106 SMS Marketing Statistics: 2026 Trends, ROI, Growth + Data Report

Ever wondered about which marketing channel is best for your coaching business?

The answer could be simpler than you think. It’s sitting in your clients’ pockets right now.

Text messaging isn’t just for personal conversations anymore. It’s one of the most powerful tools coaches and consultants can use.

For my virtual events like webinars and workshops, SMS marketing has helped me increase attendance rates by 5-10%. 

Interested in trying it out for yourself? These 106 SMS marketing statistics can show you how to use SMS to build your client base and keep people engaged.

Let’s look at the power of SMS and mobile, and what the future looks like for this marketing industry.

Key SMS Marketing Statistics (Quick Summary)

These ten key SMS statistics give you a snapshot of why coaches should consider text message marketing as part of their approach:

1. Mobile phone penetration: Nearly 90% of U.S. adults own a smartphone, making text delivery possible for most potential coaching clients (Pew Research Center, 2024).
2. High open rates: An incredible 98% of businesses that use SMS marketing report success (SimplyTexting, 2025).
3. Fast reading patterns: 82% of all consumers and 90% of Gen Z check their texts within five minutes (SimplyTexting, 2025).
4. Purchase acceleration: When clients receive text messages about offers, 72% of people have made a purchase after receiving a text from a brand (Klaviyo, 2024).
5. Market growth: The SMS marketing market is booming, with the market size projected to reach $12.6 billion with a CAGR of 20.3% (Grand View Research).
6. Business adoption: 66% of businesses are using SMS marketing software to text their customers (SimpleTexting, 2025).
7. Gen Z engagement: Young adults are most responsive, with 95% of individuals aged 18-29 preferring texting over social media (Textmagic).
8. Revenue ranking: Among all channels, 53% of marketers say SMS is one of their top three revenue-driving channels (Attentive).
9. Frequency preferences: 32% of consumers say the acceptable SMS frequency from brands is a few times a week (Klaviyo, 2024).
10. Subscriber confidence: 87% of U.S. shoppers who subscribe to a brand’s texts say they’re likely to purchase after signing up (Businesswire).

What Is SMS Marketing?

SMS marketing strategies refer to promotional or informational text messages sent directly to clients’ phones. 

When you launch an SMS campaign for your coaching business, you’re sending short, focused marketing messages about: 

• Your programs
• Appointment reminder prompts
• Exclusive SMS offers
• Personalized coaching tips

Text message marketing allows you to reach clients instantly without competing with dozens of other messages in their email inbox.

SMS marketing rules

Before you start texting your coaching clients, follow these key rules to stay legal and maintain trust:

1. Get permission first: Only send marketing texts to people who opted in.
2. Disclose who’s messaging: Include your business name in the first message so clients know who’s contacting them.
3. Give options to unsubscribe: Provide a clear way for people to opt out by replying STOP.
4. Respect quiet hours: Don’t send messages before 8 AM or after 9 PM.
5. Make it a win-win: Make sure your messages provide real value, not just constant promotions.
6. Listen to feedback: Honor requests when people ask to reduce the SMS frequency from your brand.

Why SMS marketing is important

SMS marketing isn’t just another trend. It’s become a core part of how coaches connect with potential and existing clients. 

Here’s why coaches should care about text message marketing:

1. Your messages get seen quickly: People check their phones constantly.
2. Short, punchy text messages work: Many busy potential clients prefer to communicate via text.
3. Segment your SMS list by client type: Send relevant messages per group of clients.
4. Build strong relationships: Text conversations feel personal in a way that mass emails don’t.
5. Works with other strategies: SMS integrates well with other digital marketing methods (e.g., email, social media, video).

Is SMS marketing effective?

Absolutely. The proof is in the data.

• Business satisfaction with SMS: 98% of businesses that text report digital marketing success (SimplyTexting, 2025).
• Retention through SMS: 79% of marketers use SMS as their retention channel (Attentive, 2021).
• Reduced no-shows: SMS can reduce missed appointments by 80% (Voicesage).

106 SMS Marketing Statistics

These SMS marketing statistics for 2026 demonstrate that text is one of your most valuable communication tools. 

The latest SMS marketing statistics show that coaches who ignore this channel are missing out on serious growth opportunities. 

If you master SMS, you see better client retention, higher conversion rates, and stronger overall digital marketing strategies.

SMS marketing facts

These foundational facts about how people use text messaging reveal why SMS drives engagement so effectively for coaches.

1. Global smartphone ownership: Nearly 90% of U.S. adults own a smartphone, giving coaches access to an enormous potential client base through text (Pew Research Center, 2024).
2. Daily text volume: Worldwide, 23 billion text messages are sent every single day (Forbes).
3. Global SMS users: About 5 billion people globally send and receive SMS messages, roughly 65% of the world’s population (Vodafone, 2022).
4. Daily texting habits: When you look at SMS usage statistics, you’ll find that 93% of consumers text every day, and nearly half check their text messages more than 10 times a day (SimplyTexting, 2025).
5. Consistent daily texters: One in three people still exchange at least one SMS daily, proving texting isn’t going anywhere (UKTIN, 2023).
6. Reaching offline audiences: Some coaches use SMS to reach people who don’t use social media or email regularly. 54% use SMS for this (UKTIN, 2023).
7. Speed of text reading: 32% of consumers open their texts within just 60 seconds of receipt (SimplyTexting, 2025).
8. Gen Z responsiveness: Young people are glued to their phones, with 82% of all consumers and 90% of Gen Z consumers checking their texts within five minutes (SimplyTexting, 2025).
9. Universal reading rates: 90% of SMS messages are read within three minutes of delivery, making this one of the fastest ways to reach clients (Validity, 2023).
10. Phone proximity: Coaches can count on client availability since 91% of Americans will keep their phones within arm’s length at all times (HubSpot).
11. Phone checking frequency: Americans check their phones 96 times per day on average (Microsoft Start).
12. Young adult texting preference: Among the most engaged demographic, 95% of individuals aged 18-29 prefer texting over social media (Textmagic).
13. Preferred contact method: When coaching clients need to reach someone, 58% of consumers say that texting is the best way to reach them (Business Wire, 2021).
14. Brand perception: When coaches communicate with clients via text, the relationship improves. 77% of consumers typically have a more positive outlook for a company that offers SMS (Digital Air Strike, 2021).
15. Chatbot satisfaction: 77% cited a positive experience with text-based intelligent assistants for SMS (Statista).
16. SMS opt-in growth: 84% of consumers opted in to receive texts from businesses in 2025 (SimplyTexting, 2025).
17. Messaging response gaps: One in three messages sent to businesses are not responded to due to a lack of two-way messaging capabilities (SMS Comparison, 2023).

SMS marketing data

Here’s the hard data on how the coaching and other industries actually use SMS marketing in their marketing strategy: 

1. Broad adoption across industries: 47% of businesses worldwide use mobile messaging (PWC Esendex Report, 2021).
2. Top industries using SMS: Real estate (17.9%), agriculture (15.9%), entertainment (15.4%), and construction (14%) lead adoption (SMS Comparison, 2025).
3. Global texting spending: Businesses worldwide spent on SMS over $327 billion annually on SMS marketing (Dexatel).
4. Software adoption: 66% of businesses are using SMS marketing software (SimpleTexting, 2025).
5. Top reason for SMS use: Strong customer engagement is the number one reason marketers use SMS (Forrester, 2021).
6. North American preference: In North America, 30% of people say SMS is their most preferred marketing channel (Klaviyo, 2024).
7. European SMS adoption: 46% of Europeans subscribe to four or more brands via SMS (Klaviyo, 2024).
8. European repeat purchasing: 23% of Europeans made an SMS purchase four to five times in the last year (Klaviyo, 2024).

SMS marketing effectiveness statistics

Business owners and marketing managers know the potential of SMS. Here’s a look at the top SMS marketing stats on performance:

1. Average SMS click-through performance: Most businesses see an average SMS marketing click-through rate between 21-35% (SimpleTexting, 2025).
2. E-commerce: Click-through rate for e-commerce businesses through SMS can be as high as 36% (Textmunication, 2022).
3. Finance sector performance: 72% of finance businesses see click-through rates above 20% (SimpleTexting, 2025).
4. Business revenue validation: 82% of businesses agree SMS marketing is an effective way to drive revenue (SimpleTexting, 2025).
5. Marketer revenue success: 96% of marketers report that using text messages helped them drive revenue (Attentive).
6. Revenue channel ranking: 53% of surveyed marketers say SMS is one of their top three revenue-driving channels (Attentive).
7. SMS purchase behavior: 72% of people have purchased after receiving a text from a brand (Klaviyo, 2024).
8. Multiple purchases from SMS: 86% of customers made two or more purchases via sms in the last year (Klaviyo, 2024).
9. Accelerated purchasing timeline: 65% of people said receiving a marketing text made them buy something sooner than planned (Klaviyo, 2024).
10. SMS subscriber confidence: 87% of U.S. shoppers who subscribe to a brand’s texts say they’re likely to purchase after signing up (Businesswire).
11. Impulse purchases from text: 14% made a purchase when they weren’t planning to buy after receiving a text (Klaviyo, 2024).
12. Purchase frequency from SMS: 56% of customers say they make purchases 2-3 times per year via SMS messages (Klaviyo, 2024).
13. Conversion rate benchmarks: 32% of businesses see average SMS marketing conversion rates between 21-30% (SimpleTexting, 2025).
14. ROI per dollar spent: E-commerce marketers generate approximately $71 for every dollar spent on SMS marketing. This is higher than the average email marketing ROI of $42 per dollar spent (Attentive, 2021).

Mobile marketing statistics

Understanding these mobile marketing statistics helps coaches see SMS in the context of where potential clients spend their time.

1. Smartphone growth rate: Global smartphone users increased by 49.89% from 2017-2022 (BankMyCell, 2025).
2. Young adult smartphone adoption: 97.6% of internet users aged 16-24 have a smartphone (DataReportal, 2025).
3. iPhone market share: Three out of ten smartphones are Apple iPhones and iPhone users (Oberlo).
4. Internet access: 98.1% of internet users aged 16-64 use mobile devices to connect to the Internet (GWI, 2023).
5. Multitasking with phones: 91% of people check their phones while doing other activities (Investopedia, 2023).
6. Mobile impulse buying: Mobile users are 40% more likely to make impulse purchases (Market Splash).
7. Global mobile users: There are 5.75 billion unique mobile users globally, providing an enormous addressable market (DataReportal, 2024).
8. China’s massive user base: China’s smartphone users total 845.38 million, the world’s biggest market (Statista, 2025).
9. India’s rapid growth: India follows closely at 613.3 million smartphone users (Statista, 2025).
10. Asia-Pacific expansion: Smartphone adoption in APAC jumped from 64% in 2019 to 78% in 2023, expected to top 90% by 2030 (Statista, 2025).
11. North American dominance: North America leads adoption at 84%, projected to reach 89% by 2030 (Statista, 2025).
12. Mobile-first markets: In Indonesia, 98.7% of users access the internet via mobile, followed by the Philippines at 98.4% and South Africa at 98.3% (Statista).

Text message marketing statistics 

These text marketing statistics show coaches exactly how and why people want to receive marketing messages and what works best.

1. Primary mobile activity: Texting is the top mobile activity for 83% of consumers (SimplyTexting, 2025).
2. Digital marketing statistics: Coaches who text their customers are 5.89 times more likely to report digital marketing ROI than coaches who don’t (SimpleTexting, 2025).
3. Global brand interaction: 66% of people around the world use text messaging to interact with brands (Salesforce).
4. Acceptable SMS frequency: 32% of people think that the acceptable SMS frequency from brands is a few times a week (Klaviyo, 2024).
5. Discount-driven subscriptions: About 52% of people would be more likely to subscribe to an SMS if they are being offered a discount (Klaviyo, 2024).
6. Brand loyalty: Beyond discounts, 39% of people actually sign up for SMS if it’s a brand they love (Klaviyo, 2024).
7. Best time to convert: 45% of people are most likely to purchase via SMS in the evening (Klaviyo, 2024).
8. Delivery update preferences: 51% of people want to receive SMS messages for shipment and delivery confirmations (Klaviyo, 2024).
9. Birthday deal appeal: 34% of customers say that the top exclusivity-related message is about birthday deals (Klaviyo, 2024).
10. Cart abandonment frequency: 37% want to receive messages about abandoned cart reminders less often (Klaviyo, 2024).
11. Unsubscribe trigger: 61% of people say they unsubscribe due to receiving too many messages (Klaviyo, 2024).
12. Average SMS subscriptions: 45% of people are subscribed to multiple brands, around two to three (Klaviyo, 2024).

Email marketing vs SMS marketing statistics

These SMS vs email statistics highlight why forward-thinking coaches are boosting both email and SMS marketing efforts.

1. Open rate comparison: Text campaigns have an open rate of 98%, compared to email marketing at 20% (Campaign Monitor, 2022).
2. Response rate for SMS: Text messages have 8x the response rate of emails (Retail Dive).
3. Click-through advantage: The average click-through rate for an SMS marketing campaign is 19%, while email marketing’s CTR is 4% (SMS Comparison, 2025).
4. Link opening rates: Links that are sent through text are usually opened 19% of the time, while links sent via email are only opened 4% of the time (Email Audience, 2025).
5. Spam comparison: Though approximately 50% of email marketing messages get marked as spam, almost zero mass texts get marked as spam (Email Audience, 2025).
6. Spam rates: About 3% of SMS messages from brands are considered spam, compared to nearly 85% of emails (Textedly, 2025).
7. Email vs SMS opens: The open rate of a text message campaign is around 95%, while email open rates are only at 21% (The Tech Report, 2025).
8. Email follow-up boost: Sending a text as a follow-up to an email is known to increase open rates by anywhere between 20 and 30% (Smart Insights, 2020).
9. Channel preference: 41% of consumers would rather receive brand updates via texts than emails (Thrive, 2022).
10. Shipment confirmations: When it comes to delivery updates, 32% of people prefer SMS vs. 46% email (Klaviyo, 2024).
11. Birthday deals: For special occasions, 26% prefer SMS vs. 47% email (Klaviyo, 2024).
12. Order confirmations: On transactional messages, 24% prefer SMS vs. 54% email (Klaviyo, 2024).
13. Promotional codes: For coupon delivery, 23% prefer SMS vs. 50% email (Klaviyo, 2024).
14. Back-in-stock alerts: When brands notify about availability, 23% prefer SMS vs. 44% email (Klaviyo, 2024).
15. Sales announcements: On promotional messaging, 21% prefer SMS vs. 48% email (Klaviyo, 2024).
16. Subscription updates: For subscription changes, 21% prefer SMS vs. 50% email (Klaviyo, 2024).
17. VIP experiences: On exclusive access offers, 22% prefer SMS vs. 46% email (Klaviyo, 2024).

Learn more about email marketing for coaches to fine-tune your strategies.

Future of SMS Marketing

The future of SMS marketing statistics shows why coaches should invest now. Here are some statistics to know about growth, AI, and top trends:

1. Market growth projection: By 2025, the SMS marketing market in the United States will be worth $12.6 billion (Grand View Research).
2. Growth rate: The SMS marketing market has a CAGR of 20.3% (Grand View Research).
3. Budget increases: 70% of companies are looking to increase their SMS marketing budgets in the future (SimpleTexting).
4. Mobile user growth: By 2026, mobile users will increase to approximately 7.52 billion worldwide (Bankmycell, 2025).
5. SMS subscribers growth: Globally, the number of people who send and receive text messages is predicted to rise to 5.9 billion by 2025 (SlickText, 2024).
6. Mobile commerce projection: Experts predict U.S. mobile commerce will account for 10.4% of all retail sales by 2025 (InsiderIntelligence, 2021).
7. Smartphone subscriptions forecast: The number of smartphone mobile network subscriptions worldwide is forecast to exceed 7.7 billion by 2028 (Statista, 2025).
8. Enterprise SMS market: The global enterprise A2P SMS market size is projected to reach $64.24 billion in 2028 (Fortune Business Insights, 2025).
9. AI integration success: 81% of businesses say AI has improved their SMS marketing success (SimplyTexting, 2025).
10. AI for personalization: 50.4% of businesses plan to use AI for personalization and automation (SimplyTexting, 2025).
11. AI success rates: 81% of businesses say AI has improved their SMS marketing success (SimplyTexting, 2025).
12. Chatbot adoption: 44% of businesses follow the trend of using chatbots and virtual assistants for SMS (SimplyTexting, 2025).
13. Two-way messaging trend: 32% of businesses follow the trend of using two-way messaging for SMS (SimplyTexting, 2025).
14. Location-based targeting: 28% of businesses use location-based SMS targeting for SMS (SimplyTexting, 2025).
15. Cross-channel integration: 26% of businesses use cross-channel integration for SMS (SimplyTexting, 2025).
16. AI for customer data: AI is transforming how businesses approach SMS marketing, helping 47% of brands analyze customer data for targeting purposes (SimplyTexting, 2025).
17. AI adoption barriers: High implementation costs (25.2%) and privacy and data security concerns (22.5%) are the biggest barriers businesses face in using AI (SimplyTexting, 2025).
18. Time savings from AI: 37% of businesses say using AI tools for SMS marketing saves them four to six hours per week (SimplyTexting, 2025).
19. AI chatbot adoption: Nearly 70% of consumers have interacted with an AI chatbot via text in the past year (SimplyTexting, 2025).
20. AI uncertainty: 8% aren’t even sure if they’ve chatted with AI or a human via text (SimplyTexting, 2025).
21. Consumer comfort with AI: Statistics show that 64% of all consumers feel comfortable interacting with AI chatbots via SMS (SimplyTexting, 2025).

Read up on other statistics on social media marketing, B2B marketing, and inbound marketing to see the bigger picture.

Knowledge Is Power

Knowing SMS marketing statistics isn’t just about staying current. It’s about strategic decision-making and getting ahead of the competition.

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