SMS marketing statistics: Key data for 2026

SMS marketing statistics help marketers see how the channel performs across usage, ROI, open rates, click-through rates, conversions, automation, personalization, and consumer behavior. These SMS marketing statistics also make it easier to compare results, set budgets, and decide how SMS should work alongside email in 2026.

This roundup uses Omnisend’s ecommerce data alongside recent findings from credible outside sources. It looks at market growth, adoption, customer preferences, and how SMS compares with email. The figures can then support decisions around campaigns, list growth, automation, and performance reporting.

Key SMS marketing statistics for 2026

The figures below offer a quick view of SMS performance across usage, engagement, conversions, automation, revenue, and market direction. Each benchmark is covered in more detail later in the article.

• At Omnisend, we analyzed 321 million SMS messages from 150,000 brands for our 2026 ecommerce marketing report, creating a large ecommerce-specific dataset
• SMS send volume grew 40% year over year in 2025, following a 31% increase during 2024
• Standard SMS campaigns recorded a 12.39% average click-through rate across more than 246 million sends
• The average SMS campaign conversion rate was 0.12%, showing why click-through rate shouldn’t be treated as a sales metric on its own
• SMS campaigns achieved 96.6% deliverability, providing a useful baseline for the share of messages that reached recipients
• Automated SMS reached a 20.32% click-to-sent rate, substantially above standard campaign performance
• Automated texts converted at 0.77%, more than six times the 0.12% campaign average
• Each automated SMS generated $0.74 on average, compared with $0.15 for a campaign message
• United Kingdom campaigns achieved a 5.1% click-to-conversion rate, well above the 0.97% global average
• Statista’s SMS Advertising Market Forecast expects worldwide spending in the category to continue growing through 2030 (Statista, 2026)

SMS marketing usage statistics

Brands use SMS for promotions, transactional updates, and behavior-based automations. A broader SMS marketing strategy can combine scheduled campaigns, order notifications, and coordinated email/SMS workflows to reach subscribers at different points in the customer journey.

• Omnisend’s 2026 ecommerce marketing report analyzed 321 million SMS messages within a dataset covering 150,000 brands in 2025, showing the scale of text messaging in ecommerce marketing
• SMS volume among brands using Omnisend grew 40% year over year in 2025, following a 31% increase in 2024 — two consecutive years of channel growth
• Infobip’s 2026 Messaging Trends report analyzed 628 billion mobile interactions from 2025, with SMS accounting for 62% of traffic on its platform (Infobip, 2026)
• Based on those totals, SMS represented approximately 389 billion interactions on Infobip’s platform during the year
• Infobip describes SMS as a core channel for almost all its customers across regions, even as businesses increasingly coordinate several messaging channels (Infobip, 2026)
• SMS traffic on Infobip’s platform grew 53% in Latin America, 34% in Europe, and 14% in Asia-Pacific during 2025, although regional adoption patterns varied (Infobip, 2026)
• Ecommerce integrations support this wider adoption by connecting SMS with store activity. SMS marketing for Shopify can use customer, order, and behavioral data to support campaigns and automated workflows

SMS marketing ROI statistics

When checking SMS marketing ROI, compare the revenue from SMS with the full cost of running it. That means counting message fees, platform costs, discounts, and the work involved in producing campaigns. Revenue per message, conversion rate, and cost per acquisition (CPA) add more detail to that picture.

• Automated SMS generated an average of $0.74 per send in 2025, compared with $0.15 for scheduled campaigns — almost five times more revenue from each message
• Automated messages converted at 0.77%, while campaign messages converted at 0.12%, meaning automations produced more than six times as many conversions relative to send volume
• At the same sending cost, that conversion gap means an automated workflow may need around one-sixth as many messages to generate a conversion, which can reduce CPA
• Agencies using SMS generated 202% more revenue on average than those without SMS, based on Omnisend’s analysis of 717 agencies managing 2,990 ecommerce brands in 2025
• Omnisend customers generated an estimated $79 in ecommerce revenue for every $1 spent across email, SMS, and push in 2025; this is an omnichannel benchmark rather than an SMS-only return
• Revenue per message offers a cleaner channel comparison than headline ROI alone because SMS, email, and paid media have different cost structures and attribution rules

SMS open rate statistics

There’s no dependable way to track SMS opens in the same way as email. Standard text messages don’t send read receipts, so Omnisend uses delivery, click-to-sent, and conversion figures in its 2026 analysis.

• EZ Texting’s 2026 survey of 959 U.S. consumers found that 87% check a new text within 15 minutes of receiving it (EZ Texting, 2026)
• Nearly one-third of respondents, 32%, said they check new texts immediately, showing how quickly messages can gain attention (EZ Texting, 2026)
• Text was the preferred channel for nine of 10 business message categories, although the report measured preference rather than open rate (EZ Texting, 2026)
• Transactional messages drew particularly strong interest: 65% preferred text for appointment reminders, 62% for account security, 58% for emergency notifications, and 56% for delivery confirmations (EZ Texting, 2026)
• Promotional messages can also attract attention when the value is clear: 56% said discounts would increase their likelihood of opting in (EZ Texting, 2026)
• Since standard SMS can’t track opens by promotional, transactional, or automated message type, delivery, clicks, conversions, and revenue provide more dependable performance benchmarks

SMS click-through rate statistics

Because standard texts don’t reliably show when they’ve been opened, click-through rate (CTR) gives a better read on SMS engagement. Omnisend’s 2025 data also shows that clicks can vary sharply depending on what you send and when you send it.

• SMS campaigns averaged a 12.39% CTR across more than 246 million sends, providing a baseline for broad promotional messages
• Automated SMS averaged a 20.34% CTR, almost eight percentage points above campaign sends. This category includes behavior-triggered messages such as welcome and abandoned cart texts, although Omnisend hasn’t published separate CTR figures for each flow
• Monthly campaign CTR rose from 3.47% in January to 11.82% in September and 23.92% in December, reflecting stronger engagement during the holiday shopping period
• Saturday recorded the highest daily click-to-sent rate at 13.76%, followed by Sunday at 13.63%. Friday generated fewer clicks but the strongest conversion rate
• The strongest hour for clicks was 7 AM on five of seven days, while the best conversion windows usually fell between 8 AM and 9 AM
• Omnisend’s aggregate dataset doesn’t separate personalized and generic SMS CTR. Brands should compare segmented, behavior-based messages with broad sends using their own historical baseline

SMS conversion rate statistics

The SMS marketing conversion rate tells you what share of recipients completed the goal behind a text message. For ecommerce brands, that goal is often a purchase. Broadcast campaigns and triggered automations can produce very different results because they reach people in different situations.

• Standard SMS campaigns recorded an average conversion rate of 0.12% across more than 246 million sends in 2025, providing a baseline for broad promotional messages
• Automated SMS converted at 0.77%, more than six times the campaign average, because these messages followed actions such as joining a list or abandoning a cart
• Among recipients who clicked, automations reached a 3.81% click-to-conversion rate, compared with 0.97% for broadcast campaigns
• Automated SMS generated $0.74 per message, almost five times the $0.15 earned by campaign sends
• United Kingdom campaigns achieved a 5.1% click-to-conversion rate, compared with the 0.97% global campaign average
• Campaign conversion rates stayed between 0.10% and 0.14% throughout 2025, even as monthly click-through rates varied considerably

SMS automation statistics

A customer action usually triggers an automated SMS. Signing up, abandoning a cart, completing an order, or becoming inactive can each start a different flow. Omnisend groups these automations together in its 2025 performance data.

• Automated SMS achieved a 20.34% click-through rate, compared with 12.39% for broadcast campaigns — an increase of almost eight percentage points
• Automations converted at 0.78%, more than six times the 0.12% campaign rate
• Revenue averaged $0.75 per automated text and $0.15 per campaign message, giving behavior-triggered sends a fivefold advantage
• Automated SMS deliverability averaged 92.8%, below the 96.6% campaign benchmark. Long-running welcome, post-purchase, and winback flows therefore need regular list-quality checks
• Standard SMS doesn’t provide dependable open tracking, so open rates can’t be compared across automated and broadcast sends. CTR, conversions, and revenue per message are more useful benchmarks
• EZ Texting’s 2026 consumer research found that 54% of consumers are comfortable with automated text assistants, while another 25% accept them under certain conditions (EZ Texting, 2026)

SMS marketing and personalization statistics

Customer data gives brands more control over who receives an SMS and what that person sees. With SMS segmentation, subscribers can be grouped by purchase behavior, engagement, location, or lifecycle stage. Current Omnisend reporting doesn’t separate personalization from other factors affecting conversion, and SMS opens can’t be tracked reliably. The figures below therefore focus mainly on what consumers say they expect from business texts.

• Interest-based discounts and offers were the most valued form of text personalization, selected by 51% of U.S. consumers (EZ Texting, 2026)
• Tailored reminders ranked second at 45%, showing the value of connecting messages to appointments, orders, and other timely events (EZ Texting, 2026)
• Only 9% of consumers preferred generic business messages, leaving little support for sending the same content to an entire list (EZ Texting, 2026)
• Irrelevant content caused 18% of consumers to unsubscribe from business texts, making relevance a list-retention issue as well as an engagement goal (EZ Texting, 2026)
• In 2025, 42% of consumers expected personalized brand messages, while 29% wanted product recommendations based on purchase history
• Omnisend’s behavior-triggered automations reached a 20.34% CTR and 0.78% conversion rate, compared with 12.39% and 0.12% for broadcast campaigns, although timing and intent also influence that gap

Consumer SMS behavior and preferences

Opting in doesn’t guarantee long-term interest. Subscribers still expect the messages to stay useful, arrive at a reasonable pace, and remain easy to stop.

• G2’s SMS marketing statistics roundup reports that 91% of customers want to receive texts from businesses, while 58% consider texting the best way for businesses to reach them 
• 89% of U.S. consumers had signed up for texts from at least one business in 2026, up from 66% in 2021 (EZ Texting, 2026)
• Discounts were the leading opt-in incentive at 56%, followed by delivery and order updates at 50% and appointment reminders at 42% (EZ Texting, 2026)
• 59% were comfortable receiving at least two business texts per day, down from 69% in 2025. Another 41% preferred fewer than one message per day (EZ Texting, 2026)
• Excessive frequency was the leading opt-out trigger at 40%. Irrelevant content accounted for 18%, and inconvenient timing accounted for 10% (EZ Texting, 2026)
• Easy unsubscribing was the strongest trust signal at 47%. Brand trust and a promise not to share or sell phone numbers each followed at 43% (EZ Texting, 2026)
• Texting was the preferred channel for nine of 10 business message categories, with email leading only for polls and surveys (EZ Texting, 2026)

SMS vs. email statistics

Some messages only need a sentence and a link. Others need product images, recommendations, and enough space to explain the offer. That difference is why SMS and email often work well together. Our email marketing statistics provide more detail on the email figures used below.

The Omnisend comparisons come from SMS and email sent to the same ecommerce brand base in 2025, reducing inconsistencies when comparing data from separate platforms. SMS led on campaign clicks, while email automations generated more revenue per send — $3.41 compared with $0.75 for automated SMS.

In HubSpot’s 2026 survey, email was used by 40% of marketers and mobile messaging by 14%. Email supports a larger volume of communication, whereas SMS tends to be used more sparingly.

SMS market growth and adoption statistics

Companies now have more ways to message customers, yet SMS still accounts for substantial traffic. The figures below also show where usage is growing and how quickly RCS is being adopted.

• Statista’s SMS Advertising Market Forecast valued worldwide SMS advertising spend at $809.05 million in 2025 and projects mild growth through 2030 (Statista, 2026)
• SMS use for marketing grew 34% globally during 2025, according to Infobip’s analysis of 628 billion mobile interactions (Infobip, 2026)
• SMS accounted for 62% of traffic on Infobip’s platform, showing that it remains a core business messaging channel within a broader omnichannel mix (Infobip, 2026)
• Regional SMS growth varied considerably: traffic rose 53% in Latin America, 34% in Europe, 14% in Asia-Pacific, and 11% in Africa during 2025 (Infobip, 2026)
• RCS traffic grew 311% globally in 2025, including a 76-fold increase in the United States, as more carriers and brands supported richer business messaging (Infobip, 2026)
• Among 1,600 business leaders surveyed by Sinch, 87% were familiar with RCS, with awareness highest among technology, healthcare, finance, and retail leaders (Sinch, 2025)
• Brands generally used RCS alongside SMS rather than replacing it, matching message format to reach, cost, and customer experience needs (Infobip, 2026)

Summary

The figures suggest that SMS works best as part of a wider email and SMS setup. Campaign texts can drive clicks, while triggered messages often deliver better conversion and revenue results. Consumer research also shows that brands need to be careful with frequency and relevance if they want subscribers to stay on the list.

Omnisend helps ecommerce brands apply these findings through coordinated email and SMS campaigns, automation, segmentation, and reporting. Its recent SMS price drop also gives marketers more room to test, scale, and refine their text messaging strategy while keeping performance and costs in view.