The statistical case for SMS marketing is unusually strong. Open rates for SMS messages consistently exceed ninety percent, compared to twenty to thirty percent for email. Most messages are read within three minutes of delivery. For time-sensitive offers, appointment reminders, and urgent updates, no channel reaches customers faster or more reliably. The directness of SMS is both its strength and its risk: a well-timed, relevant message feels like a useful service. An irrelevant or poorly timed message feels like an intrusion in a way that email does not.
Consent requirements for SMS marketing are stricter than for email marketing, and the penalties for non-compliance are significant. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act in the United States requires explicit written consent before sending any marketing text messages to a cell phone. This means a specific opt-in that clearly communicates the subscriber is agreeing to receive marketing texts, not just buried language in a terms of service agreement. You cannot send marketing texts to a customer who gave you their phone number for a delivery notification or a service appointment without a separate opt-in specifically for marketing messages.
The best use cases for SMS marketing in year one are appointment reminders, time-sensitive promotions, abandoned cart recovery for e-commerce, and transactional updates like order confirmations and shipping notifications. These messages have high relevance to the recipient at the moment they are sent, which is what makes SMS valuable rather than intrusive. General brand awareness campaigns and content marketing work better in channels where the recipient has more time and attention to engage with them.
Tools like Attentive, Klaviyo, Postscript, and SimpleTexting handle SMS marketing compliantly including opt-in management, opt-out processing, and message scheduling. Most charge per message sent plus a monthly platform fee. Build your subscriber list the same way you build your email list: through visible, specific opt-in moments at checkout, in-store, and on your website. Never import a phone number list from a source that did not explicitly opt in to marketing texts.
Message frequency is one of the most important variables in SMS subscriber retention. Subscribers who feel they are being texted too often unsubscribe at high rates, and each opt-out is permanent. A good starting cadence is two to four messages per month. Every message should have a clear purpose and a specific call to action. If you cannot articulate why a specific subscriber would want this specific message today, do not send it.
SMS marketing is the right addition to your marketing mix when you have a subscriber list of opted-in contacts, messages with genuine time-sensitivity or high personal relevance, and a compliance-first approach to every aspect of the program from opt-in through opt-out.