# Latest SMS vs Email Statistics in 2026 You Should Know About

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## Table of contents

- SMS marketing statistics
- Email marketing statistics
- SMS vs email statistics
- Conclusion

As a marketer, you aim to create engaging campaigns to get people to convert. But the problem arises when you're choosing which platform to market through.

  

Which one should you choose: email, SMS, Facebook, Tiktok, billboard?

  

In this article, we'll help you narrow down between two of those options. Here are some **SMS vs email statistics** that you can read through to find out which one of the two might be the best channel for you.

## SMS marketing statistics

To find out what's so great about [SMS marketing](https://www.mailmodo.com/guides/sms-marketing/), let's first look at why other marketers like it.

  

-  66% of businesses use [SMS marketing software](https://thecmo.com/tools/best-sms-marketing-software/) to text their customers, and 67% are increasing their SMS marketing budgets.

- Businesses that text customers are 5.89 times more likely to report digital marketing success than those that do not .

- Most businesses have an average SMS marketing click-through rate between 21% and 35%.

- 82% of businesses agree that SMS marketing is an effective way to drive revenue.

- 81% of businesses say AI has improved their SMS marketing success, with most saving 4–6 hours per week.

- 82% of consumers check their text notifications within five minutes, and nearly one-third check within 60 seconds.

- Texting is the top mobile activity for 83% of consumers.

- In 2025, 84% of consumers opted in to receive texts from businesses, a 6% increase from last year .
    

  

And, since most consumers only like to receive update messages like shipment or order status, SMS is not the best choice for marketing purposes.

  

**Source:**  [SimpleTexting](https://simpletexting.com/blog/text-message-marketing-report/)



## Email marketing statistics

Email is a fairly old channel for communication, but it remains popular amongst marketers; here's why:

  

-   59% of B2B marketers say that email is their preferred channel for revenue generation.
    

  

-   24% of marketers primarily use email marketing to get sales.
    

  

-   16% of marketers use email marketing to build customer relationships and evoke loyalty.
    

  

-   72% of marketers prefer to use emails to communicate with their prospects across different customer journey stages.
    

  

-   And that's great because 76% of consumers said they like to get emails from brands.
    

  

-   60% of consumers prefer to receive promotional content through emails.
    


![Consumers preference statistics](https://res.cloudinary.com/mailmodo/image/upload/f_auto,q_100/v1660725972/strapi/image_174_d6626e8fa9.png)

  

-   59% said that a marketing email could influence their purchasing decision.
    

  

-   And 50% said they buy something from marketing emails at least once a month.
    

  

That's one of the reasons why emails might be a better channel for marketing because most people want to receive marketing content through emails and make purchasing decisions from it.

  

Check our [email marketing statistics](https://www.mailmodo.com/guides/email-marketing-statistics/) guide to know how beneficial email is as a marketing channel.

  

**Sources:**  [DMA 1](https://www.validity.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/DMA-Marketer-Email-Tracker-2021.pdf), [Smallbiztrends](https://smallbiztrends.com/2017/08/top-marketing-channel.html), [OptinMonster](https://optinmonster.com/email-marketing-vs-social-media-performance-2016-2019-statistics/), [Backlinko](https://backlinko.com/email-marketing-stats), [SaleCycle](https://www.salecycle.com/blog/stats/18-essential-email-marketing-statistics/).

  


  

## SMS vs email statistics

Let's look at both channels' overall performance metrics to assess which platform is better for sending marketing content.

  

| Performance metric | SMS | Email |
|:---:|:---:|:---:|
| Open rate | 98% | 28% |
| CTR | 10% | 3.8% |
| Conversion rate | 29% | 15.22% |
| Read rate | 42% | 32% |
| ROI (return on investment) | $10 for every $1 spent | $42 for every $1 spent |

  

The above numbers are an overall average and can vary for each industry, business, and use case.

<div class="highlight-gray">

<p> <strong>💡Related guide: </strong><a href="https://www.mailmodo.com/guides/email-marketing-statistics/">A Complete List of Email Marketing Statistics for 2023</a></p>

</div>


  

**Source:**  [DMA](https://dma.org.uk/uploads/misc/email-benchmarking-report-2021-(1).pdf), [Statista 1](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1209755/commercial-message-read-rate-consumers-us/), [MobileSquared](https://www.mobilesquared.co.uk/), [Statista 2](https://www.statista.com/statistics/960928/marketing-email-open-rates-world/), [Statista 3](https://www.statista.com/statistics/457935/e-mail-marketing-global-click-through-rates-by-region/), [Statista 4](https://www.statista.com/statistics/961007/marketing-email-click-to-open-rates-world/), [Statista 5](https://www.statista.com/statistics/804656/email-roi-perception/), [SimpleTexting](https://simpletexting.com/what-are-sms-conversion-rates/), [MyAreaNetwork](https://www.myareanetwork.com/solutions/roi-of-text-marketing.html).

  
![SMS vs email ROI](https://res.cloudinary.com/mailmodo/image/upload/f_auto,q_100/v1660725972/strapi/image_175_08b71db57c.png)





## Conclusion

Now, while the numbers look good for SMS, you need to remember what your audience wants. And as we mentioned previously, not many people like to receive marketing content through SMS. So, find out what your audience likes before making a decision.

  

What you can also do is use both channels in your marketing strategy. If you want to know more about how you can do it, check out our guide on [omnichannel marketing](https://www.mailmodo.com/guides/omnichannel-marketing/).

---

**Author: Jyothiikaa Moorthy**

Jyothiikaa has one year of experience creating content strategies for growing startups and B2B companies. Her expertise lies in email marketing and email design.

