It's been 30 years since the world's first text message.
Over the past three decades, SMS has undergone many changes and new features have been introduced. At present, SMS is an essential communication method for everyone. Nowadays, businesses also use SMS marketing as it helps their business growth.
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the first text message, here are some noteworthy SMS marketing facts and statistics.
SMS Marketing Statistics
01. 7.26 billion people out of the world's population now own a smartphone or any kind of cellphone.
This number is equal to 90.72% of the world's population. 85% of people worldwide own a smartphone. That's why most organizations are now conducting business communications via mobile phones.
02. 9 out of 10 consumers prefer to communicate with the business through text messages.
When asked, "how do you prefer to communicate with businesses?" the answers show that people prefer texting over phone calls, emails, and other messaging apps. This could be through sending alerts, appointment reminders, back-and-forth communications, etc.
03. 48% of people would like to receive special offers and deals through text messages.
Who doesn't enjoy receiving great offers? We all like it, right?
However, most discounts and offers are missed by consumers because they are not getting them at the right time. The reason for this is that they often receive their special offers via email, and most people do not check their emails frequently. But if people can get their offers on their phones, they will never miss out on those deals.
04. The average click-through rate (CTR) of SMS marketing messages is 19%.
The click-through rate in SMS marketing is the ratio of link clicks to text messages sent. The average click-through rate for an SMS text message which includes a link is about 19%. This is several times higher when compared to email marketing (4%) and social media (1%).
05. Every 1 in 3 consumers checks their text message notifications within the 1st minute.
33.3% of customers open and check their text notifications within one minute. Most of the people in this group are Gen-Z youth consumers. 85% of consumers check text notifications within 1-5 minutes after receiving the message. 95% of text messages are read and responded to within 3 minutes of being received.
06. 80% of the total population in North America uses text messages.
Around 292 million people in North America use text messages. The average person in North America sends 94 text messages a day.
07. 8.3 trillion text messages are sent worldwide every year.
This equals 23 billion texts per day and approximately 270,000 messages each second. These numbers will show you how many people are using SMS and how many opportunities there are for businesses through SMS marketing if used properly.
08. 50% of consumers who respond to business text messages will make a purchase most of the time.
Typically, the person who responds to a business SMS should be someone who requires the product or service. It is also very easy to convert such a person into a sale. According to studies, over half of the individuals who respond to business messages lead to a purchase.
09. By 2023, over 6.8 billion people worldwide will use mobile phones.
According to estimates, the global smartphone user base will continue to grow and will reach 6.8 billion by 2023. By then, the world's population is expected to be slightly more than eight billion people. This means that by 2023, 85% of the world's population will have access to any kind of smartphone.
10. After launching texting initiatives, 97% of companies found that they are communicating with their customers more efficiently than before.
11. Real estate is the top industry utilizing SMS marketing.
17.9% of real estate companies are now using business texting to communicate with their clients.
Here are the other industries using SMS marketing with their percentages:
Agriculture: 15.9%
Entertainment: 15.4
Construction: 14%
Energy: 13%
Airlines: 12.3%
Education: 11.5%
12. The spam rate in SMS marketing is too low when compared to emails.
In SMS marketing only 10% of messages are considered ed spam. But in email marketing, the spam rate goes as high as 49.7 of emails.
13. SMS marketing has a whopping 98% open rate.
SMS has the highest open rate (98%) which can be seen in any form of customer outreach. The other major customer outreach forms such as social media and emails have a very low open rate of 29% and 22% respectively.
SMS Marketing Facts
14. The first SMS message sent was “Merry Christmas.”
Engineer Neil Papworth sent the first-ever text message (Merry Christmas) from a computer to a cellphone in 1992. It was sent to the Vodafone executive Richard Jarvis, who didn’t have any way to reply from his Orbitel 901 landline phone.
15. Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, first introduced Twitter as an SMS service for communicating with small groups.
16. Women use their phones more time and send more text messages than men.
17. Blackberry thumb is a painful condition that occurs on the wrist's thumb side due to excessive use of small handheld devices such as cellphones.
18. People in Thailand use 555 to say HAHAHA
Since the number 5 is pronounced "Ha" in Thai, people use the number 555 in chat to say HAHAHA which implies laughing, just as LOL or ROFL do.
19. In Malaysia, a divorce can be legally granted by sending a text message saying "I divorce you" three times to your partner.
20. There are more phones than people in the Philippines.
According to GSMA Intelligence, mobile connections in the Philippines were equal to 140.0 percent of the total population in January 2022. Between 2021 and 2022, the number of mobile connections in the Philippines increased by 6.9 million.
In 2020, the Philippines had roughly 79 million smartphone users. It was predicted that by the end of 2025, the country would have approximately 91.5 million smartphone users.
21. As text messages have entered the scene, the amount of time people spend talking on their phones has decreased.
We all lead stressful lives nowadays, and texting just fits better because it is less disruptive than calls! When you text, you can respond whenever it is most convenient for you, whereas a phone call is less flexible. As a result, many prefer to text on their phones rather than call.
22. The old Nokia beep sound was Morse code for "SMS".
Did you know that the "Special" tone that Nokia phones use when they receive an SMS text message is actually Morse code for "SMS"? Similarly, the "Ascending" SMS tone is Morse code for Nokia's motto "Connecting People."
23. Nokia is the mobile company that introduced texting to the world.
Nokia introduced a cell phone in 1993 which can send and receive text messages.
We hope you find these facts and statistics interesting. These statistics demonstrate the effectiveness of SMS marketing for any business. SMS has the potential to earn significant revenue because of its high open and engagement rates.
If you want to attract tech-savvy millennials or middle-aged smartphone users for your business, there is hardly any more effective means of marketing communication than sending an SMS text message.
Want to launch your own SMS marketing campaign but don't know where to begin? Just talk to us!