue Barn asked for our help on the Shoestring podcast, we were happy to oblige with plenty of text message marketing ideas. One of these suggestions combined AI’s image analysis and generative writing abilities.

Our campaign idea involved asking customers to text a cute photo of their pets to receive a text back with a custom poem. ChatGPT would analyze the pet in the photo and their surroundings, then reply with a fun poem based on that analysis. Here are a couple of examples:

Blue Barn used this creative AI-driven marketing strategy to accomplish two things:

1. It helped them encourage existing customers to opt in to their SMS marketing list.
2. It provided basic customer data for personalization because it indicated what type of pet the contact owns.

2. Window Factory’s personalized quotes

Home services businesses involve a lot of custom quotes, which can add time to the texting process. Window manufacturer and installer Window Factory saved time and increased quote requests by 25% by crafting personalized quotes with AI. General manager Nick Marshall and the Window Factory team used an AI tool to generate custom quote texts like this one:

3. Helix Sleep’s sleep quiz responses

AI can integrate texts into interactive processes like quizzes to create a full experience for customers. Helix Sleep, a mattress company, increased its conversion rate by 18% by sending AI-generated mattress suggestions to customers who took a sleep quiz. Here’s an example of one of those texts:

4. MagicProCleaning’s timeframe-based reminders

Services that should happen at regular intervals, such as healthcare, maintenance, or cleaning, can bring customers back through reminders, but the tone of those reminders is key. MagicProCleaning, a cleaning service provider, used tone suggestions from AI based on customer data to strike the right balance between urgency and value and saw a 20% increase in bookings within a week. Let’s look at an example text:

Try an AI text message generator for yourself

If you’re already using SimpleTexting, be sure to give our new AI Assist tool a try. And if you’re not taking advantage of our platform yet… AI SMS marketing is just a few clicks away!

Sign up for a free 14-day SimpleTexting trial to give all of our features a spin, including our AI Assist. And if you like what you see, we’ll offer flexible credit-based plans and guide you through the number registration process.

The post How to use an AI text message generator for SMS marketing appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.

Introduction to text blasting

A text blast is a message you send to a large list of contacts, including your customers, prospects, and subscribers. This kind of communication is ideal for delivering important information to the people you do business with. It’s also an effective way to spread the word about promotions, events, and more.

Keep in mind that sending a text blast to everyone may not always be the right decision. For some small businesses, texting all your contacts at once will make sense in certain situations. As your business and the list of people subscribed to your text messages grows, consider segmenting those contacts into different lists. This helps you make your text blasts more targeted and relevant to the recipients.

Transactional text messages, such as order confirmations, appointment reminders, and welcome texts to new subscribers, are not text blasts. These automated messages are triggered by an action or event. Rather than a text blast to a large list, they’re sent to individuals at the perfect time.

Your communication strategy can and should include both types of texting. So, let’s take a closer look at what it takes to send a text blast.

How to send a text blast: Step-by-step guide

Ready to harness the power of text blasting but not sure how to get started? Follow our step-by-step guide:

1. Plan your text blast: Start by clearly defining your goals—what do you want to achieve with this campaign? Having a clear objective will guide your messaging. Then, segment your contact list to select your target audience and ensure your message reaches the right people.
2. Choose the right text blasting service: Compare pricing plans to find a provider that fits your budget while offering the features you need, like message scheduling, contact management, and analytics. Evaluate the service’s ease of use to ensure you can smoothly integrate it into your operations.
3. Build your recipient list: Start building your recipient list by importing your contacts into your text blasting service. Ensure your list is well-organized and segmented. During this step, be sure to comply with legal requirements, such as obtaining explicit consent from recipients before adding them to your list and including an easy opt-out option in every message.
4. Set up your text blast: Start by writing concise and compelling messages that grabs attention quickly. Use clear language, include a strong call to action, and personalize where possible to make your texts more relevant. Once your messages are ready, schedule your texts to go out when your audience is most likely to engage.

What are the benefits of a text blast?

A text blast is a method of sending a single text message or promotional campaign to a large group of recipients at once. You may also hear it referred to as mass texting. Text blasts are typically sent using specialized software that allows you to manage your contact lists, compose messages, and schedule delivery times. They leverage SMS technology to deliver your message directly to your recipients’ mobile phones. 

In business communication, text blasts are invaluable for disseminating information quickly to a wide audience. Businesses use text blasts for promotions, announcements, reminders and updates, feedback solicitation, and more. Let’s explore some of the key benefits of using text blasts for your business:

• Immediate reach: Text messages are typically opened within minutes, making text blasts perfect for sending time-sensitive information to a large audience.
• High open rates: SMS boasts a significantly higher open rate than emails, ensuring your message gets the attention it deserves.
• Cost-effective: Sending a text blast is often more affordable than other marketing channels, offering great ROI for businesses of all sizes.
• Easy to use: With the right tools, sending a text blast can be done in just a few steps.

Understanding text blasting: Best practices, and legal considerations

Text blasts are only effective when done properly. That includes complying with legal requirements and following best practices. We’ve outlined both for you below.

Legal compliance

When sending text blasts, it’s crucial to comply with legal regulations to protect your business and your recipients. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) requires you to obtain proper consent from recipients before sending any texts. This means you must have explicit, documented permission from individuals to include them in your text campaigns. 

You must also ensure your messages include an easy opt-out option to allow recipients to unsubscribe at any time. Staying compliant with these regulations not only protects you from legal issues but also shows respect for your audience’s preferences and fosters a positive relationship.

While there are other rules and regulations surrounding text blasts, obtaining proper consent and honoring requests to opt out of your messages should always be top of mind. If you send a text blast to recipients who haven’t opted in, you are spamming them. This could land you in legal trouble and result in significant fines.

Texting people who haven’t asked to hear from your business is never a good idea. But it’s smart to encourage people to sign up for text blasts. Get our tips on how to build your text list while remaining compliant with the law. 

Best practices for sending a text blast

Optimizing your text blast campaigns ensures that your messages reach your audience, resonate, and drive action. Followi these best practices to enhance engagement and achieve your communication goals:

• Personalize your messages: Address recipients by name and tailor content to their preferences.
• Keep it concise: SMS tends to have character limits—ensure your messages are clear and to the point.
• Use strong calls-to-Action (CTAs): Encourage immediate responses with compelling CTAs that guide your audience on what to do next.
• Timing is key: Schedule your texts to be sent at optimal times when your audience is most likely to engage.
• Segment your audience: Group your contacts based on demographics, purchase behavior, or interests to send more relevant messages.
• Test and analyze: Continuously test different message formats and analyze the results to understand what works best for your audience.
• Stay compliant: Ensure you have proper consent from recipients and include an easy opt-out option in every message to comply with regulations.
• Provide value: Make sure your messages offer something of value to your audience, whether it’s a special offer, important update, or useful information.

For more detailed advice on how to send a text blast, check out our complete guide on SMS marketing for explanations on these best practices and more.

Essential features of SimpleTexting for effective text blasting

SimpleTexting is a powerful SMS marketing platform that enhances text blasting campaigns using innovative features like:

Automated opt-In/out

SimpleTexting’s automated opt-in/out features simplify and secure your text blast campaigns, helping you confirm every new contact’s intent to subscribe. It streamlines the process by managing consent records and updating your contact lists in real-time. That includes a free compliance message SimpleTexting sends on your behalf whenever someone opts in through a feature like text-to-join keywords.

When subscribers text “STOP” to opt out, we’ll automatically remove them from your list. Plus, our contact lists are self cleaning. That means SimpleTexting removes invalid contacts, landline numbers, and “dead” phone numbers so you won’t waste a dime on them. All of this keeps you compliant with regulations and enhances user experience by allowing your audience to control their subscriptions effortlessly.

List-building features

There are also a few features that help SimpleTexting users grow a list of text subscribers. That includes a mobile sign-up widget, which helps you build forms to attract new subscribers and automatically add them to your list on the platform. Just embed your form on any web page where you’d like to collect contacts.

Data collection features from SimpleTexting help you make use of the information collected on those sign-up forms as well as other zero- and first-party data you have about your customers and prospects. That data you collect can be used to segment contacts and personalize your text blasts.

Message scheduling

Our message scheduling feature is designed to maximize the impact of your text blasts by allowing you to schedule texts in advance, ensuring they reach your audience when they’re most likely to engage. Whether you’re sending reminders, promotional offers, or important updates, you can set specific dates and times for delivery, eliminating the need for manual sending and freeing up your time for other tasks. With message scheduling, you can maintain consistent communication, boost engagement, and streamline your text marketing efforts.

Tracking engagement

We provide robust tools for helping you measure the effectiveness of your text blast campaigns. You can monitor key metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and response rates to gain insights into how your audience interacts with your messages. These text messaging analytics allow you to see which campaigns resonate most, refine your strategies, and make data-driven decisions. By leveraging these tracking tools, you can continuously optimize your text marketing efforts, ensuring you connect with your audience in meaningful and impactful ways

Tips and tricks for optimizing your text blasts

In addition to following best practices, there are a few tips and tricks for text blast campaigns we’ve learned over the years that you can implement to make your messages as effective as possible.

Timing and message content

Sending texts at the right time and creating compelling content can significantly boost engagement and response rates. Here are some insights and tips to help you optimize your text marketing efforts:

• Know your audience’s schedule: The best times to send texts are typically during mid-morning and early afternoon when people are more likely to check their phones. Avoid early mornings, late nights, and meal times to prevent your messages from being ignored.
• Consider time zones: If your audience is spread across different time zones, segment your list accordingly to ensure everyone receives your message at an appropriate time.
• Create a sense of urgency: Craft messages that encourage immediate action, such as limited-time offers or exclusive deals, to motivate your audience to respond quickly.
• Include a strong call-to-action (CTA): Clearly state what you want your audience to do next, whether it’s visiting your website, redeeming an offer, or responding to the message.
• Test and optimize: Experiment with different sending times and message formats to see what resonates best with your audience. Use the insights from your analytics to refine your strategy continuously.

Personalization and segmentation

By tailoring your communication to specific groups, you can increase engagement and make your audience feel valued. Personalize messages and segment your audience by:

• Gathering detailed information: Collect relevant data about your contacts, such as their names, interests, purchase history, and demographics. 
• Using personalization tags: Implement tags in your text messages that automatically insert the recipient’s name or other personalized details.
• Segmenting by demographics: Divide your contact list based on demographic information like age, gender, and location. This allows you to send more relevant messages to each group.
• Segmenting by behavior: Group your audience based on their past behaviors, such as purchase history, website visits, or engagement with previous campaigns. his helps you target them with messages that match their interests.
• Segmenting by interest: Divide your contacts by the products and services they’re interested in. This enables you to send targeted promotions and updates that are likely to resonate.
• Segmenting by engagement level: Identify and segment your audience by their level of engagement, such as frequent buyers or those who haven’t interacted in a while. Tailor your messages to re-engage inactive users or reward loyal customers.

Use cases for text blasts

Text blasts are a versatile tool that can be used across various industries and scenarios to achieve different goals, such as:

• Promotional offers
• Event reminders
• Emergency alerts
• Product launches
• Surveys and feedback
• Internal communication
• Re-engagement campaigns
• And more!

Troubleshooting common issues in text blasting

While text blasts are a powerful communication tool, businesses often encounter challenges like:

• High unsubscribe rates: If many recipients opt out of your messages, it could be a sign that your texts are too frequent or not relevant. To fix this, segment your audience to send more targeted messages and limit the frequency to avoid overwhelming your contacts.
• Low engagement: Messages that fail to engage recipients may lack compelling content or clear calls-to-action (CTAs). Craft concise, personalized messages with strong CTAs and ensure the content is relevant to the recipient’s interests.
• Deliverability issues: Texts not reaching recipients can be due to invalid numbers or carrier restrictions. Regularly clean and update your contact list to remove invalid numbers, and use a reputable text blasting service to improve deliverability.
• Overlooking analytics: Ignoring campaign analytics can prevent you from optimizing your strategy. Regularly review engagement metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and response rates to understand what works best and make data-driven improvements.

Success stories: How businesses are thriving with SimpleTexting

Let’s take a look at a few businesses that have benefited from SimpleTexting’s platform.

Case studies

Toby Prussman, a Missouri real estate agent, had a large client email list for sending listing notifications. After a few customers contacted him, he realized many of his emails were getting caught by spam filters rather than landing in inboxes. To avoid this, he began using SimpleTexting to send his contacts immediate listing notifications. 

The YMCA of South Hampton Roads was having trouble finding an SMS tool that sounded human, was easy to use, and integrated with their existing reservation system. After some research, they landed on SimpleTexting. Now, they send text blast reminders for virtual fitness classes, facility closures, and information about childcare programs to ensure all members stay informed. 

The National HealthCare Corporation (NHC) has about 75 senior healthcare centers across 10 states. With such a widespread workforce, they needed an efficient way to communicate with their employees. When searching for a solution, NHC came across SimpleTexting. They use our platform to send immediate company-wide notifications and information to their employees without burying them in emails.

Testimonials

“I feel like what we’ve gotten from SimpleTexting in terms of the ability to stay connected to our clients, especially those who are geographically isolated, is wonderful. That’s because everyone has a phone and can receive a text message. It’s a great way of pushing our messages out to our clients and making sure they stay engaged.”

– Scott Powell, Executive Director of the Alabama Head Injury Foundation

“If someone was considering SimpleTexting for business purposes, I would absolutely recommend it…It’s just really great and convenient, and you can get really granular with who you’re going to text and what type of campaigns you’re going to send.”

– Kellsie Wells, Nuclear Care Partners

“This platform will work no matter what stage you are. It’s been awesome to see the analytics that SimpleTexting offers to give you an idea of which campaigns are more successful than others and to see how you can nurture your audience in a different way.”

– Jackelyn Dacanay, Marketing Director of Bella Santé

Start sending text blasts today

Text blasts are an incredibly effective way to reach your audience instantly and drive engagement. With SimpleTexting’s intuitive platform and comprehensive features, you can confidently start sending impactful messages that elevate your communication strategy and connect with your audience like never before.

Ready to take your text marketing and customer communications to the next level? Sign up with SimpleTexting today and start creating text blast campaigns that engage. 

The post How to send a text blast appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.

In a world where attention is the new currency, businesses are upping their game, using SMS not just as a way to shout into the void, but as a strategic tool to engage their customers where they already are. 

Whether it’s used for VIP sales access, real-time feedback loops, important event reminders, or gentle nudges about the lonely items in consumer carts, SMS is proving its might as a multifaceted marketing powerhouse.

As this marketing channel continues to grow, we’re thrilled to unveil SimpleTexting’s fifth annual SMS marketing report. We surveyed 1,400 consumers, business owners, and digital marketers to understand how these parties view and use SMS in 2024. 

First, we asked consumers about their mobile habits when it comes to texting, screen time, and two-way communication with businesses. 

Then we asked business owners and marketing managers about texting adoption, successful use cases, AI integration, and SMS marketing conversion rates in 2024.

So, what percentage of businesses are texting their customers, and what do SMS opt-in rates look like today across industries? Cue the drumroll and dig into the latest insights below to find out.

Key SMS marketing statistics

• In 2024, 80% of businesses use SMS marketing software to text their customers and nearly 70% are increasing their SMS marketing budgets. 
• Businesses that text customers are 683% more likely to report digital marketing success than businesses that don’t use text messaging. (OR=6.83, Cl=11.82, 3.95)
• 87% of businesses that text report their digital marketing is successful.
• 91% of business owners and marketing managers say they see higher conversion rates with integrated marketing campaigns that include SMS.
• Most businesses have an average SMS marketing click-through rate between 21 and 35% and an average opt-out rate between 1 and 2%.
• Customer satisfaction surveys and customer service are the primary reasons why businesses are using SMS marketing in 2024.  
• Businesses say that 11-20% of their revenue can be attributed to SMS marketing.
• 81% of consumers check their text notifications within just five minutes of receiving a text. And nearly 30% check their text notifications within just 60 seconds of receipt.
• Over 90% of consumers text every day, and most check their text messages more than 10 times per day.
• 80% of consumers say texting is the most important activity they do on their phones throughout the day. 
• In 2024, 79% of consumers opted in to receive texts from businesses –– indicating an 11% growth in consumer opt-ins from last year.
• 60% of consumers like having the capability to text businesses back.
• Most consumers currently receive texts from 1-3 businesses but are willing to opt in to texts from 4-6 businesses.
• Consumers are most likely to subscribe to texts from businesses within the e-commerce/retail and healthcare industries. 
• Appointment/reservation reminders, shipment tracking, promotions, and sale alerts are the biggest reasons consumers are signing up to receive business texts. 

Consumer SMS stats and insights

How quickly do consumers check their text notifications?

When it comes to checking text notifications, consumer responsiveness is swift. Nearly 30% of consumers check their text notifications within just 60 seconds of receipt, and a staggering 80% check their text notifications within just five minutes of receiving a text. 

Even for those who take a bit longer, the majority are still quite prompt. Around 14% of consumers check their text notifications within 15 to 30 minutes of receiving a text. 

This lightning-speed engagement is great news for businesses who use SMS, ensuring that your message doesn’t just arrive, but is seen and considered almost instantly.

How frequently do consumers check their texts throughout the day?

In a world where consumers often skip YouTube ads, remove pop-ups, and quickly scroll past social media blasts, capturing the attention of your audience can be quite an uphill battle. 

Enter SMS marketing: where texts put your brand squarely in front of your customers using a medium they’re already engaged with and invested in. 91% of consumers text every day, and 43% of consumers check their text messages more than 10 times per day.
As many companies wish to target younger generations, we found that Gen Zers are glued to their texts and group chats. 48% of Gen Zers check their text messages more than 10 times per day, and aquarter of Gen Zers (25%) check their messages more than 20 times per day.

How are consumers using their smartphones?

On an average day, people prioritize checking their text messages over any other app on their phones. 80% of consumers report texting as their primary mobile activity, surpassing other popular activities like social media (68%), emails (58%), news or entertainment (53%), and music or podcasts (51%). 

This insight highlights text messages’ impressive user engagement, establishing it as a prime channel for businesses to effectively reach their target audience.

How many consumers are opted in to SMS marketing in 2024?

In 2024, people want direct communication with businesses. 79% of consumers are opted in to receive texts from businesses. In our 2023 report, 71% of people subscribed, indicating an 11% growth in consumer SMS marketing opt-ins year over year and a growing preference for text-based communication from brands.

Here’s how the insights shake out by different demographics: more women (84%) are opted in to receive texts from businesses than men (73%) and Gen Z is the generation subscribing to SMS marketing the most. 85% of Gen Zers are currently opted in to receive texts from businesses –– 19% more than last year. By comparison, 78% of millennials and 81% of Gen Xers opt in to SMS. 

How frequently do consumers want to receive texts from businesses?

There is still untapped potential within SMS marketing. Most SMS subscribers currently receive texts from 1-3 businesses, but are willing to opt in to texts from 4-6 businesses, signaling an unclaimed territory ripe for businesses ready to differentiate themselves and deepen customer loyalty through text messaging.

When it comes to text message cadence, no one wants to feel spammed. Most SMS subscribers (48%) want to receive texts from businesses once every other week, followed by 36% who say once a week, 10% who say twice a week, and a modest 6% who say three times per week or more. 

Interestingly, even though more women opt in to business texts than men, men are open to receiving business texts more frequently than women –– 41% of men want to receive texts from businesses once a week. Only 32% of women say the same.

Which industries have the most SMS contacts?

Consumers are most likely to receive texts from companies in e-commerce/retail (48%), followed by healthcare (36%), and finance (24%). Text message marketing can help e-commerce and retail businesses attract new customers, send personalized store promotions, reduce cart abandonment, and provide two-way customer support. With SMS for healthcare, businesses can improve patient communication, send appointment reminders, reduce no-shows, and instantly attend to urgent patient requests. 

Notably, there has been a significant increase in e-commerce and retailed-related opt-ins compared to last year’s report. In 2023, e-commerce/retail accounted for 46% of SMS opt-ins, indicating a 4% growth in e-commerce and retailed-related opt-ins year over year.

Why are consumers opting in to texts from businesses?

The driving forces behind consumers’ growing enthusiasm for opting into business texts are clear. Appointment/reservation reminders (73%), shipment tracking/order status (66%), and promotions/sale alerts (58%) are the three most common reasons why consumers subscribe to SMS. Convenience, timely access to deals, and efficient post-purchase experiences are compelling consumers to sign up. 

How many consumers want two-way texting with businesses?

The majority of consumers value two-way conversations with businesses, particularly when it comes to customer support. 60% of consumers say they want the ability to text a business back –– 12% more than last year’s report, where 53% of consumers wanted text-back capability. 

When it comes to customer service, consumers prefer texting less than email, but more than phone calls or live chat.

When asking consumers, “How would you like to contact a business when you have a question,” the largest share of consumers (32%) prefer emailing a customer service representative. 

Texting is a close runner-up (28%), followed by phone calls (19%), live chat (19%), and social media messages (2%). 

But the results shift when we zoom in on specific demographics. For instance, Gen Zers and men prefer texting over all other contact methods for their customer service inquiries.

The way we communicate is evolving, and nowhere is this more evident than in our professional and personal transactions. We asked consumers how they would prefer to communicate with a recruiter when applying for a job, for things like interview scheduling, checking on their application status, and more. 26% of Gen Zers and 20% of people overall prefer texting with a recruiter over emailing or calling. 

When it comes to house hunting, even more people are hopping on the texting bandwagon. When asked how they would prefer to communicate with a real estate agent for things like scheduling showings and submitting offers, the largest portion of consumers (40%) name texting as their preferred contact method. 

Why would consumers opt out of texts from businesses?

63% of consumers say that businesses that text them provide them with a better overall customer experience than those that don’t. However, there’s a fine line between engaging and overwhelming. 

The primary deal-breakers leading consumers to unsubscribe from business texts include messaging too frequently (50%), spam-like content (21%), and messages that lack relevance (14%). This stat underlines the importance of balance and customization in text marketing strategies to maintain customer satisfaction. 

A good rule of thumb for businesses: avoid bombarding consumers with too many texts and set expectations from the jump. Upon opting in, consumers should be informed about the frequency of messages they can expect to receive from a brand each month.

Save this for later: How often to text? 5 cadences we suggest to 17,000+ businesses

Another piece of advice: steer clear of texts that feel spammy. Before hitting send, take a moment to consider if your message reads as though there’s a genuine person behind it. Messages that pass this human touch test are far more likely to elicit responses or clicks from customers.

Business SMS stats and insights

What percentage of businesses use SMS marketing in 2024?

Texting is now a widely used digital marketing channel. 80% of businesses are using SMS marketing software to text their customers in 2024. In 2022, 55% of businesses were using SMS marketing, so 45% more businesses are using text marketing now compared to this time two years ago. That may be because many small business are discovering that SMS marketing is very affordable, effective, and an efficient way to handle day-to-day customer communications.

Healthcare (86%), e-commerce/retail (84%), and consumer services (81%) are the industries seeing the highest SMS marketing adoption rates. What’s more, 69% of business owners and digital marketing managers plan on increasing their text marketing budget in 2024. 

How does SMS marketing impact overall marketing success?

Incorporating SMS marketing into your overall digital marketing mix can make all the difference, and the stats are in to prove it. 87% of businesses that text report their digital marketing is successful, but only 49% of businesses that don’t text say the same. 

So businesses that text are 683% more likely to report digital marketing success than those that don’t.

When it comes to cross-channel integration, 78% of businesses are integrating their text marketing with other digital marketing and CRM platforms like Mailchimp, Hubspot, and Salesforce. Businesses leveraging this cross-channel approach are 20% more likely to report digital marketing success than those that aren’t. 

They’re also more likely to see higher conversion rates from their marketing efforts. 91% of business owners and marketing managers say they see higher conversion rates with integrated marketing campaigns that include SMS.

What are average SMS click-through rates, conversion rates, and opt-out rates in 2024?

In 2024, the majority of businesses (40%) have an average text marketing click-through rate between 21 and 35%, with businesses in the healthcare industry leading the charge. A staggering 83% of healthcare businesses see average click-through rates higher than 20%. 

Moreover, click-through rates are steadily rising over time, as more businesses adopt SMS marketing. The percentage of businesses whose average click-through rates are higher than 35% ballooned by nearly 62% between 2021 and 2024.

When it comes to converting those clicks into concrete results, the majority of businesses are seeing SMS marketing conversion rates between 21 and 30%, with finance and healthcare businesses at the forefront. 81% of finance businesses and 79% of businesses in healthcare see average SMS conversion rates higher than 20%.

Amidst the flurry of engagement and conversions, businesses are keeping their audiences happy and opted in. Most businesses have an average SMS marketing opt-out rate between 1 and 2%. The vast majority of businesses (81%) have average opt-out rates under 5%. 

Even more impressive, 16% of businesses have average opt-out rates under 1%.

How and why are businesses using SMS marketing?

In the past, the go-to uses for SMS marketing revolved around promotions, special offers, and managing billing or collections. Fast-forward to 2024, and there’s a noticeable shift. 

Now, businesses are prioritizing customer satisfaction surveys (41%) and customer service/support (39%) as their top reasons for sending texts. This evolution highlights a deeper dive into enhancing customer experiences and building stronger relationships with customers.

The largest share of businesses (36%) name two-way interactions as the biggest benefit of using SMS marketing. Two-way texting between customer service representatives and customers not only personalizes the customer experience, but also opens the door to real-time feedback, queries, and resolutions, making every text an opportunity to build loyalty. Other top motivations for investing in SMS are real-time reach and instant delivery (33%), and high open/click-through rates (31%).

How much business revenue can be attributed to SMS marketing?

The lion’s share of businesses (81%) agree that text message marketing is an effective way to drive revenue for their business, and the majority of businesses (40%) say 11 to 20% of their revenue can be attributed to SMS. 

This isn’t just a nod to the effectiveness of texting as a marketing channel; it’s a loud and clear endorsement of its role as a critical revenue generator. 

Which emerging trends are businesses incorporating into their SMS marketing strategy?

Using AI for personalization and automation (40%) is the most popular SMS marketing trend for businesses in 2024. Today, businesses can use generative AI to write text messages that create real value for their customers, have a clear call to action, and represent their brand.

Following closely are chatbots/virtual assistants (35%) and interactive polls/surveys (31%). Together, these trends underscore a dynamic shift towards more interactive, intelligent, and customer-centric SMS marketing approaches. 

Forecasting the future of SMS marketing stats

SMS marketing doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. Companies are leveraging AI in their SMS marketing strategies, opt-in rates continue to rise, and industries like healthcare, e-commerce, and retail are using SMS to their advantage. 

Check out our success stories spanning various industries, showcasing how SMS marketing has empowered both small business owners and corporations to connect effectively with their target audiences. Another good source of inspiration is our small business podcast where we work one-on-one with customers to help them solve their marketing challenges. Interested in starting your own SMS campaign or engaging customers through two-way texting? Try us out for free today!

Methodology

The statistics in this report are derived from two separate surveys. We surveyed 1,000 U.S. consumers across a range of demographics and regions, and 400 U.S. business owners and marketing managers across a range of industries and company sizes from December 20th to 22nd, 2023. Interested in SMS marketing statistics from previous years? View our 2022 and 2023 SMS marketing reports.

The post Texting & SMS marketing statistics in 2024 appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.

But did you know there’s a way to bypass the inbox and make it straight to the home screen? Unlike standard text messages that quietly arrive in your inbox, Flash SMS messages appear directly on our phone screens. 

What is Flash SMS?

Flash SMS, short for “Flash Short Message Service,” is a special type of text message that bypasses the usual notification process. Instead of being stored in the phone’s memory or SIM card, these messages pop up instantly on the recipient’s display. This immediate visibility is the key feature that sets Flash SMS apart from regular text messages.

When someone receives a Flash message, it takes over their phone’s screen and interrupts any current activity. The recipient must interact with the message—either by dismissing or saving it—before they can continue using their device. This intrusive element makes sure the message content is seen and acknowledged straight away. 

Several characteristics make Flash SMS a distinctive communication method: 

• The message appears instantly on the recipient’s screen, bypassing their inbox
• If it’s not saved, a Flash message disappears when it’s dismissed
• Flash messages don’t occupy space in a phone’s inbox 
• Messages are typically restricted to 160 characters

The short, snappy nature of Flash messages makes them particularly useful for urgent communications, such as emergency alerts or time-sensitive notifications. But there’s a downside—they can be intrusive, which means they should be used sparingly so you don’t become a nuisance to recipients. 

Historical Background of Flash SMS

Flash SMS messages first appeared in the late 90s/early 00s when mobile devices were pretty rudimentary. You could send messages and make phone calls, but that was about it. The idea was to create a unique way to grab attention, bypassing busy inboxes. It was primarily for network operators to send urgent or critical information directly to users’ phone screens—you know, information that required immediate attention.

Unlike regular SMS (designed for general communication), Flash SMS was intended to cut through the noise of everyday messages and make sure users received critical information ASAP. This made sense before smartphones took over—in fact, Flash SMS seemed to be a cutting-edge way to contact consumers, but it’s since lost traction to other instant communication methods, like automated DMs and push notifications. 

How Does Flash SMS Work?

Flash messages use a different delivery mechanism than standard text messages and can only be sent via an SMS provider’s endpoint. You can’t send them from one person to another like you would if you were texting a friend. This restriction means Flash messages can only really be used by authorized entities, like mobile network operators, emergency services, or businesses with proper access to SMS gateways. 

When a Flash SMS is sent, it bypasses the usual SMS storage process and appears immediately on the recipient’s screen. This is made possible through specific coding in the message header that essentially tells the receiving device to display the content instantly. 

Messages are transmitted over the cellular network using the same infrastructure as a regular text message, but with priority routing to make sure they get there fast. When a Flash SMS lands on a recipient’s device, the message triggers an immediate on-screen display—often accompanied by a distinctive alert sound. The user must then interact with the message before they can continue using their device.

Flash SMS Versus Other Messaging Methods

How does Flash SMS stand up against other instant messaging strategies, like traditional texts and push notifications? 

Flash SMS vs. Push Notifications

While both Flash SMS and push notifications offer immediate display on locked screens, they serve different purposes. Flash SMS is more universal, secure, and attention-grabbing, making it ideal for urgent and confidential communications. Push notifications offer richer, better analytics, and deeper app integration, making them more suitable for engaging marketing campaigns and personalized user experiences. 

When it comes to device compatibility, Flash SMS has a clear advantage. They work on almost all mobile phones, while push notifications require smartphones with specific operating systems. 

Both communication methods require explicit user consent. Push notifications often have a simpler opt-in process during app installation, but recent iOS and Android changes mean explicit consent is mandatory for push notifications too. The main commonality between Flash SMS and push notifications is their visibility on locked screens, but Flash messages have a higher guarantee of being seen immediately because they often come with a distinctive alert sound. 

Flash SMS vs. Traditional SMS

Flash SMS and traditional SMS both send messages directly to a recipient’s phone—the difference is where that message ends up. Traditional SMS goes to the message inbox, while Flash SMS shows up immediately on the locked screen. The biggest differences between these two types of messages are their storage process and use cases. While traditional SMS messages are stored on the device or SIM, Flash messages immediately disappear when a recipient dismisses the message. 

Flash messages are typically used to deliver urgent information that requires immediate attention. Since recipients can’t reply or even save the message, they aren’t great for comms that require a response or information that needs to be remembered. This is where traditional SMS comes into its own. It’s a much better communication method for general notifications, marketing messages, and two-way conversations. 

What are Flash Messages Used For?

This section addresses common questions and provides solutions on how Flash SMS can be used for immediate or confidential communication needs.

Best Use Cases for Flash SMS

Flash messages are particularly effective in scenarios that require immediate attention. Here are some common situations where Flash SMS excels: 

• Secure banking alerts. For example, one-time passwords for transactions, notifications of large withdrawals or unusual account activity, and urgent fraud alerts. 
• Urgent company announcements. For example, emergency office closures, critical system outages, urgent meeting notifications, and important policy changes that need immediate attention. 
• Emergency alerts. For example, severe weather warnings, natural disaster alerts, public safety announcements, and evacuation orders. 

Flash SMS Best Practices

For best results, use Flash messages sparingly. Here are a handful of best practices to help you get the best results with your Flash SMS campaigns: 

• Target the right audience. Carefully segment your recipient list to make sure you only send messages to those who need the information.
• Keep messages short. Given the limited character count and immediate display, craft clear, concise messages that convey essential information quickly. 
• Include sender information. Since Flash SMS may not display the sender’s identity, always include your organization’s name in the message content so recipients know who’s contacting them. 
• Provide clear instructions. If action is required, clearly state what the recipient needs to do and any relevant deadlines. 
• Test before sending. Verify compatibility with different devices and carriers to make sure your messages are delivered and displayed properly. 
• Respect privacy. Only use Flash SMS for truly urgent or confidential matters to respect recipients’ privacy and attention. 
• Have a backup plan. Not all devices support Flash SMS, so it’s worth having an alternative communication method ready for unsupported recipients. 

Here’s an example of a Flash SMS that alerts recipients to a weather warning. 

Source

Drawbacks of Flash SMS

While Flash messages offer unique advantages, there are some potential drawbacks and ethical implications. One major downside is that Flash messages aren’t stored in devices, which means they disappear as soon as they’re dismissed. This can be problematic if the recipient needs to refer back to the information—for example, if it’s an appointment reminder or a one-time passcode. 

There’s also the issue of the immediate display on the lock screen. This can compromise privacy as anyone nearby can view the message, which makes it less secure for certain types of confidential information. 

It’s absolutely paramount that you get opt-in from recipients before you send Flash messages to avoid being intrusive. If you can do that, Flash SMS can be a great communication method for certain urgent situations. However, it’ll need to adapt to increasingly strict data privacy regulations and integrate with other technologies to remain relevant. As data protection standards continue to evolve, the non-storage feature will become more and more valuable, but companies will need to balance this with the need for transparency and user consent. 

Should Flash SMS be Used for Promotional Purposes?

While Flash SMS can be an attention-grabbing tool for promotional purposes, it should be used judiciously and with caution. The immediate and intrusive nature of these messages makes them more suitable for urgent, time-sensitive comms than general marketing messages. In fact, using Flash SMS for promotions might be seen as invasive by your audience, and could potentially damage your brand’s reputation and customer relationships—not what you want. 

But there’s another reason we suggest avoiding Flash SMS for promotional purposes. The lack of message storage means recipients can’t refer back to promo offers, which means they might miss out on a deal they otherwise would have been interested in.

If you want to send mass messages to your audience that stick around in their inboxes, we’d recommend using our SMS broadcast service or our mass texting solution. Both offer a way for you to directly communicate with your audience without invading their privacy or disappearing from their screens as soon as they hit “dismiss”. 

Flash SMS: The Double-Edged Sword of Urgent Communication

Flash messages are a powerful tool for immediate and confidential communication. Their direct approach means recipients can get urgent messages, like secure banking alerts and emergency notifications. However, the intrusive nature of Flash SMS means you should use them carefully (and sparingly) to avoid overwhelming your audience and damaging relationships. 

Sticking to best practices—such as targeting the right audience, keeping messages short, and including sender information—will help you maximize the impact of your Flash SMS campaigns. 

As technology continues to evolve, so will the applications and best use cases of Flash SMS. The growing emphasis on data privacy and user consent means its non-storage feature will become an asset, balancing the need for quick, secure communication with regulatory compliance. 

The post An Ultimate Guide to Flash Messages (Flash SMS) appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.

You could certainly be texting customers too much, and new consumer research from Sinch suggests overdoing it is a major dealbreaker for plenty of people. 

Like Goldilocks traipsing through the three bears’ home, complaining about porridge and chairs, the people who sign up for your texts expect you to get SMS marketing frequency just right. Here are some insights and advice on how to make that happen. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Is texting customers too often bad for business?
• SMS frequency Consumers vs business practices
• Five tips for optimizing your SMS marketing frequency
• The importance of relevant SMS marketing
• Strengthen your strategy with help from Sinch

Is texting customers too often bad for business? 

Our friends at Sinch surveyed hundreds of U.S consumers to find out how they prefer to connect and communicate with brands. You can see the full results in the report The art and heart of meaningful customer connections. 

When asked what could ruin their impression of a brand during initial interactions, consumers responded loud and clear. More than 50% said getting either too many messages or irrelevant communications prompts them to opt out. 

26% of respondents said receiving messages too frequently was the biggest dealbreaker while 25% felt that way about irrelevant messages. However, you’ll also notice that 9% of consumers consider it a problem if a business doesn’t communicate with them often enough. 

So, there must be a sweet spot, right? Is there a way to send the perfect amount of text marketing campaigns to people without aggravating anyone or leaving them in the dark? 

As you may have already guessed, perfecting your SMS frequency can be a bit complex. That’s partly because we all have our own preferences for what’s just right. But it also depends on your industry, target audience, customer buying cycle, and much more. 

SMS frequency: Consumers vs business practices 

Some of the most interesting findings in Sinch’s report involve comparisons of what businesses are doing to what consumers say they want. When asked about preferences for receiving promotional messages, consumer opinions were varied, and they don’t always align with sending frequencies. 

More than a third of U.S consumers say they want to hear about promotions whenever they come up. That’s a good percentage of people who are likely to be interested and engaged in your campaigns. However, nearly half of businesses (48%) are sending promotional campaigns as often as they want. This indicates there are customers getting more messages than they bargained for. They’ll be the ones texting “STOP” to put an end to those excessive or unwanted promotional messages. 

Around 25% of respondents said they want to be contacted about promotions no more than daily and 26% said no more than weekly. That’s more than half when combined. This might suggest that sending promotional SMS campaigns once or twice a week is that Goldilocks-style sweet spot for SMS frequency. 

But be careful about making too many assumptions. A biweekly SMS cadence might be appropriate for some businesses or specific campaigns – but not others. For example, bi-weekly promotional texts from someone’s favorite grocery store could be helpful because they shop there so often. On the other hand, if someone receives weekly texts from a travel brand, and they only take one vacation a year, it could get annoying. 

Likewise, receiving a couple of texts per week from you may be the right frequency for certain customers while others prefer less frequent communication. This is why you need to start getting more strategic with SMS communication.  

5 tips for optimizing your SMS marketing frequency 

Our own Dani Henion hosted a webinar on optimizing your SMS sending frequency. She offered some solid advice for understanding how to deliver what your customers really want. Check out the recording of Getting your SMS frequency just right to see for yourself. 

These are our top tips for avoiding issues with SMS frequency: 

1. Set clear expectations from the start 

2. Segment recipients based on preferences 

3. Watch for signs of text message fatigue 

4. Let SMS subscribers hit snooze 

5. Personalize promotions to increase relevancy 

1. Set clear expectations from the start 

Identifying the right SMS frequency should start when customers opt in to receive your texts. If you’re delivering daily deals or weekly tips, make that obvious from the get-go. Landing pages and signup forms can clearly state how often you’ll be texting customers. You can even use the frequency as a benefit: 

“Don’t miss our daily deals! Get savings delivered straight to your phone.” 

Welcome text messages present another opportunity to set clear expectations for SMS frequency. The first message new subscribers receive after opting in can remind them of what they can look forward to receiving as well as how to opt out if they change their minds. 

The graphic below illustrates how a brand could use a social promotion or digital ad to plainly state the frequency of “weekly store updates and deals.” When a new subscriber uses the keyword to opt in, an automated welcome message could reiterate the weekly cadence. 

2. Segment recipients based on their preferences 

You can also let people choose the promotional text message frequency that’s right for them. If you provide options for how often you’ll send SMS campaigns at signup, you can easily segment those subscribers into groups with different sending cadences. 

But what if you already have a big list of subscribers and you’re unsure what they prefer? Try using SMS keywords paired with an autoresponder. For example, send your list a message asking them to reply with “DAILY”, “WEEKLY”, or “MONTHLY” to indicate how often they want to hear from you. 

Here’s how you’d set it up in SimpleTexting: 

STEP ONE: Create separate keywords for each frequency option (like daily, weekly, and monthly). Add each to a new list so you can select it when you’re creating new SMS campaigns. 

STEP TWO: Set up an autoresponder asking how often the contact wants to receive your messages, and list each option based on the keywords you created.  

Note: this only works for new contacts, since autoresponders are triggered by opt-ins. If you want to ask current subscribers about their frequency preferences, send a regular SMS campaign 

Now, when you are ready to send campaigns based on frequency, you can select contact lists that correspond to the keywords you created. 

Of course, your segmentation strategy can extend way beyond your customers’ appetites for receiving texts. Get our advice for segmenting different types of customers with thoughts on what you should text each group. 

3. Watch for signs of text messaging fatigue 

Keep a close eye on SMS marketing metrics to understand whether you’re hitting the right frequency or not. Dani told webinar attendees there are some important KPIs to measure which serve as warning signs that customers are getting tired of your texts. 

Unsubscribe rates 

The biggest telltale sign you’re texting customers too often is the percentage of people who opt-out. While it’s perfectly natural for some customers to choose to unsubscribe, keep your eye out for changes in typical unsubscribe rates. 

Let’s say it’s normal for less than 1% of your list to opt out during a campaign. Then you increase your SMS frequency, and the unsubscribe rate suddenly spikes to more than 10%. That’s a problem, and you should consider adjusting your sending cadence. 

Open rates 

SMS campaigns have notably high open rates compared to channels like email. But if you see this metric starting to slide, it could be a sign you’re sending too many texts. Perhaps your customers aren’t opening these messages because they already got the point and just aren’t interested. If that’s the case, adjusting your SMS frequency will reduce waste. 

You should also monitor click rates and conversions for SMS promotions. If you’re sending follow-up messages as part of a major campaign, it’s reasonable to expect a decline in engagement. However, if the drop is dramatic, consider adjusting the cadence. 

Negative responses 

Here’s a sign of text message fatigue you can’t ignore: Recipients straight up tell you they’re sick of all the texts from your businesses. 

Two-way communication is one of the biggest advantages of SMS. Of course, it also means you’ll get negative responses from time-to-time, including complaints about how often you’re texting. 

Let’s say you only get a few of these kinds of complaints. It’s easy to brush those subscribers off as “Negative Nancies” who just don’t get it. The truth is, they may be doing you a favor. 

Some often-cited research from Lee Resources suggests that for every customer who complains about a problem, 26 others feel the same way yet remain silent. If your SMS frequency is annoying customers, most will just unsubscribe instead of reaching out to complain. So, it may be wise to heed the warnings of the Negative Nancies on your list. 

4. Let SMS subscribers hit snooze 

Putting more power into the hands of your customers is an excellent way to show you have their interests top of mind. One way to do that is to provide them with the ability to pause promotional SMS messages for a set time. 

Use an SMS keyword such as “SNOOZE” or “PAUSE” to temporarily exclude recipients from those communications. When someone replies to your text with the keyword, they’ll be added to a new contact list. Then, when you create a new text campaign, you can exclude this list from your recipients. 

This lets customers take a break until they’re ready to start engaging with your texts again. It’s a nice compromise from completely opting out when someone just doesn’t want to hear from you for a little while. 

5. Personalize text promotions to increase relevancy 

The Customer Connections report from Sinch shows that the text message inbox is one of the best places to deliver personalized promotions. When you combine consumer preferences for receiving personalized recommendations via SMS and MMS, only email is more preferred. Combining all mobile messaging channels leads to a tie with email. 

A total of 29% of consumers said they’d prefer receiving personalized recommendations via SMS or MMS messages while 39% would pick their email inbox. 

Here’s another important consideration. Preferences for mobile messaging are likely to grow as younger consumers come of age. SimpleTexting’sOur research on text marketing trends found 85% of Gen-Z consumers have opted in to receive texts from businesses. This generation of consumers consists of people in their teens and twenties. Their purchasing power will grow in the coming years. Our research into the state of small business marketing also found Gen-Z is the generation most likely to prefer text communication and least likely to want emails from brands. 

Delivering personalized experiences through text marketing is ideal no matter the age of your customers. That’s because it’s already a very personal and conversational communication channel. Check out our guide on when and how to send personalized text messages. 

The importance of relevant SMS marketing 

It’s no coincidence that Sinch’s findings reveal the impact of not only message frequency but also the importance of relevant communications. These two factors are directly connected. When you’re consistently texting customers relevant messages, they’re less likely to have problems with how often they hear from you. 

Segmentation and personalization are two effective ways to deliver relevant SMS marketing, but you can also diversify your approach with a tasty variety of text message campaigns. In our webinar, Dani Henion suggests using the PASTA framework, which includes five types of text campaigns that deliver value to customers: 

1. P — Prize texts: Promo codes, special offers, and early access 

2. A — Accessibility texts: Reminders, instructions, and essential information 

3. S — Suggestion texts: Lifestyle content, motivational quotes, and creative ideas 

4. T — Teaching texts: How-to guides, quick tips, and expert Q&As 

5. A — Amusement texts: Entertaining content and conversation starters 

Check out our PASTA menu for some example text messages: 

When every message you send pushes a promo code or a weekly deal, your SMS marketing may start getting stale. Spicing up your strategy with the PASTA framework helps you stay relevant. 

Strengthen your strategy with help from Sinch 

Could your customer communication strategy use an upgrade or are you already nailing it? Our friends at Sinch are offering a free, personalized evaluation to help you find out if there are other ways for you to connect with your customers. 

There’s an ideal marketing mix for every industry, small business, and customer base. Take the test today and find out how you could improve your approach to customer communication. 

The post Understanding SMS frequency: Are you texting customers too much?  appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.

Whether you’re a small business owner looking to refine your marketing tactics or a marketer seeking the latest industry insights, this report offers valuable perspectives and actionable strategies to help you thrive in 2024’s fast-paced market. 

Key small business marketing statistics

• The three most influential marketing tactics for small businesses are online reviews, word-of-mouth referrals, and influencer endorsements.
• The five most influential marketing channels for small business growth are their websites, Facebook, review sites (e.g., Google Business), TikTok, and Instagram.
• Small businesses with a marketing plan are 6.7 times more likely to report marketing success than those without a plan. 
• Small businesses that blend in-house marketing with external professional services report 2.5 times more marketing success than those relying exclusively on in-house efforts.
• 63% of small businesses plan to increase their marketing budget over the next year. The sectors most likely to boost spending are technology (80%), human resources (80%), and finance (76%). 
• Most small businesses allocate 6-10% of their budget to marketing. Small businesses that invest more in marketing report greater marketing success.
• The biggest marketing challenges for small businesses are limited budget, time constraints, and finding the right marketing channels.
• Over half of small businesses (59%) are incorporating AI into their marketing strategies, and 75% are incorporating customer feedback into their marketing strategies. 
• 72% of consumers prefer to buy products from small businesses over larger enterprises.
• 44% of consumers have intentionally increased their shopping at small businesses in the past year.
• Most consumers prefer to receive marketing communications from small businesses through email, social media, and text. 
• Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok rank as the top four social platforms where consumers are most responsive to marketing messages from small businesses.
• 64% of consumers say that online reviews impacted their decision to support small businesses in the past year.

Business insights

What are the most influential marketing tactics and channels for small businesses?

Digital marketing channels continue to dominate as the key drivers of growth. Small business owners say their five most influential marketing channels are their websites, Facebook, review sites (e.g. Google Business), TikTok, and Instagram. 

44% identified their website as the most influential marketing channel, underscoring the importance of a strong online presence.

Facebook follows closely at 38%, highlighting its enduring appeal for business engagement and customer interaction.

TikTok is listed as the fourth most important marketing channel for small businesses aiming to reach broader, younger audiences. This is particularly notable given the ongoing discussions around a potential nationwide TikTok ban, which could impact small businesses that heavily rely on the platform for its extensive reach and influencer endorsements.

Certain digital marketing channels are underused by small businesses. Despite the potential of search engine marketing (SEM) to drive targeted traffic, only 28% of small businesses are currently using this channel.

Similarly, just 23% are leveraging a blog to engage audiences and boost their content marketing efforts, missing out on opportunities to build authority and connect with customers. 

Finally, while most businesses cite their website as their most influential marketing tool, only 17% of small businesses use search engine optimization (SEO) to improve their online visibility; thus, many aren’t fully harnessing the benefits of organic search, which could lead to increased web traffic and higher conversion rates. 

Small business owners say their three most influential marketing tactics are reviews (e.g., Google reviews), word-of-mouth referrals, and influencers/endorsements.

Reviews (e.g. on Google, Facebook, Amazon, etc.) are the most influential marketing tactic for small business owners, yet only 43.5% of businesses actively seek to influence these reviews. This gap presents a substantial growth opportunity for small businesses. By proactively managing and encouraging customer reviews, small businesses can enhance their online reputation, build trust, and attract new customers.

Recommended reading: How to ask customers for reviews: 11 tactics with real-life examples

Influencers/endorsements are the third-most influential marketing tactic. On TikTok, collaborating with influencers who match the brand’s values can generate engaging, viral content that appeals to a younger audience, boosting visibility and brand awareness. 

Similarly, Instagram provides a robust platform for influencer partnerships through short-form video content like Stories, IGTV, and Reels, which can enhance real-time engagement and capitalize on trending content. Small businesses can tap into established follower bases by partnering with influencers on these platforms, significantly extending their reach. 

How many employees are dedicated to marketing in small businesses?

The size of the marketing team within small businesses plays a crucial role in marketing success. Most small businesses surveyed have three to five marketing employees. Those with larger marketing teams exhibit significantly higher confidence in achieving a positive return on investment (ROI). 

A notable 75% of businesses with 10 or more marketing employees are confident in their positive marketing ROI, in stark contrast to only 30% of businesses with a single marketing employee and a mere 6% of those without any dedicated marketing staff.

Are small businesses keeping their marketing efforts internal or external?

When it comes to keeping marketing in-house or external, small businesses are adopting a hybrid approach.

Most small businesses (42%) blend in-house marketing efforts with external professional services (e.g., agencies). This mixed strategy is proving highly effective, as businesses employing both methods are 2.5 times more likely to report marketing success compared to those relying solely on in-house teams. Small businesses can drive better results by leveraging the strengths of internal expertise alongside the specialized skills of third-party professionals. 

To what extent are small businesses prioritizing their online presence?

Most small businesses (35%) rate their online presence as excellent, 31% as good, and 19% as average. Small businesses with an excellent online presence are significantly more confident in their marketing ROI, with 56% expressing high confidence compared to just 1% of those with a poor online presence. 

The correlation between a strong online presence and sales impact is equally compelling.
57% of small businesses with an excellent online presence say that their marketing efforts have a very significant impact on sales. Only 2% of small businesses with a poor online presence share this sentiment.

How are small businesses leveraging local marketing?

The three most common ways small businesses are using local marketing is through social media to engage their local communities, participating in community events, sponsorships, and networking with local businesses and influencers. Despite these efforts, only 19% are using local SEO and Google My Business to enhance their local visibility. 

This presents a significant opportunity for improvement. By optimizing local search strategies and managing Google My Business profiles, small businesses can greatly enhance their discoverability and attract more local customers.

What portion of small businesses’ budgets is dedicated to marketing in 2024?

The majority of small businesses (44%) allocate 6-10% of their overall budget to marketing. What’s more, the correlation between higher marketing investment and better outcomes is clear. 48% of small businesses that dedicate 6-10% of their overall budget to marketing report success in their efforts. In contrast, only 11% of small businesses that spend less than 5% of their budget on marketing achieve similar results. 

Looking ahead, 63% of small businesses plan to increase their marketing budgets over the next year, with technology, human resources, and finance sectors leading this trend. A striking 80% of businesses in both the technology and human resources sectors, along with 76% in finance, are gearing up to boost their marketing expenditures over the next 12 months.

How many small businesses have a marketing plan?

75% of small businesses have a marketing plan, while 25% do not. Having a structured plan significantly boosts success rates. Small businesses with a marketing plan are 6.7 times more likely to report marketing success than those without a plan. 

Specifically, 87% of small businesses with a marketing plan report successful marketing outcomes, in stark contrast to the mere 13% success rate among those without a plan. This data underscores the critical importance of strategic planning in marketing, highlighting how a well-defined roadmap can enhance a small business’s ability to achieve its goals and drive growth. 

A good marketing plan usually includes clear objectives, a detailed analysis of the target market, competitive research, and a mix of marketing tactics tailored to the business’s unique strengths. It also outlines specific strategies for digital and traditional marketing channels, a content calendar, budget allocations, and metrics for measuring success.

How often do small businesses incorporate customer feedback into their marketing strategy?

In today’s customer-centric market, the integration of customer feedback into marketing strategies is proving to be a game-changer for small businesses. 75% of small businesses incorporate customer feedback into their marketing strategy either always or frequently. 

This practice is not just beneficial; it’s a clear differentiator in driving marketing success. 49% of small businesses that consistently integrate customer feedback into their marketing strategies report achieving marketing success. This contrasts sharply with the mere 1% success rate among businesses that neglect to incorporate customer feedback. These findings highlight the powerful impact of listening to customers. 

Small businesses can collect customer feedback through online surveys, social media polls, and direct customer interviews. Using feedback forms on websites and review platforms can also provide valuable insights to refine marketing strategies.

What are the biggest marketing trends for small business owners in 2024?

According to business owners, the biggest small business marketing trends in 2024 will be AI and machine learning, social commerce, ethical marketing/sustainability, and short-form video content. 

AI can help small businesses analyze data, personalize customer experiences, and optimize marketing campaigns. Our survey found that over half of small businesses (59%) are incorporating AI into their marketing strategy. What’s more, small businesses that incorporate AI into their marketing strategy are 5.7 times more likely to report greater marketing success compared to those that do not. On our small business podcast, we frequently offer suggestions to small businesses on how they can leverage AI.

Social commerce allows small businesses to turn social media engagement into seamless shopping experiences, boosting sales directly on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Additionally, there is a growing emphasis on ethical marketing and sustainability, as businesses recognize the importance of aligning with consumer values around environmental and social responsibility.

What are the biggest marketing challenges for small businesses?

The most common marketing challenges for small businesses are limited budget, time constraints, and finding the right marketing channels. These hurdles are especially pronounced for small business owners, who often juggle multiple roles and responsibilities, making efficient time management critical yet challenging.

Budget limitations further compound these difficulties, restricting the ability to invest in marketing strategies and cutting-edge tools that larger competitors might easily afford. Additionally, small business owners must continually adapt and identify the most effective marketing channels, a task that can be both time-consuming and complex.

Consumer insights

How often are consumers buying from small businesses?

72% of consumers prefer to buy products from small businesses over larger enterprises. The largest share of consumers (48%) shop with small businesses monthly, followed by 28% who shop with them weekly. These figures underscore a growing loyalty and preference for the personalized touch and unique offerings that small businesses provide.

When we look at specific demographics, men surprisingly shop with small businesses more frequently than women. Further, Gen Xers and millennials lead the charge, shopping with small businesses more frequently than both Gen Zers and baby boomers. This could reflect a combination of economic values, a desire for unique products, and a greater emphasis on supporting local economies that resonate more strongly with these generations.

Overall, the largest share of consumers (38%) discover new small businesses by word of mouth, followed by 31% of consumers who discover new small businesses on social media. 

Gen Zers are most likely to find new small businesses to shop with through social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, whereas other generations primarily rely on word-of-mouth referrals. 

Why do consumers decide to shop small?

44% of consumers have intentionally increased their shopping at small businesses in the past year. Consumers cite product uniqueness, support for local economies, and convenient locations as the top three factors influencing their decision to shop at small businesses. Unlike the mass-produced items found in large retail chains, small businesses often provide one-of-a-kind products that resonate with consumers’ desires for individuality and distinctiveness. 

What’s more, there’s a growing awareness of the positive impact that shopping locally can have on communities, from creating jobs to fostering economic resilience. This sense of local pride and community support is compelling more consumers to choose small businesses, seeing their purchases as investments in their own neighborhoods.

Consumers prioritize product quality significantly higher than price when shopping at small businesses. A substantial 50% of customers cite product quality as their primary concern, overshadowing the 28% who focus on price and the 9% who value customer service most. Customers often associate small businesses with a higher level of care and authenticity in their offerings, leading to a greater willingness to pay a premium for products that stand out in terms of durability and design.

Which marketing channels do consumers prefer for engaging with small businesses?

Understanding consumer communication preferences is crucial for small business marketers. The majority of consumers (38%) prefer receiving marketing communications from small businesses through email, while 34% favor social media as their preferred channel. 

A generational divide is evident in these preferences. Gen Zers, known for their digital savviness, overwhelmingly favor social media platforms for marketing interactions with small businesses, whereas older generations lean towards the more traditional channel of email. Notably, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok have emerged as the top four social platforms where consumers are most receptive to marketing messages from small businesses.

What consumers of all ages can agree on is that small businesses need to have a strong online presence. 64% of consumers across the board say it’s either important or very important that small businesses have a strong online presence to attract and retain customers. 

What types of marketing messages from small businesses most resonate with consumers?

Consumers overwhelmingly indicated that they are most likely to engage with marketing messages from small businesses that feature discounts and promotions (81%). This strong preference underscores the universal appeal of savings and special offers, effectively capturing consumer attention and driving engagement.

Following this, 40.7% of consumers are drawn to new product announcements, while 37.1% are interested in customer testimonials and stories, which add a personal touch and build trust. These insights suggest that a multi-faceted marketing approach, balancing promotional content with informative and engaging narratives, can resonate with a broad audience.

From which industries are consumers most likely to support a small business?

Consumers are most likely to support small businesses in the food and beverage industry (81.3%) –– e.g., local restaurants, coffee shops, and specialty food stores. This preference highlights the strong community connection and daily necessity of these establishments, making them a top choice for local support. Following closely are local retail stores (60.5%) for clothing or accessories, and services (59.3%) –– e.g., vets, cleaning, plumbing, repair, tailoring, and landscaping, among others. 

How do online reviews influence consumer purchases with small businesses?

54% of consumers have left a review for a small business online at least once in their lifetime, and 64% of consumers say that online reviews impacted their decision to support small businesses in the past year. In an increasingly digital marketplace, positive reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp, and other platforms can significantly enhance a small business’s reputation and attract a wider customer base.

How does AI influence consumer purchases with small businesses?

While AI is revolutionizing various industries, only 27% of consumers say they’re more likely to shop from small businesses that use AI in their operations (73% are not). This suggests that balancing technological advancements with human-centric experiences could be key for small businesses to enhance their appeal.

Survey insights reveal that most consumers (39%) are more inclined to support small businesses using AI to streamline checkout processes and bolster payment security, underscoring the value placed on efficiency and safety. 

Additionally, 33% appreciate AI’s ability to personalize their shopping experience, while AI-driven scheduling for appointments and reservations appeals to 28% of consumers.

Despite the advantages of AI, consumers express notable reservations about its integration into small businesses. Privacy concerns top the list, with 47% worried about data usage by AI systems. 

Further, 45% are hesitant if AI adoption leads to higher product or service prices, while 44% are concerned about AI replacing human jobs. These insights highlight the importance of addressing privacy, cost, and personalization to alleviate consumer apprehensions regarding AI technology in small businesses.

The future of small business marketing

Small business marketing in 2024 is defined by a blend of digital engagement, technological innovation, and consumer-centric strategies. The study shows that having a strong online presence is non-negotiable, with websites, review platforms, and social media giants like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram leading the way. To stay ahead, small businesses should tap into underused channels like search engine marketing and SEO to boost their online game.

Consumers are craving unique products and personalized experiences, putting quality over everything else. AI offers a big win for enhancing efficiency and personalization, but businesses need to tackle concerns about privacy, costs, and job impacts head-on. 

The secret sauce for 2024? Blend tech-savvy strategies with the authentic, community-focused charm that small businesses are known for.

The statistics in this report are derived from two separate surveys. We surveyed 1,000 U.S. consumers across a range of demographics and geographic regions, and 400 U.S. small business owners and marketing managers across a range of industries from March 12th to 14th, 2024.

The post The state of small business marketing in 2024 appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.

With a 98% open rate, text messages are one of the most effective ways to share information regularly. 

And with a text messaging service like ours, you can automate the process to avoid having to write and send your messages each day manually. 

At SimpleTexting, you can send daily reminder texts in three different ways depending on your messaging and estimated frequency. We’ll walk you through them one step at a time and include some relevant real-life examples you can use as inspiration.

• Use cases for daily text reminders
• Examples of real-life daily text messages
• Send the same reminder text daily
• Send a unique reminder text daily
• Start a daily drip campaign

But first, let’s have a look at a couple of common use cases for daily text messages.

Use cases for daily text reminders

There are endless opportunities to leverage this type of text messaging strategy. So next, we’re covering some of the most popular examples and also taking a look at unique ways to use daily text reminders with your audience.

News and trends 

Sending daily reminders ensures that your audience stays up-to-date with the latest news and trends in real time. Text messages are easily accessible on mobile devices, making it convenient for people to receive updates wherever they are without needing to actively seek out information.

Sydney McDonald is a social media coach with 165k+ followers on TikTok who uses text messaging to send TikTok trends to her subscribers every day. Every day, Sydney forwards three TikTok trends to hundreds of entrepreneurs and content creators. Once the subscription is set up, she mentioned that it only requires 10 to 15 minutes of her time daily to curate content and manage the subscription list. That’s a pretty good return on investment.

“I believe that I’ve had so much success with this because I am because I am texting my customers instead of emailing them. Honestly, I think email stresses people out, and we just get too many every single day to go through.”

Sydney McDonald

Owner, Sydney on Socials

Events

Regular event reminders help keep the event top-of-mind, increasing the likelihood of attendance as people are less likely to forget about it. You might also have to make changes in schedules, venues, or additional details. Daily reminders will allow for real-time updates, ensuring attendees have the latest information. 

But text reminders don’t end with the pre-event stage. You can use them during or after the event to engage attendees and prompt them to respond to your calls to action. 

One idea is to use daily texts before, during, and after an event you’re hosting. You can simply schedule texts to send at specific times so you don’t have to do it on the fly. Then, just monitor your Inbox for questions and replies as needed.

Forecasts

Forecasts naturally tend to change a lot, so daily reminders ensure that recipients have the most current information. Whether it’s weather forecasts or market trends, daily reminders will keep your clients and prospects prepared for potential changes or opportunities.

Cale Pallas, one of the co-owners of Pallas Seeds, a family business that sells corn and soybean seeds to local farmers reads between the lines of economic grain volatility and translates that into text messages their audience understands. 

“Our customer engagement has gone up dramatically. We’re able to disseminate information and get it to our growers very quickly. That helps us to create some greater conversations about what their specific needs are and how they can grow their operation.” – Cale Pallas

Bible verses 

We see lots of churches in our user database turning to daily text reminders to send daily Bible verses. These can provide inspiration, encouragement, and comfort to individuals, offering a moment of reflection or motivation at the start or end of the day.

Text reminders provide an easily accessible format for receiving verses, allowing people to engage with the content conveniently on their mobile devices.

Emotional support 

For mental health consultancy or small businesses, daily reminders can serve as a reminder to practice self-care or stress management techniques. 

Think of the exact ways in which your clients are expecting support. This could be a series of daily tips or updates on their progress. Alternatively, you can use daily texts to share resources, links to articles, or techniques for coping with stress, anxiety, or burnout, providing valuable information to support them.

Trivia

The focus of your business matters the most when choosing what type of text reminders to send your audience. 

Let’s take Snapple for example. This tea and juice brand was looking for an innovative way to entertain its subscribers. So they opted for daily trivia messages to offer a chance for continuous learning and knowledge expansion in a fun and bite-sized format.

Sharing trivia daily is also a great way to foster a sense of community among recipients who enjoy exchanging knowledge or competing in quizzes.

Inspiration 

Send daily inspirational messages to help recipients start their day on a positive note or overcome challenges. These reminders can prompt recipients to reframe their perspectives, adopt a growth mindset, and take on new opportunities with a more optimistic outlook.

Tip: Remember to test different formats and content types by segmenting your audience. This will allow you to see what inspires your clients or prospects so you can ultimately get better engagement rates.

Action items

A fun way to get your audience to remember you is to start a challenge that will get them to interact with you on a daily basis. To do this, you need to ask them to do something.

Professional Organizer Tanisha Porter turned daily texting into a business that relies on action items. Through her virtual organization program, customers can buy a year-long subscription for her program, receiving a daily action prompt each day.

“The goal is, if you follow my prompts every day of the year, then you’ll be able to de-clutter and have an idea of what to do in order to control your spaces.

I wanted it to feel like you hired me and I’m your girlfriend who just happens to be a professional organizer, tapping you on the shoulder, helping you get a little more organized.”

Tanisha Porter

Owner, Natural Born Organizers

Daily text reminder examples

With a broader understanding of where daily text reminders can fit into your messaging strategy, let’s dig into a couple of examples brands and individuals are using. You can use these as templates to guide your own texts but remember it’s best to stay original.

Snapple Real Facts

The “Snapple Real Facts” are fun and often surprising snippets of information printed on the underside of Snapple beverage caps.

Each Snapple cap features a unique real-life fact that ranges from science, history, and world trivia so the brand decided to share these via messages too. These facts are meant to entertain and inform consumers as they enjoy their drinks. They’ve now become a trademark of the brand, adding an element of entertainment and curiosity to the brand experience.

Key takeaway: Consider what people love about your brand and double up on that.

Backcountry’s 10 Days of Deals

If you don’t want to send your audience a text message every single day but still want to stay top of mind, why not come up with a couple of creative campaigns?

Backcountry opts for regular sales campaigns where every day is dedicated to promoting a different kind of deal. No need to get extensive with these. Simply naming your product and deal like Backcountry does in these examples will work with audiences that are already familiar with your general offering.

We also love how Backcountry sent an introductory message to make sure they’ll only be sending texts to people who want to receive them. Not everyone will want to take part in your campaign, so work with your initial message to further segment your audience.

Key takeaway: Get to know your customers and their activity so you can deliver the exact content they need (and will be highly responsive to).

Smokefree.Gov’s Practice Quit daily text program

Smokefree.gov makes use of its website to get people to join their program to quit smoking. All of the instructions for joining this free program are clearly outlined on the website under a “How does it work?” section.

Whenever they’re ready for the challenge, people simply have to fill in a form with details such as their location and smoking habits. This automatically signs them up for a short five-day series of daily text messages to support them in quitting smoking.

Key takeaway: Make joining a list for daily text messages voluntary by allowing people to choose exactly what and when they’ll receive something.

How to send the same reminder text daily

You can set up a message to send automatically regularly by starting a recurring campaign.

If you plan on sending the same message every day, this is the approach for you. 

Recurring campaigns are perfect for: 

• Sending daily reminders
• Longitudinal survey questionnaires and other daily research messages 
• Sharing appointment, billing, and scheduling reminders 
• And more!

The best part about recurring campaigns is that once you set it, you can forget it! Here’s how it works. 

Setting up a daily reminder text as a recurring campaign 

1. On the left-hand side of your dashboard, select Campaigns. Then, the blue New button at the top of the window. 

2. Proceed as if you were creating a standard one-off campaign — give your campaign a name and type your message in the text message box. Then, select the audience you want to send to from the dropdown.

3. Scroll down and under Send on, select Recurring from the menu.

4. Select what date you want your campaign to start sending, then specify the time you’d like your message to go out. For example, if you wanted to send your message every day at 8 AM, you would enter 0800. 

5. Under Repeats, select Daily.

6. If you have a set time for your daily text messages to stop sending, select the Ending date button and pick a date from the calendar below. If it’s open-ended, choose Never. 

7. Select Next.

8. Review your scheduled text messages, and if everything looks good, press the blue Schedule button. You’re done!

Ending your daily recurring campaign 

If you selected Never as your daily campaign end option, you can stop the series at any time. 

1. Go back to the campaign dashboard and select Scheduled from the dropdown. 

2. Select the campaign you want to end and select the Archive icon at the top of the campaign. 

3. If you only want to cancel one campaign in the series, select Archive only this campaign. If you wish to cancel the recurring series altogether, select Archive all future campaigns.

How to send a unique reminder text daily

Alternatively, if you plan on sending different daily reminder text messages to your audience each day, you have the option to schedule them ahead of time. 

While this approach does require manual intervention, it still helps you save valuable time by allowing you to set up your messages days, weeks, and months in advance.

Scheduling a text can be done in four simple steps:

1. Navigate to Campaign, then New. Give your campaign a name, select your intended recipients, and compose your SMS message.

2. Under Send on, select Scheduled. Choose the date when you want your message to be sent and the time you’d like your message to be delivered. Then, click Next.

3. Preview your campaign and when you’re ready, click the blue Schedule button.

How to start a daily drip text campaign

Last but not least, you can create the equivalent of a text message drip campaign with our autoresponders feature. When someone joins a list, you can send them a series of automated text messages.

Here’s how to set one up:

Alternative methods to schedule daily reminder text messages

If scheduling your daily reminders directly through SimpleTexting doesn’t work for you, we still have a few tricks up our sleeves.

SimpleTexting is also integrated with Zapier. This makes it possible to integrate our texting platform with thousands of popular apps. 

For example, if you’re using a tool like Google Calendars, you can use Zapier to trigger SMS reminders each day.

Looking for fresh ways to connect with customers daily? Try our two-week SimpleTexting trial —absolutely free! No credit card is needed.

Meghan Tocci originally authored this piece. Alexandra Cote contributed on 2/12/24.

The post How to send daily text messages and reminders appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.

I’ve been there.

A few years back, I was the first marketing hire at a small startup (it’s called CoSchedule if you’d like to look it up).

I was convinced that increasing website traffic and email subscribers could be game-changers for business growth.

Why?

1. We sold our products on our website. So if we got website traffic, we could make sales. Right?
2. We knew it was impossible to convert 100% of our website subscribers into customers. So, how could we get value from website visitors? I hypothesized that if we could keep those folks engaged with our brand—asking website visitors to subscribe to our email newsletter—we would have more opportunities to nurture them to become customers.

So what happened? *drum roll*

• Within two years, our email newsletter went from zero to 170,000 subscribers.
• We kept at it. By year eight, we had 1.6 million email newsletter subscribers. (And no, that’s not including unsubscribes).
• Next to organic search engine optimization, that email list is still the most valuable marketing asset at the company. Today, the list routinely delivers new customers like clockwork.

I’d like to share how I started an email marketing newsletter with you. I’ll also share some stories from my friend, Masooma Memon, whose newsletter is so great, Forbes included it in a top newsletter roundup.

Step 1: Determine your why

Before you start writing and designing your emails, know why you’re sending them.

You might want:

• More sales
• More engagement in offers or events
• Higher opt-ins to your text lists
• More website traffic 

In Masooma’s case, she noticed that there were very few good content marketing strategy-centric email newsletters out there. In her own words:

“The point was to fill a hole. There was a gap I saw in the industry: the need for micro-learning. There were very few newsletters on content marketing itself, and whatever we had was directly from brands.

We were also producing long-form content and I wanted to bring a short newsletter to people's inboxes where they could leave with one solid actionable takeaway. So my goal with this newsletter was to keep it short as well as actionable.”

Masooma also wanted to move her audience away from Twitter to a channel she could own. 

Step 2: Provide unique value to your readers

As you can see from the quote above, Masooma designed her newsletter emails to stand out in a world of long, less-than-useful offerings. 

The focus for her was on easily accessible content her subscribers could use, and that’s a great example to emulate for anyone looking to run a successful email newsletter.

As you plan out your newsletter, step back and ask yourself two questions:

• Will my readers walk away with information they can use immediately?
• Am I creating a newsletter that I’d want to read that fills a need for my subscribers (instead of copying an industry trend)?

Step 3: Build your email newsletter list

Of course, if you want results, you’re going to need people to receive your emails. Luckily, there are lots (and I mean lots) of ways to bring subscribers to your email newsletter list. 

Masooma actually began promoting her newsletter through her connections. In the lead-up to the launch, she had talked with a lot of people as part of her research, and one of them happened to be a client of hers.

That client then sent out a tweet announcing the newsletter and Masooma simply reposted it. 

“My first 200-300 subscribers came from that repost. I got some traction there. And once those followers came in, I had the link in my Twitter. A lot of the people who subscribed to the newsletter also talked about it to their friends. Then I started it on Substack, which lets both subscribers and non-subscribers refer your newsletter.

So, I mainly get subscribers from my social media channels, referrals from other newsletter writers on Substack, and word-of-mouth referrals.”

You can also gather subscribers through: 

• Physical advertisements in your storefront or around your community (consider using a text-to-join keyword for this method and directing text subscribers to your email list).
• Pop-up forms on your website (platforms like Constant Contact offer tools to set these up)
• Social media giveaways 
• Your blog 

Step 4: Set your send cadence and timing

The question of when and how often you send your email newsletter is a highly individual one, but I’ll tell you how Masooma thought through it to give you a framework to follow. 

It breaks down into two main parts: how often and when your subscribers want to read your newsletter email and how often you can feasibly send it. 

For the first point, Masooma asked the people she knew who would be her ideal subscribers a few key questions:

• How frequently do you read newsletters? 
• How long are they? 
• What is your preference on newsletter length? 

She also considered the particular day of the week when she’d be most likely to read a newsletter. For Masooma, Tuesdays turned out to be the ideal day.

“Mondays are usually productive for me because I come back fresh from the weekend and I get to do a lot of deep work. A lot of newsletters come out on Thursday and Friday, everybody tends to send their newsletter on Thursday.

On Fridays, I personally wouldn't read a newsletter because I'm busy wrapping up work. And if there are email replies that come back, I won’t be replying to those on a Sunday or even a Friday. So, that's how it came to be Tuesday.

Everything I do is based on empathy. So, I look at myself and try to stand in readers' shoes. If it's something I can’t do myself, why would I put the reader in that position?”

The second point concerned Masooma’s personal workflow. She wanted to come up with a cadence she could maintain. Her process looks like this:

1. Write up a draft.
2. Rewrite as needed. 
3. Run the draft by a friend who’s also a subscriber for feedback.
4. Put the finishing touches on and set it up to send. 

For her, that process is manageable once a week. 

On a personal note, I found the way Masooma thinks about her content and send cadence really masterful, and I’ll wrap this point up with a really excellent quote from her.

“The key to actually being consistent in whatever content you publish, be it a newsletter, a blog strategy, or whatever, is to take what your audience wants, what you can manage to provide them, and meet at the center.”

Step 5: Plan it

Now that we have some real-world inspiration, let's talk through the last couple of steps. I'll pretend I'm planning an email newsletter for my home decor business.

In this step, I'll look at what I want to include in each edition of my newsletter.

Assuming I'll send my newsletter once a week, I'd consider the following questions:

• Am I staying on topic?
• Does each edition offer some piece of value that previous ones haven't?
• Am I giving subscribers a strong next step or reason to come back and read the next one?

With those questions in mind and four installments every month, I'll plan to send:

• An edition with new research or strategies on planning a functional, peaceful space
• A spotlight on easy-to-implement seasonal decorating trends
• An “editor's pick” of brands I like and/or partner with 
• Announcements from my company paired with a poll for upcoming products, events, and newsletter editions

I'll plan to send variations on those types each month to keep things standardized.

I'd also include a clear call-to-action (CTA) to visit my website and social media as well as an encouragement to share the newsletter.

Step 6: Send it

Last but never least, it's time to send out my newsletter. For this example, I'll pick Mailchimp as my platform.

Within Mailchimp, here's what the setup looks like.

1. Log into Mailchimp.
2. Go to campaigns and create a new one.
3. Make sure to select “Email.”
4. Name your campaign for organizational purposes.
5. Pick the subscriber list your newsletter will go to and the email address it should send from.
6. Add an eye-catching subject line.
7. Put your text and images into an email newsletter template or build one from scratch using Mailchimp’s blocks.
8. Review everything and hit send or schedule your newsletter to send at a specific day/time.

Once I've sent out a few editions of my newsletter, I'll start to A/B test different subject lines, preview texts, and CTA’s to optimize performance. I'll also be sure to keep an eye on my analytics.

The post How to create an email newsletter so good Forbes recommends it [as a solo creator] appeared first on SMS Marketing & Text Marketing Services – Try It For Free.