Convert more leads with SMS marketing

SMS marketing (or text marketing) is the practice of sending promotional or transactional text messages to customers who have opted in to receive them. Businesses use it to announce sales, send discount codes, recover abandoned carts, and follow up after a purchase.

Because texts are short and arrive directly on a customer’s phone, SMS marketing works best for time-sensitive messages that benefit from being seen quickly.

Texting for marketing is highly effective. Leads and customers are likely to read and engage with your messages. SMS has an open rate of 98% and response rate of up to 45%. Plus, 90% of leads would rather be texted than called.

There are two main approaches. Outbound marketing sends one message to many people at once, like a promo code, a launch announcement, a limited-time offer, or enrolls contacts in a drip campaign that unfolds over time.

Conversational marketing works one-on-one instead, encouraging customers to reply with questions, respond to polls, or ask for help choosing a product.

Common uses include welcoming new subscribers, building anticipation for a release, recovering abandoned carts, recruiting and admissions outreach, and collecting feedback. For more ideas, see our SMS marketing examples.

Start by giving people clear ways to opt in — a web form, a keyword they can text to a short code, or a checkbox during checkout or account signup. Tell subscribers what they’re signing up for and how often you’ll message them, since unmet expectations are the most common reason people opt out. Also include double opt-in to confirm intent and keep your list clean for more reliable deliverability.

Yes, as long as you have permission. In the United States, TCPA guidelines require you to collect an opt-in before sending marketing texts, tell contacts what kinds of messages you’ll send and how often, and give them a way to opt out at any time. Automated keyword opt-outs handle that last part for you. Rules differ outside the US, so check the regulations that apply where your contacts are.

Aim for late morning, between 11am and noon. Customers are most responsive around midday, and most businesses send between 9 and 10am, so sending slightly later means competing for less attention. Tuesdays tend to draw the most replies, and April through June are the strongest months for engagement.

Whatever pattern works for your audience, scheduling tools let you set sends in advance rather than timing them manually.

AI helps most after a campaign goes out. When customers reply to a marketing text, AI agents can answer common questions about a promotion, book appointments, and pull details out of the conversation to update your CRM. These replies go to the same shared inbox your team uses, which lets a human take over when needed.

With Heymarket, reporting is also enhanced with AI. You can ask questions about campaign performance in plain English and get structured answers back rather than building reports by hand.

The Lead Enrichment Agent reads what customers say in a conversation and pulls out the details that matter — company, intent, budget, timeline — then writes them to the right CRM fields automatically. Leads get scored and tagged as they come in, so your sales team sees who’s ready to talk without anyone reviewing transcripts manually.

Yes. Omnichannel campaigns let you reach the same audience across SMS and email, and automations can decide which channel to use based on how someone has engaged before. Replies from either channel land in the same omnichannel shared inbox, so your team answers a text and an email reply the same way instead of switching between tools.

Yes, your business texting solution will allow you to send, receive, and manage texts from your computer. You should also be able to download an app for your phone that allows you to message leads on the go.

Costs come from three places: the platform subscription, per-message carrier fees, and one-time 10DLC registration required for business texting in the US. Platform pricing usually scales with the size of your team and contact list, while message costs depend on volume and whether you’re sending SMS or MMS.

Because most platforms bundle these differently, compare total cost at your expected send volume rather than list price alone.

The best text service for your business will offer the features your team needs to launch personalized marketing campaigns, manage your contacts seamlessly, and stay secure and compliant. The best SMS marketing software will have:

1. Opt-in management
2. Lists broadcasts and campaigns
3. Automations
4. Reports and analytics
5. SAML SSO and SSL security