Text messages are the most personal channel a business can use. They land in the same thread as messages from friends and family, they come with their own notification, and people read them. That's exactly why SMS marketing works, and why it's easy to get wrong.

This guide covers what SMS marketing is, how customers join, what to send, the rules you have to follow, what it costs, and how to tell whether it's working. It's written for businesses with regulars: restaurants, studios, venues and service shops, especially those running more than one location.

What is SMS marketing?

SMS marketing is sending text messages to customers who have agreed to hear from you. SMS stands for Short Message Service: a standard text of up to 160 characters. Add a photo, GIF, video or PDF and it becomes MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service), which allows longer messages too.

Good SMS marketing isn't a broadcast. It's a direct line to people who already know you: a welcome when they join, an offer timed to a slow night, a reminder before their class, a reply when they have a question. Customers can text back, so it works as a conversation, not just an announcement.

How customers join your list

Everyone you text has to opt in first. The most common ways to collect that permission:

  • Keywords. A customer texts a word like JOIN or TACOS to your number and they're on the list. Works on table tents, receipts, signage and social posts.
  • QR codes. Scanning opens a pre-filled text or a sign-up page, so joining takes seconds at the counter or the door.
  • Web opt-in forms. A short form on your site or a landing page collects the number along with details like birthday or favorite location.

The moment someone joins, send a welcome message. It confirms they're in, sets expectations for what you'll send, and is the best chance you'll get to make a first impression. See how list growth works in Mobiniti.

What to send

The texts that work give the reader a reason to act or reply. A few that consistently earn their place:

  • Welcome messages with a small first-visit offer.
  • Mobile coupons customers keep on their phone and redeem at the register, so you can see which offer worked at which location.
  • Reminders for appointments, classes, reservations and events.
  • Event and schedule updates: tonight's lineup, a new class, a holiday schedule. A picture message (MMS) works well for flyers and menus.
  • Birthday and loyalty messages that recognize regulars.
  • Win-back messages for customers who haven't been in for a while.

The common thread: each message is relevant to the person receiving it. Segmenting your list by location, visit history or interests is what turns a list into an audience. See segmentation and automations.

The rules you need to follow

Text messaging is regulated, and the carriers enforce their own rules on top of the law. The essentials:

  • Get clear consent. Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), you need express written consent before sending marketing texts. Tell people what they're signing up for and roughly how often you'll text.
  • Identify yourself. Every message should make it obvious who it's from.
  • Honor STOP and HELP. Customers must be able to opt out by replying STOP, and get information by replying HELP. Opt-outs have to take effect right away.
  • Respect quiet hours. Federal rules restrict telemarketing texts before 8 a.m. and after 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, and some states are stricter.
  • Register with the carriers. Business texting numbers have to be registered and approved before you can send (more on that below). Carriers filter unregistered traffic.

This isn't legal advice, and state rules keep changing, so check with counsel for your situation. Mobiniti's compliance team handles carrier registration and approvals for every account. Read our messaging policy.

Which phone number should you text from?

Business texts are sent from one of three number types:

  • 10DLC (local 10-digit numbers). A standard local number, registered for business use through a process called campaign vetting, where carriers review your brand and the kind of messages you'll send. Good for local, conversational texting.
  • Toll-free numbers. An 800-style number that goes through toll-free verification. Common for brands spanning many regions.
  • Short codes. Five- or six-digit numbers that are easy to remember and built for high volume. They take longer to approve and cost more to lease.

New numbers are often "warmed up," meaning volume ramps gradually so carriers see a consistent, legitimate sending pattern. The right choice depends on your volume and how many locations you run, which is a good question to raise on a demo call.

What SMS marketing costs

There are two parts to the bill:

  • The platform, the software you use to build lists, send messages, automate and report.
  • Message delivery, which includes carrier fees: the charges wireless carriers add for each business message delivered on their networks. Picture messages cost more to deliver than plain text.

Many providers bundle delivery into per-message pricing, which makes it hard to see what you're actually paying. Mobiniti splits the two: one flat platform fee of $299 a month per account, with unlimited users and locations, and message delivery passed through at carrier cost with no markup. See pricing.

How to tell if it's working

Sends and open rates don't tell you much. These do:

  • Click-through rate: the share of recipients who tapped your link. There's no universal "good" number, since it varies by industry, offer and list, so the most useful benchmark is your own past campaigns. Adding UTM tags to your links lets you follow those clicks into Google Analytics.
  • Replies: two-way conversations are a strong sign people value your messages.
  • Redemptions: for coupons, how many were actually used, and at which location.
  • Opt-out rate: a rising rate usually means you're texting too often or sending things people don't care about.

Quick answers

Can customers reply to business texts?

Yes. With two-way messaging, replies land in a shared inbox your team can answer, so customers can ask questions, confirm a booking or tell you what they think.

How is SMS different from iMessage?

iMessage only works between Apple devices. Business texts are sent as SMS or MMS, which reach every phone regardless of brand.

What is a STOP command?

Replying STOP (or a similar word like UNSUBSCRIBE) opts a customer out of your messages. You're required to honor it immediately and send a one-time confirmation.

How often should I text?

Most brands do well with a few messages a month, plus automated messages people trigger themselves, like welcomes and reminders. Tell customers the frequency when they sign up, then stick to it.

Getting started

  1. Choose your number type and complete carrier registration.
  2. Set up a keyword, QR code or web form, and put it where customers already are.
  3. Write a welcome message with a reason to come back.
  4. Plan a simple monthly rhythm, then add automations like birthdays and win-backs.
  5. Measure clicks, replies and redemptions, and adjust.

Mobiniti is built for exactly this, for businesses that run on regulars and operate across more than one location. Book a demo and we'll walk through it on your own locations.