Business texting report: what customers expect from text messages

Business texting statistics show that many customers prefer text for reminders and quick questions, that they respond better when a real person is on the other end, and that the rules governing business texting have tightened. Texting reaches almost everyone: Pew Research Center reports 98% of U.S. adults own a cellphone and 91% own a smartphone as of 2026.

This report compiles the published preference surveys we could verify, notes who funded them, and covers the carrier and FCC rules that decide whether your messages arrive and how opt-outs must be handled. Several widely shared texting statistics, including the very high SMS open-rate figures repeated across vendor blogs, are hard to trace to an original study. We left those out.

For routine messages, many do. Phreesia surveyed nearly 14,000 patients across its network about appointment reminders. 48% preferred a text message, 29% a phone call and 21% email. Text was the most popular choice in every age group from 18 to 64, peaking at 54% among patients aged 35 to 54. Among patients 65 and older, 34% still preferred text.

Beauty and wellness clients show similar habits. Boulevard's consumer survey of more than 2,000 beauty consumers, released in November 2025, found 44% prefer texting as their communication method with a self-care business, and 41% expect a same-day follow-up after an appointment.

Yes. Podium's 2021 Local Business Messaging Trends report, based on an online survey of 1,004 consumers in the U.S. and Australia conducted by Momentive in May 2021, found 74% would be more likely to text a local business if a real person would receive and respond. Half said they would be more likely to reply to a business text if the sender introduced themselves.

This does not rule out automation. Reminders, confirmations and after-hours acknowledgments are expected to be automatic. It means conversations, such as a question about a quote or a rescheduling request, should reach a person quickly, and messages should sound like they come from your team, not a system.

Receptive, within limits. Podium's 2021 survey found consumers were 21% more likely to opt into SMS marketing from local businesses than from major chains or big-box stores, and 45% more likely than from online retailers. The most wanted promotional texts were coupons, discounts and promo codes (64%), loyalty offers (52%), back-in-stock alerts (35%) and event invitations (28%).

Frequency is where businesses lose people. Among consumers who had opted in, 62% wanted messages at least weekly and 16% at least daily, but 75% said they would unsubscribe if they received too many. For a salon, an auto shop or a fitness studio, a small number of useful texts tied to the customer's own appointments and history will hold attention longer than frequent general promotions.

Interest is high in health care, though the data is older and vendor-funded. A HIMSS survey of 250 patients, fielded in March 2021 and sponsored by SR Health by Solutionreach, found nearly half preferred texting their healthcare providers and 65% wanted to receive healthcare text messages. 87% cited convenience, and more than a third said they would switch providers for real-time texting.

The small sample and the sponsor's interest in texting software mean these numbers should be read as directional. They are consistent with Phreesia's much larger reminder survey, which found text was the most preferred reminder channel. Practices should also keep protected health information out of standard text messages unless their platform and patient consent support it.

Most published texting data comes from companies that sell texting software, and much of it is several years old. That does not make it wrong, but it changes how much weight each figure deserves. Of the sources in this report, only Pew Research Center's phone ownership data comes from an independent, nationally representative panel. Phreesia's reminder survey is large, at nearly 14,000 patients, but drawn from its own network and first published with its 2019 patient preferences research. Podium's and the HIMSS survey date from 2021, when pandemic habits may have pushed texting higher.

Watch for three common problems when you read texting statistics elsewhere. First, open rates: text messaging platforms generally cannot confirm that a message was opened the way email tools estimate opens, so a precise SMS open rate deserves a question about how it was measured. Second, blended samples: some figures combine several countries or mix consumer and business messaging. Third, missing dates: a texting statistic with no survey year may predate today's registration and consent rules.

The safest approach is to treat the published numbers as a reason to test texting, then measure your own results. Track confirmation replies, no-show rates before and after reminders, and opt-out rates on any marketing messages.

A2P 10DLC registration is how U.S. wireless carriers verify businesses that send texts from standard 10-digit phone numbers. A2P stands for application-to-person. Carriers require businesses to register their brand and describe each texting campaign, including how customers opt in, sample messages and how opt-out and help requests are handled. Twilio, one of the largest messaging providers, announced it would block all unregistered U.S.-bound 10DLC messages after August 31, 2023, and noted campaign approval can take two to three weeks.

For a service business, this means texts sent through a CRM or scheduling platform can fail silently if registration is incomplete or the described use does not match what you actually send.

• Business details: legal name, address and EIN or other registration ID.
• Use case: for example account notifications, customer care or marketing.
• Sample messages that match what you will send.
• A description of how customers give consent.
• Opt-out (STOP) and help (HELP) handling.
• Sole proprietors without an EIN have a separate, more limited registration path.

Since April 11, 2025, the FCC's consent revocation rules let consumers opt out of robotexts by any reasonable means, and businesses must honor those requests within 10 business days. The rules were adopted in February 2024. Replies such as stop, quit, end, revoke, opt out, cancel and unsubscribe count, and other wording counts if a reasonable person would read it as an opt-out. Businesses cannot require one specific method.

After an opt-out, a business may send one confirmation text with no marketing content, ideally within five minutes. A further provision, which would make an opt-out from one type of message apply to all types from that sender, has been delayed twice. According to Burr and Forman, the FCC moved it to January 31, 2027, while it considers changes. Check with counsel on how these rules apply to your messages.

Text is worth using for reminders, confirmations, follow-up and quick conversations, and the data supports offering it as a standard channel. The rules mean it has to be set up properly: registered, consent-based and easy to opt out of. A dental practice, an insurance agency and a property manager all need the same foundation even though their messages differ.

Monvell's Communications and Automation work covers 10DLC registration, consent capture, reminder and follow-up sequences, and routing replies to the right person, so texts arrive and conversations do not sit unanswered.

• Confirm your texting provider shows your brand and campaigns as registered and approved.
• Collect clear consent on forms and at booking, and record when and how it was given.
• Use text for reminders and service updates first, and keep marketing texts infrequent and relevant.
• Have a person reply to two-way conversations quickly, and sign messages with a name.
• Test that STOP and similar replies are honored and confirmed correctly.