51 latest business texting statistics [2024 edition]

It’s been over 30 years since engineer Neil Papworth sent the world’s first text message. Since then, texting’s popularity has risen, becoming not only a preferred communication channel for the public but also a must-have tool for businesses.

But don’t just take our word for it. Here are 51 recent business texting statistics that show why an SMS strategy may be best for your company in 2023 and beyond.

Mobile usage in the U.S.

• 97% of Americans own a cell phone of some kind. [Pew Research Center, 2021]
• The U.S. has 298 million smartphone users, meaning 85% of Americans own a smartphone. [Statista, 2021]
• The majority of people in each age group own a smartphone. In fact:
• 96% of adults ages 18 to 24 own one. [Pew Research Center, 2021]
• 95% of adults ages 30 to 49 own one. [Pew Research Center, 2021]
• 83% of adults ages 50 to 65 own one. [Pew Research Center, 2021]
• 71% of adults ages 65+ own one. [Pew Research Center, 2021]
• The average American checks their phone 344 times a day, or once every 4 minutes. [Reviews.org, 2021]
• The average American spends 4 hours and 23 minutes on a mobile device daily. [Statista, 2021]
• 71% of Americans check their phone within 10 minutes of waking up. [Reviews.org, 2021]

General texting statistics

• Americans sent 2 trillion text messages in 2021. [Statista, 2021]
• Text messages have a 98% open rate. [CTIA, 2022]
• Texting is the top reason why 88% of people use their mobile phones. [SlickText, 2022]
• 85% of people check a text within 5 minutes of receiving it. [SimpleTexting, 2022]
• 51% of consumers reply to texts within 1 to 2 minutes. [SimpleTexting, 2022]
• Across age groups, text messaging is the preferred way to communicate with businesses. [Lead Inferno, 2022]
• 70% of businesses want to tap into SMS marketing for its high engagement rate. (Forrester, 2021)

Business texting by use case

While marketing may be the first thing that comes to your mind when thinking about texting use cases for business, these statistics speak for its great versatility:

Customer support

• More than 50% of consumers prefer to text a customer support agent than have a phone call. [SMS Comparison, 2022]
• Messaging channels, including SMS, can cut up to 60% of support costs per customer interaction. [Freshworks, 2022]
• 42% of customers say the ability to reach support via their preferred communication channel is the most important customer experience factor. [Gladly, 2022]
• Texting support ticket volume grew 28% from 2020 to 2021. [Zendesk, 2022]
• 61% of consumers want the ability to two-way text with a business. [SimpleTexting, 2022]

Marketing and sales

• Businesses that use texting attribute 12.8% of their online revenue to SMS marketing. [Forrester, 2021]
• 20% of customers said they made a purchase after receiving a text from a small business. [Constant Contact, 2022]
• The average click-through rate for marketing texts is between 20% and 30%. [SimpleTexting, 2022]
• 70% of customers opted into SMS marketing texts in 2022, an increase of 12% year over year. [SimpleTexting, 2022]
• 39% of customers who signed up for text messages opted in to claim a discount. [Constant Contact, 2022]
• 38% of businesses use text marketing for sales and promotions [SimpleTexting, 2022]
• 87% of businesses rate SMS marketing as important to their future marketing strategy. [Forrester, 2022]

Operations

• 64% of customers say appointment reminders are the most valuable texts to receive, followed by delivery updates. [ZipWhip, 2021]
• 70% of customers prefer receiving delivery updates via text. [Dispatch Track, 2022]
• 46% of customers want the option to pay via text message. [ZipWhip, 2021]

Business texting by industry

There’s rarely an industry that couldn’t benefit from business texting in some form. Here’s the statistics to prove that.

Healthcare

• 49% of customers are most likely to opt into texts from healthcare providers. [SimpleTexting, 2022]
• More than 95% of patients who received text message updates felt more connected to their care team. [Journal AAOS, 2021]
• Automated appointment reminders sent via text or email can increase patient confirmations by 150% and cut no-show rates to 5% or less. [Solution Reach, 2020]
• 50% of patients want to receive text reminders to schedule their next appointment. [PatientPop, 2021]

Retail and ecommerce

• 52% of customers are most likely to opt into texts from retail and ecommerce stores. [SimpleTexting, 2022]
• 42% of retail stores expect to increase their SMS marketing budgets in the next three years. [PwC, 2021]
• SMS generated 18% more orders for ecommerce stores in the first half of 2022 compared to the same period in 2021. [Omnisend, 2022]

Professional services

• More than 46% of customers would opt into receiving texts from banking or financial institutions. [SimpleTexting, 2022]
• 93% of realtors prefer to communicate with clients via text messaging. [National Association of Realtors, 2021]

Business texting vs. other channels

Where does texting stand compared to other channels? Is it less or more successful?

Business texting vs. email

• SMS marketing campaigns generate nearly a 6 times higher order rate than email campaigns. [Omnisend, 2022]
• SMS open rates sit at 98%, compared to email at 20%. [SMS Comparison, 2022]
• Click-through rates for SMS marketing are between 10% to 15% higher than email marketing. [SimpleTexting, 2022] 
• About 3% of SMS messages are considered spam, compared to nearly 85% of emails. [Textedly, 2022]
• The average response time to a text is 90 seconds, compared to 90 minutes for an email. [Textedly, 2022]

Business texting vs. phone calls

• 90% of people prefer texting with businesses over a phone call. [SMS Comparison, 2022]
• 75% of millennials avoid phone calls as they’re time-consuming. [Bank My Cell]

Growth predictions

• Businesses expect their online revenue attributed to SMS to grow to 17.4% by the end of 2023. [Forrester, 2021]
• Experts predict U.S. mobile commerce will account for 10.4% of all retail sales by 2025, more than two times the pre-pandemic level. [Insider Intelligence, 2021]
• The A2P SMS messaging market is expected to grow 4% annually to $89.2 billion in 2030. [Beyond Market Insights, 2022] 
• By 2025, 87% of Americans are expected to own a smartphone. [Statista, 2023]

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