With emails, social media ads, and push notifications woven into nearly every bit of daily functioning, small businesses often struggle to cut through the noise and engage customers effectively. This is where SMS marketing kicks in as a powerful, direct, and surprisingly personal strategy that’s reshaping how local businesses connect with their audiences. With open rates as high as 98%, SMS proves to be an invaluable tool that attracts customer attention and drives sales.
SMS marketing delivers messages straight to the customer’s most personal device – their mobile phone. Emails can linger unread for days or get buried in spam folders. Text messages are typically opened within minutes. In other words, business text messaging is ideal for growing enterprises that want to connect, engage, secure, and assist customers.
Speed and visibility give small businesses a unique advantage., SMS allows for immediate communication that leads to measurable action. Whether it’s flash sales, confirming appointments, or sending loyalty rewards; With the average person checking their phone dozens of times per day, the opportunities to engage are endless.
Unlike large-scale ad campaigns that require graphic design, budgeting, and A/B testing, text messaging campaigns are relatively inexpensive and simple to manage. SMS campaigns can cost as little as a few pence per message, making it a budget-friendly option for small businesses navigating financial storms.
What makes SMS especially powerful is its potential for personalisation. A customer who receives a message that mentions their name and invites them to make use of a specific discount is far more likely to act than if they received a generic advertisement.
For example, Little Sleepies, a children’s clothing brand, used SMS to offer personalised product restocks to their VIP list and saw a significant rise in repeat purchases. The brand launched its SMS campaign in 2020, hoping to increase the number of subscribers and promote new products. By 2023, they reached 500,000 subscribers and a 31% increase in revenue. SMS has now become the main channel in their marketing strategy, with a greater focus on more personalised messages tailored to subscribers’ likes and behaviours.
A major benefit of SMS marketing is its opt-in nature. Customers must explicitly give permission to receive messages, creating a compliant, high-quality contact list from the start. This not only keeps businesses aligned with data protection regulations such as GDPR and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), but it also builds trust with customers.
Because of this voluntary sign-up, SMS subscribers are typically more engaged and loyal than followers on social media or even email lists. Brands that respect consent and communicate thoughtfully tend to see stronger long-term customer relationships.
Marketers who decide to use SMS marketing do not have to worry about their promotional text ending up in the spam folder. Simply put, the filters that email marketers need to battle with are not present in the world of SMS campaigns.
Several small and mid-sized businesses are already seeing results with their SMS campaigns:
If you’re a small business owner considering SMS marketing, start small:
SMS marketing may be one of the oldest forms of digital communication, but it is once again proving to be one of the most effective in the modern landscape. With its affordability, immediacy, and ability to build genuine customer relationships, it’s no surprise that more small businesses are adding texting to their marketing efforts. Whether you’re looking to boost traffic, minimise losses, or simply stay on top of your client’s minds, a well-timed text message might be all it takes to attract, convert, and keep your next loyal customer.