--- title: Why Marketers Should Add SMS to Their 2027 Marketing Plan description: Social reach is shrinking, inbox placement is slipping, and 89% of consumers have opted in to business texts. Here is why SMS belongs in your 2027 marketing plan, with data and a step-by-step start. image: https://info.joinsubtext.com/hubfs/2027%20Marketing%20Plan%20SMS.png --- [![Subtext Logo](https://info.joinsubtext.com/hubfs/subtextlogo.svg "Subtext")](https://joinsubtext.com/) Menu - Customers Open Dropdown Close Dropdown [Newsrooms & Media Newsrooms & Media Headlines, current events, local news…](https://joinsubtext.com/v/media) [Music Music Artists, labels, festivals...](https://joinsubtext.com/v/music) [Sports Sports Athletes, game coverage, podcasts…](https://joinsubtext.com/v/sports) [Marketing & Commerce Launches, events, affiliate marketing…](https://joinsubtext.com/v/marketing) [Creators Creators Influencers, podcasters, thought leaders…](https://joinsubtext.com/v/creators) [Politics & Advocacy Politics & Advocacy Politicians, PACs, organizations…](https://joinsubtext.com/v/politics) - Features Open Dropdown Close Dropdown [Features Overview Features Overview View all Subtext features at a glance](https://info.joinsubtext.com/features)[The Subtext Platform The Subtext Platform Broadcast composer, subscriber inbox...](https://joinsubtext.com/f/subtext-platform)[Subscriber Growth Tools Subscriber Growth Tools Landing pages, embeds, keyword sign-ups...](https://joinsubtext.com/f/subscriber-growth-tools)[Engagement Tools Engagement Tools Auto-replies, SMS surveys, drip sequences...](https://joinsubtext.com/f/engagement-tools)[Audience Segmentation Audience Segmentation Audience tags, segments, personalization...](https://joinsubtext.com/f/audience-segmentation)[Analytics, Subscriber Data & Reporting Analytics, Subscriber Data & Reporting Monthly reports, live analytics, 1st party data...](https://joinsubtext.com/f/analytics-reporting) [API & Webhooks API & Webhooks SMS API, subscriber management...](https://joinsubtext.com/f/api-webhooks) [Security, Compliance & Support Security, Compliance & Support 10DLC registration, audit logs...](https://joinsubtext.com/f/security-compliance) - [Case Studies](https://info.joinsubtext.com/case-studies) - [Blog](https://info.joinsubtext.com/blog) - [Log In](https://joinsubtext.com/dashboard) - [Book a Demo](https://joinsubtext.com/#sign_up) ![](https://info.joinsubtext.com/hubfs/2027%20Marketing%20Plan%20SMS.png) # Why Marketers Should Add SMS to Their 2027 Marketing Plan Published by [Subtext](https://info.joinsubtext.com/blog/author/subtext) on Nov 10, 2026 ## Key Takeaways - The channels most 2027 plans rely on are getting less reliable at the same time. Organic social reach keeps shrinking, and Gmail inbox placement fell from about 91% in Q1 2026 to about 82% in Q3 2026. - AI answers are sending fewer clicks to websites. Pew found users clicked a traditional result on 8% of visits with an AI summary, against 15% without, and Google Search referrals to publishers fell 33% globally in the year to November 2025. - Consumers have already opted in. 89% of US consumers have signed up for business texts, up from 66% in 2021. In Subtext's own data, 98% of messages are opened and 95% within three minutes. - An opted-in phone number is first-party data you own. That matters more as tracking data gets harder to collect. - Subtext's 2026 benchmark (more than 10 billion messages, 28 million subscribers, eight industries, 2025 data) found churn below 1% and several industries with click-through above 20%. Media campaigns averaged 21.32% click-through, against about 2.82% for typical media email. - The bar is higher now. Consumers have opted in in large numbers, and they expect every message to earn its place. Frequency is the top reason they opt out. A purpose-built platform with segmentation, two-way messaging, and managed compliance helps you meet that bar. ## Why Add SMS in 2027? The Short Answer SMS marketing is sending text messages to people who have opted in to receive them. It belongs in the 2027 plan because three things are happening at once. The places you reach people are getting harder to count on, and AI answers are sending fewer clicks to websites. People have already chosen text as the way they want to hear from businesses. And the bar for a good text program is higher, because consumers who opted in expect every message to earn its place, so how you run SMS matters as much as whether you do. The rest of this post walks through each shift, then shows what to do about it. ## Shift 1: The Channels You Rely On Are Getting Less Reliable Most marketing plans lean on social and email. Both have a problem going into 2027. Social reach keeps shrinking. Industry commentary describes organic reach as in long-term decline on every major platform, with Facebook page reach in the low single digits for most pages, and rising paid costs to reach even your own followers ([Benchmark Email, August 2026](https://www.benchmarkemail.com/blog/organic-social-reach-decline-email-marketing/)). The audience you built is increasingly one you have to pay to reach. Email is harder to land in the inbox. Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft now require authentication and low complaint rates from bulk senders, and Gmail stepped up enforcement in November 2025 ([Litmus](https://www.litmus.com/blog/inbox-decoded-how-mailbox-providers-really-think-about-email)). In 2026, Validity reports Gmail inbox placement averaged about 91% in Q1 and dropped to about 82% in Q3, with spam placement rising from 5.4% to 9.5% ([Validity, October 2026](https://www.validity.com/blog/email-radar-the-great-gmail-inbox-placement-crash/)). Gmail's Manage Subscriptions tool also lets people unsubscribe from promotional email in bulk, and the brands that send most often appear at the top of that list ([EMARKETER](https://www.emarketer.com/content/faq-on-email-marketing--ai-disruption--owned-audiences--why-channel-still-wins-2026)). None of this means dropping social or email. It means a plan built only on them carries more risk in 2027 than it did two years ago. A channel with no algorithm and no bulk-sender gatekeeper between you and a subscriber spreads that risk. ## Shift 2: AI is Changing How Websites and Content Get Found For years, a good page meant search traffic. AI answers are changing that. When Google shows an AI summary, people click traditional results less often. Pew Research Center analyzed nearly 69,000 Google searches from 900 US adults and found that users clicked a traditional result on 8% of visits with an AI summary, against 15% without one. Links inside the AI summaries drew clicks on just 1% of visits. A randomized field experiment found that outbound organic clicks fell about 38% to 40% when an AI Overview appeared ([Digital Content Next, October 2026](https://digitalcontentnext.org/blog/2026/10/05/the-evidence-is-clear-ai-search-is-costing-publishers/)). The effect shows up in publisher traffic. The Reuters Institute, using Chartbeat data from 2,576 publisher sites, reported that Google Search referrals fell 33% globally between November 2024 and November 2025, and 38% in the US. The researchers caution that AI Overviews do not explain the whole decline. AI tools have not filled the gap either. In the same dataset, ChatGPT accounted for 0.02% of publisher referrals. Two things follow. Visibility in AI answers does not guarantee a click, and a page that ranks well may still send less traffic than it used to. That is a reason to hold an audience you can reach directly. Subtext's own benchmark report notes that AI is reshaping search discovery, filtering email inboxes, and altering social distribution, which is why organizations are reassessing how they reach their owned audiences. An opted-in phone number does not depend on a ranking, a summary, or an algorithm. Subtext's customers can bring readers back to new content with a text, with no search or AI summary in between. ![AI](https://info.joinsubtext.com/hs-fs/hubfs/AI.png?width=1163&height=594&name=AI.png) ## Shift 3: People Already Chose Text, and Subtext's Data Shows What Happens Next The usual objection to SMS is whether people want it. External research says yes: 89% of US consumers have signed up to receive texts from a business, up from 66% in 2021 ([EZ Texting 2026 Consumer Texting Behavior Report, 959 US consumers](https://www.eztexting.com/report/2026-consumer-texting-behavior-report)). Subtext's campaign data shows what those subscribers do once they join. - 98% of messages are opened, and 95% within three minutes. - Subscriber churn stayed below 1% across the campaigns in Subtext's 2026 benchmark dataset. - Click-through exceeded 20% in five of eight industries in [Subtext's 2026 benchmark report](https://info.joinsubtext.com/blog/sms-marketing-benchmark-report-2026) (Events, Podcasts, Sports, Music, and Media), and Events reached 40.64%. - Media campaigns averaged a 21.32% click-through rate and a 24.47% engagement rate in 2025, against about 2.82% for typical media email. Demand is real, and it depends on a program that respects the subscriber. Subtext only works with opt-in audiences, sets expectations about content and frequency at sign-up, and puts opt-out language in every text. ## Shift 4: Owned, First-Party Data is Worth More Every Year A phone number from a subscriber who chose to join is first-party data by definition, and SMS lets you collect more of it than a one-way channel does. With Subtext, subscribers can answer reply prompts, take surveys, and send questions, so every conversation adds zero-party data, meaning information people share on purpose. Subtext builds Audience Groups from signup data, survey responses, keywords, tags, imported first-party data, and subscriber attributes, so the next message can be more relevant than the last. A/B testing compares messaging, send times, and calls to action, and built-in analytics track engagement, message performance, and subscriber growth. The data stays yours. Subtext customers keep ownership of their audience relationships and data, can export subscriber lists, and can sync data to a CRM or CDP through the API and webhooks. Subtext also connects to CRMs, ecommerce platforms, membership systems, and data warehouses, so SMS results sit next to your other marketing touchpoints. In a year when relevance decides whether a message survives in the inbox, that is a real advantage. ![First Party Data](https://info.joinsubtext.com/hs-fs/hubfs/First%20Party%20Data.png?width=1619&height=999&name=First%20Party%20Data.png) ## Shift 5: Phones Are Filtering Unknown Senders, So Trust Matters Scams and spoofing make people cautious about unknown senders, and iOS 26 filters texts from unknown senders. Subtext lets customers include a verified contact card in the welcome flow so subscribers can save the sender and keep messages in their main inbox. Earning the save, and then earning each open, is the work. ## Why Does a Purpose-Built Platform Matter in 2027? When most consumers have already opted in, getting people onto a list is no longer the hard part. Keeping them is. EZ Texting's 2026 survey found that message frequency is the top opt-out trigger (40%), that tolerance for high-volume texting has tightened year over year, and that consumers expect SMS to be a quality channel, not a volume channel. A broadcast tool with no segmentation or replies struggles to meet that standard. That is what a purpose-built SMS platform is for. Subtext combines two-way conversations, segmentation from first-party data, A/B testing, real-time analytics, and managed 10DLC compliance, so each message can be relevant, well timed, and deliverable. Its benchmark data reflects that approach, with churn below 1% across the campaigns in its 2026 dataset. ## What Does SMS Add That Email and Social Do Not? | **What You Need** | **Social** | **Email** | **SMS** | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Reach your own audience without a boost or an algorithm | Declining, often requires paid boosts | Depends on inbox placement | Direct to an opted-in phone | | Reach without relying on search or AI | Depends on feed algorithm | Depends on inbox placement | Direct to an opted-in phone | | Speed | Hours to days | Hours to days | 98% opened, 95% within three minutes (Subtext) | | Two-way conversation | Comments and DMs, algorithm dependent | Rare | Built-in (replies, surveys) | | You own the list | No | Yes | Yes | | First-party data you collect | Platform owns it | Opens and clicks | Sign-up form data, replies, surveys, tags | | Best for | Discovery | Depth and detail | Immediate action and relationships | SMS complements email and social. Email carries the detailed story, SMS prompts immediate action, and social drives discovery and feeds both lists. One Subtext artist campaign put the artist's number on a billboard to turn fans into subscribers, then sent behind-the-scenes festival updates and calls to pre-save music. ## What Does the Subtext Data Show? Subtext's [2026 SMS Marketing Benchmark Report](https://info.joinsubtext.com/blog/sms-marketing-benchmark-report-2026) analyzed more than 10 billion messages sent to 28 million subscribers in 2025. | **Segment** | **Result (Subtext 2026 Benchmark Report)** | | --- | --- | | Media campaigns | 21.32% click-through rate, 24.47% engagement rate | | Typical media email | About 2.82% click-through rate | | Music campaigns | 42.57% engagement rate, 33.64% click-through rate | | Sports campaigns | 49.10% engagement rate, 37.40% click-through rate | | All campaigns in the dataset | Subscriber churn below 1% | | Events campaigns | 59.39% engagement rate, 40.64% click-through rate | Across the industries analyzed, 98% of messages were opened and 95% within three minutes. Subtext also reports that adding an SMS offering can help reduce subscriber churn by up to 50%. Results vary by industry and by program quality, so compare against your own vertical. ## How are Subtext Customers Using SMS? Subtext has worked exclusively with SMS since 2018 and serves media publishers, ecommerce brands, sports organizations, affiliate publishers, event ticketing teams, and enterprise teams. Common uses include announcements, affiliate commerce, lead generation, lifecycle marketing, and two-way customer support. - **Media:** Media campaigns averaged a 21.32% click-through rate, using SMS to bring readers back to new content. For the New York Post's Post Sports+ subscription, 25% of subscribers opted into at least one texting campaign, more than 41% of those opted in to two or more campaigns, and Subtext reported 87% retention when SMS followers were retargeted into a new NFL Draft campaign. - **Music:** Music campaigns reached a 42.57% engagement rate and a 33.64% click-through rate. One artist campaign put the artist's Subtext number on a billboard to convert fans into subscribers, then sent behind-the-scenes festival updates and calls to pre-save and pre-add music. - **Sports:** Sports campaigns averaged 49.10% engagement and a 37.40% click-through rate in 2025. - **Events:** Events campaigns led every industry in 2025, with a 59.39% engagement rate and a 40.64% click-through rate, against about 1.28% click-through for typical event email. Event teams use SMS for ticket releases, last-minute reminders, and real-time updates, where speed matters most. - **Publishing:** Penguin Random House used Subtext to engage readers during a major book launch, sending early excerpts, behind-the-scenes content, and author Q&As to build excitement and pre-orders. Subtext also supports audience-growth workflows that turn social, owned, and phone interactions into subscribers and track which promotions drive traffic, plus imports of existing opted-in lists, event audiences, and CRM contacts. ## When is SMS Not the Right Move? SMS works for audiences that choose it. It is a poor fit if you have no existing audience or reason for people to opt in, if you plan to blast everyone with promotions, or if you cannot commit to carrier compliance and consent practices. It is also not a replacement for email or social. The brands that do best treat it as a relationship channel, and they send less than they could. ## Which Industries See the Strongest Results? Subtext's data shows results vary by vertical. In Subtext's 2026 benchmark report, click-through rates exceeded 20% in five of eight industries. Events led on engagement (59.39%) and click-through (40.64%), followed by Podcasts and Sports. Time-sensitive and fan-driven content tends to perform well, because subscribers want the update right away. ## How Do You Start with SMS in 2027? Follow these five steps. 1. **Build the list with permission.** Use opt-in only, with verified sign-up methods. Set expectations at sign-up about what you'll send and how often. Never use scraped lists or surprise blasts. With Subtext, you can launch a dedicated number, promote signup links and keywords, add custom welcome messages and landing pages, or import existing opted-in lists. 2. **Pick one or two clear goals.** Examples include earning affiliate revenue, driving traffic to new content, reducing churn, collecting audience data, or promoting events. 3. **Set a sensible cadence.** A good starting point for most programs is 3 to 5 texts a week, usually on weekdays around 12pm to 3pm ET. Treat that as a baseline, because the right cadence and send time depend on your audience and content. Use A/B testing to compare send times, and avoid sending outside 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in each recipient's local time. 4. **Launch with managed compliance.** Every text needs opt-out language, and US programs need approved 10DLC registration before launch. Subtext manages that process from carrier submission through approval and ongoing compliance, collecting the required forms and handling registration materials, opt-in language, and filings. Subtext also provides opt-in and opt-out workflows and consent tracking built for TCPA and CTIA requirements. Your own legal team stays responsible for your compliance. Build in lead time, because carrier approval comes before launch. Include a verified contact card in your welcome flow so subscribers can save your number. 5. **Measure and adjust.** Track click-through, engagement, replies, and unsubscribes by campaign, then apply what you learn to the next send. Subtext's built-in analytics and A/B testing show which messages and send times work best. ## What Are the Best Practices for SMS Copy and Compliance? Poor copy hurts deliverability, and carriers filter messages that look like spam. Subtext treats deliverability as an operational job, combining compliant opt-ins, accurate 10DLC registration, healthy audience lists, and message-quality guidance. Subtext's guidance includes: - **Write conversationally.** Sound like a person, in your own voice. Creators in particular should use an authentic personal voice, because subscribers value their perspective. - **Use one link per message.** Free shortened links such as bit.ly and TinyURL can be associated with spam. Purchased versions are acceptable. - **Avoid spam-like formatting.** Skip dollar signs, all caps, extreme punctuation, excessive abbreviations, and incorrect grammar. - **Avoid filterable wording.** Urgency phrases such as "Take action," "This won't last," and "Urgent," along with freebie-related words, can trigger filters. - **Include opt-out language.** Every text should tell subscribers how to stop. - **Ask subscribers to save your contact card.** It helps recognition and trust. - **Stay out of restricted categories.** Carriers filter categories including betting, drugs, tobacco, cannabis, alcohol, and firearms, and they do not publish a definitive list of flagged words. Check your copy against Subtext's guidance before sending. [Check out more SMS Best Practices.](https://info.joinsubtext.com/blog/sms-best-practices) ## How Do You Measure SMS Performance? Track these [metrics](https://info.joinsubtext.com/blog/sms-metrics) for each campaign: | **Metric** | **What It Tells You** | | --- | --- | | Click-through rate | How many recipients clicked your link | | Engagement rate | How many recipients clicked, replied, or otherwise interacted | | Reply rate | How strong the two-way conversation is | | Unsubscribe rate | Whether frequency or content is off | | Subscriber growth by source | Which promotions and channels bring in subscribers | Compare each result against your own history first. Then compare it to published benchmarks for your industry. ## What Are the Common Mistakes to Avoid? - Sending too often before the list is warmed up - Going quiet after sign-up, so subscribers forget why they joined and treat your next text as spam - Using SMS only for promotions, with no value in between - Skipping segmentation, so everyone gets every message - Leaving out opt-out language - Ignoring local send hours - Treating SMS as a replacement for email instead of a partner to it ## The Takeaway Reach you rent is fragile, and reach you own builds over time. In 2027, social reach, inbox placement, and search traffic are all under pressure, consumers have already said yes to business texts, and first-party data is worth more every year. They also expect every message to earn its place, which is why a purpose-built, compliant, two-way platform matters. If your plan has no owned channel built on conversation, adding SMS is the practical move. Ready to start? [Talk to Subtext about building your SMS program.](https://info.joinsubtext.com/book-a-demo) ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Why add SMS to your marketing plan in 2027 specifically? Three shifts line up in 2027. Organic social reach and email inbox placement are getting less reliable, AI answers are sending fewer clicks to websites, 89% of US consumers have already opted in to business texts, and an opted-in phone number is first-party data you own. Because consumers now expect every message to earn its place, the platform and the program you run matter as much as the decision to start. ### What data can you collect with SMS? With Subtext, you can collect first-party and zero-party data through opt-ins, reply prompts, surveys, and conversations. Subtext builds segments from that data, lets you export it, and syncs it to your CRM or CDP through its API. ### How is AI changing website traffic? When search engines show AI summaries, people click traditional results less often. Pew Research Center found clicks on 8% of visits with an AI summary against 15% without. A direct, opted-in channel such as SMS reaches your audience without depending on search rankings or AI answers. ### Is SMS marketing better than email? They do different jobs. Email suits detailed content, and SMS suits immediate action. In Subtext's 2026 data, media SMS campaigns averaged a 21.32% click-through rate against about 2.82% for typical media email. Most marketers get the best results using both. ### How often should you send marketing texts? A good starting point for most programs is 3 to 5 texts a week, with more for important news. Treat that as a baseline. Set expectations at sign-up, and watch unsubscribe rates to find the right pace for your audience. ### What is the best time to send a marketing text? Weekdays around 12pm to 3pm ET are a good starting point for most programs. Use A/B testing to find the best time for your audience, and avoid sending outside 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in each recipient’s local time. ### Do you need permission to text people? Yes. Subtext requires opt-in for every subscriber, and every text should include opt-out language. ### Can SMS reduce subscriber churn? Subtext reports that adding an SMS offering can help reduce subscriber churn by up to 50%. Results depend on your audience and how the program is run. ### What is 10DLC, and do you need it? 10DLC is the carrier registration system for sending business texts from standard local numbers in the US. Unregistered traffic can be filtered or blocked, and registration must be approved before a US program launches. With Subtext, the team manages 10DLC from carrier submission through approval and ongoing compliance, so you are not handling filings yourself. ### Do recipients need an app to get texts? No. Recipients don't need an app or internet access to receive an SMS. Tags: [Why Texting?](https://info.joinsubtext.com/blog/tag/why-texting), [Why Subtext?](https://info.joinsubtext.com/blog/tag/why-subtext) [Back to Blog](https://info.joinsubtext.com/blog) ### Ready to start texting? [Schedule a Demo](https://info.joinsubtext.com/book-a-demo) ## Related Articles ## [12 SMS Marketing Strategies That Actually Work in 2026 | Subtext](https://info.joinsubtext.com/blog/sms-marketing-best-practices) SMS remains one of the most powerful, personal, and high-converting marketing channels — and in... [Read More](https://info.joinsubtext.com/blog/sms-marketing-best-practices) ## [Not All Texts Are Spammy: The Power of Opt-In Messaging with Subtext](https://info.joinsubtext.com/blog/not-all-texts-are-spammy-the-power-of-opt-in-messaging-with-subtext) If you’ve ever been bombarded by political campaign texts, fundraising requests, or random... [Read More](https://info.joinsubtext.com/blog/not-all-texts-are-spammy-the-power-of-opt-in-messaging-with-subtext) ## [SMS-Only Platforms vs Multichannel Marketing Suites Compared](https://info.joinsubtext.com/blog/sms-only-vs-multichannel-comparison) SMS-only platforms and multichannel marketing suites both help teams communicate with their... [Read More](https://info.joinsubtext.com/blog/sms-only-vs-multichannel-comparison) [![Subtext Logo](https://info.joinsubtext.com/hubfs/Morgan/subtext_footer_logo.svg "Subtext")](https://joinsubtext.com/) Subtext was founded in 2019 in New York City by Advance Alpha Group. © 2026 Subtext. All rights reserved. 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