44 Mind-Blowing SMS Marketing and Texting Statistics

44 Mind-Blowing SMS Marketing and Texting Statistics

Updated Jan 23rd, 2023

Mobile usage is exploding and becoming an increasingly powerful tool for marketers to connect with consumers around the world. Statistics show that professional text message use is expected to continue growing through 2023.

Although few in-depth studies focused on text messaging statistics have been done in the past, recent reports are beginning to shed light on the opportunities and help us grasp the size and potential impact for businesses — especially as screen time has increased since COVID-19.

The point: SMS marketing can play a major role in developing a relationship with your customers and converting prospects. But don’t rely on our word for it, we’ve collected the newest and most compelling SMS texting stats for you to see for yourself. Do your research, because at the end of the day, the information will lead you to build a marketing strategy that’s rooted in proven consumer trends.

Global Text Messaging Stats

If you need to get a sense of just how many people use mobile phones these days — and just how much we are using our phones — these text messaging statistics will paint a picture.

1. 5 billion people globally send and receive SMS messages. That’s about 65% of the world’s population.

2. 292 million people in North America use text messages, which is 80% of the total population.

3. The country with the highest percentage of mobile users is Russia, where 89% of the population sends and receives text messages.

4. China and India have the most people who send SMS messages — China comes first with 1,081 million people and India second with 730 million.

5. The mobile industry had a revenue of $1.05 trillion in 2017. That’s a 1.64% annual increase.

6. 3.3 billion people access the internet via mobile. It’s predicted that by 2025, 72.6% of internet users will access the web via mobile only, using their smartphones.

7. Most people are using smartphones nowadays — 57% of mobile users own a smartphone. In 2020, 3.5 billion people are expected to own a smartphone.

Global Text Messaging Statistics

 

The Future of Texting

Stats show that text messaging and mobile usage isn’t slowing down any time soon. In fact, reports project it will keep growing at a strong pace until at least 2025. Even statistics on spam texting show that SMS is starting to trend ahead of spam calls. It’s easy to see that mobile messaging is a force that’s here to stay.

8. Globally, the amount of people who send and receive text messages is predicted to rise to 5.9 billion by 2025.

9. Smartphone usage is expected to increase to 77% of the global population by 2025.

10. 4G became the leading mobile network technology worldwide in 2019, with a projected 3 billion connections.

11. There are about 1.2 billion 5G connections predicted globally by the end of 2025. Most of them will be from China the U.S. and Japan, as well as most of Europe since these four areas are leading the world in 5G deployment.

12. By 2025, two-thirds of mobile connections will be on high-speed networks.

13. Researchers predict 6 billion people will send and receive SMS text messages by 2025.

14. By 2025, a predicted 61% of the world’s population will access the internet from their mobile phones.

Stats on the future of text messaging

 

SMS Marketing Statistics

Even if you know a lot about the market now, how does any of that apply to your business? These SMS marketing stats will give you an idea of how text messaging is catching the eye of marketers and ways they’re trying to adopt it in 2023.

15. People will definitely see what you send them — SMS open rates are as high as 98%.

16. You can start a conversation easily with SMS (or conversational marketing). As many as 45% of people reply to branded text blasts they receive.

17. Gain an advantage over your competition — about 61% of marketers still don’t use SMS. If you start now you’ll be on the cutting edge.

18. Even though it hasn’t been fully utilized, across markets, mobile use is becoming more commonplace. 52% of business leaders in North America said it’s already a major disruption in their industry.

19. Out of all the consumer behaviors that mobile is changing, 46% of North American marketers said it’s having the most impact on mobile commerce.

20. 40% of North American marketers said the ability to make mobile payments is the most disruptive consumer behavior to come with mobile’s rise. Text-to-pay plays a large role in this growing trend.

21. Retail is viewed as the industry in North America using the most innovative mobile marketing techniques by 47% of marketers.

22. Despite statistics on mobile’s rise, 65% of brands still don’t have a formal strategy in place for broadcast text messaging to take advantage of the amount of time we spend on our phones.

23. Stats show that 73% of businesses expect their budgets for text message marketing and SMS short codes to increase in the next year.

24. About 33% of marketers expect to prioritize mobile loyalty schemes and coupons in their plans for next year.

Business SMS Marketing Statistics

 

Other Important SMS and MMS stats to know for 2023

One specific way to reach people on their mobile devices in 2023 is through SMS and MMS marketing. Research shows this is a very effective way to talk to your consumers. More importantly, polls indicate this is the way they actually want to hear from you.

People don’t enjoy receiving phone calls or emails from brands as much as text messages. They’re enthusiastic about text messages from businesses — the stats prove it.

Important SMS Marketing & Text Messaging Statistics

25. 88% of people surveyed said text was the number one thing they use their phones for, and they use their phones all the time! Data on texting and driving shows that a significant number of people will use their phone to text no matter what they’re doing — even if they’re behind the wheel.

26. Don’t rely on the old methods of getting in touch in 2023. 90% of brands said they leave voicemails to talk to consumers, while 29% of consumers said they don’t listen to voicemails at all. There’s a good chance that if you’re resting on outdated methods, your voicemails are going into a black hole never to be heard from again.

27. 92% of U.S. adults carry text-enabled phones, 98% of smartphone users use text on a regular basis, but only 14% of companies text with consumers. There’s a huge opportunity few brands are taking advantage of to reach people in a space that isn’t yet overly crowded.

28. 85% of customers in 2023 prefer receiving text messages over a phone call or email. You can even use AI text messages to increase customer engagement.

29. 70% of consumers want to use mobile messaging to troubleshoot issues. How would it change your business if you offer customer support over text instead of putting people on hold? SMS chatbots can help you save time, money, and manpower.

30. 68% of consumers would like to use mobile messaging to contact a company with billing questions or concerns.

31. Stats demonstrate that 64% of customers want to use text messaging to make or update a reservation.

32. When it comes to updating or changing a purchase, 64% of customers say they’d prefer to use mobile messaging.

33. A majority of people — 71% of consumers — say using text messaging to communicate with a business was effective.

34. As many as 66% of consumers say they would pay more for something if it was supported by a mobile messaging channel.

35. More people send text messages than own personal computers or landline telephones.

36. 64% of consumers think companies who text value their time, are progressive, and would recommend them to others.

37. 53% of consumers say they feel more positive toward a brand that uses mobile messaging to communicate.

38. 45% of consumers say the ability to send mobile messages is what could convince them to choose one brand, product, or service over another.

39. Daily hourly smartphone use increased 39% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Average screen time is steadily increasing across all generations, and findings indicate that internet usage has increased by 50-70% since 2020.

40. 97% of companies found they communicated with consumers more efficiently after launching texting initiatives.

41. One group of early adopters of MMS for business is insurance agents. A full 67% of agents send and receive MMS messages to mail quotes and claims. They report consumers respond “within minutes” to text messages.

42. 94% of organizations already using SMS for communications would recommend using a mass texting service to their colleagues.

43. Interactive content, like some SMS or MMS campaigns, generates conversions very well 70% of the time, compared to passive content stats at 36%.

44. 95% of millennials send messages daily, while 4 out of 5 consumers in total send daily messages.

How to get started with SMS or MMS marketing

If reading these statistics has you interested in trying mass texting or SMS marketing for your business, 2023 is the year to get started. Here are a few simple actions you can take to jump on the texting bandwagon — and keep your customers engaged and active for cents on the dollar.

1. Find a turn-key solution

Instead of trying to do it yourself when it comes to text marketing, it’s a good idea to partner with a provider who has experience — especially as you’re still learning. Good providers can help you with creating text campaigns and can walk you through a simple platform to launch your own initiatives.

Find an SMS software service that can spend one-on-one time to get you educated, help plan your campaigns, and set up automated text messages.

2. Create a text marketing plan

Like any marketing initiative, it’s important to go into text marketing with a strong plan in place, so that you can be decisive and cohesive with your communications to consumers. Remember to familiarize yourself with common text marketing best practices if you’re just starting out.

There are some legal requirements to fulfill when you’re sending a text message for business. For example, you must keep a record of consent that proves the people you’re texting have actually agreed to receive text messages from you. A reputable SMS marketing platform should be able to help you with this quite easily.

3. Review your strategy

Once you’ve initiated a marketing plan, make sure you regularly review it against key performance indicators throughout 2023. After all, you’re likely putting a decent amount of money behind your marketing, and you want to make sure it’s being well-spent. If you find you need to go a step further with your strategies, implement advanced SMS marketing techniques to take your campaigns to the next level. This can include text promotions, automated workflows, and a number of other strategies that our team can help you with — including incorporating social media marketing.

One of the great advantages of text message marketing is that you’re able to see what actions your recipients are taking after they read your text message. Even if you just start out by tracking links they click inside of your text messages this is a good way to review how strong your strategy is and make tweaks when necessary.

Start Your SMS Marketing Program

The text messaging statistics speak for themselves — mobile is growing and businesses that adapt are positioning themselves to keep customers satisfied and coming back for more. Don’t be afraid to embrace mobile, since adapting to it gives you a strong advantage over businesses that are slower to see the potential.

Want to kick off your SMS marketing strategy? Start your free trial with SlickText today, and get in touch with our team if you have any questions.

 

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