SMS and push notifications are both effective ways of getting your customer’s attention, whether it’s for delivering reminders, alerts, sales messages, or other helpful notifications.
With so many of us glued to our phones, checking them on average 148 times a day, communicating via mobile is one of the best ways to guarantee your message will be seen.
Push notifications are delivered via apps or websites and need to be enabled, whereas SMS notifications appear when a user receives a text message. Each method has different use cases for organizations who need to get timely messages sent to their customers.
In this guide we compare the pros, cons, and use cases of push notifications and SMS to help you decide which channel your business should choose – or whether you should be using a combination of both!
Push notifications
Launched by Apple in 2009, push notifications are used by all sorts of app providers to share timely alerts, reminders, updates or promotions straight to a customer’s mobile.
Small banners or pop-ups appear on a mobile when someone downloads an app or push notifications are enabled when a website has been visited. If a user decides to opt-in, you can send messages to their mobile regardless of whether they are using an app or website at the time.
These notifications typically have a title of up to 50 characters, and include another 160 characters for the main body of text, depending on the operating system used – Apple’s iOS, Android or Windows. Some systems also support rich push notifications, so you can include videos, audio, or GIFs to enhance users’ experience and drive engagement.
Advantages
Reach customers directly: Over 90% of the global population owns a mobile, so you have access to a broad audience. Reaching customers on their personal device is also likely to result in better engagement.
Instant delivery: Notifications are sent straight away, making them perfect for time-sensitive promotions or alerts like travel disruptions or weather updates.
High visibility: The notifications flash on the mobile while in use or on the lock screen or pull-down menu when not in use, so they will be seen without the customer needing to open the app.
Personalization: Messages can be tailored to create impact and improve open rates, with rich media to promote engagement.
Click-through rate: Research shows push notifications have a 7x higher click through rate when compared to email.
Cost effective: Other than paying a push notification service provider to manage the technical side, they are cost-effective to send and many providers offer a free service with limited features.
Disadvantages
Opt-in rates: Just 51% of iOS device users have opted-in to receive push notifications, so it isn’t guaranteed that you can reach all app or website users.
Ease of opting-out: It is easy to turn off push notifications through mobile settings, which a customer may do if the messages are too frequent, disruptive, or irrelevant.
Too many notifications: Customers can receive hundreds of notifications per day, so may become fatigued by them and less willing to engage.
Lower reach: Compared to tools like SMS, the reach is lower because customers need to download an app and opt-in to receive them.
Internet connection: Internet connectivity is required for push notifications, so if your customer has no access to data or WiFi, your message could get missed.
Easy to ignore: Push notifications can easily be swiped or cleared without needing to go into the app, so it’s difficult to know if your message has actually been read.
SMS
SMS notifications appear automatically when a mobile user receives a text message. Just like push notifications, they appear in banner or pop-up form and include a snippet of the text. SMS, which stands for short messaging service, is limited to 160-characters, so messages need to be persuasive and to the point to drive action.
Businesses in the healthcare, property, utilities, finance, travel, retail, and ecommerce use SMS to reach customers immediately, whether that’s for appointment confirmations, reminders, flash deals, or alerts.
With near-universal mobile ownership, SMS has high reach and users don’t need to download a separate app to be able to send or receive them. The open rate for SMS is up to 98%, so messages are almost guaranteed to be read – and, best of all, 90% of messages are typically read within three minutes of receipt which makes it a highly effective marketing and communications tool.
SMS surveys can be sent to get instant feedback and make improvements to your service, while brands can enable two-way conversation with SMS Chat to answer queries and offer solutions. Messages are easy to personalize and send in bulk to thousands of contacts or to specific groups.
Advantages
High reach: With near-universal mobile ownership, SMS enables you to send texts directly to a broad audience without the need for a website or app.
High open and engagement: It typically has high engagement rates and an open rate nearing 100%, so it’s perfect for improving engagement and conversions.
Two-way conversation: SMS is an easy way for people to communicate with customer service teams and get quick responses to their queries.
Customer preference: Research shows that 91% of customers want to receive SMS from businesses when compared to other channels and 59% prefer to hear directly from a business instead of downloading an app.
Reliable: SMS doesn’t rely on an internet connection, so texts can always be sent as long as the recipient has service.
Personalization: SMS can easily be customized to improve engagement by using first names and segmenting contacts and sending texts to a specific group.
Cost effective: Texts can be sent for as little as $0.004 and are short, so you can reduce marketing overheads and improve efficiency.
Disadvantages
Opt-in: As with push notifications, customers have to opt-in to receive text messages, so it’s important to offer them something of value like exclusive promotions or loyalty programs.
Multimedia: Regular SMS doesn’t support images or video, but links to websites can be included. If you need something more, MMS supports images, gifs, videos and audio, so is worth considering for a more interactive user experience.
Character limit: The text is limited to 160-characters, so needs to be concise with a clear call-to-action (CTA) to encourage a response.
Overview: Push notifications vs SMS
Both push notifications and SMS are sent immediately to a customer’s mobile which means they are highly personal and direct ways of communicating. Messages sent to a mobile typically have higher engagement rates because they are highly accessible.
The main difference between the two is that SMS doesn’t need an app or website because it’s a built-in feature in mobiles. This means it has a higher reach and notifications are less likely to be turned off, although customers can still opt-out.
Both tools have low character limits, so content needs to be compelling and drive action. With SMS, a link to a website can be included to drive traffic or access a promotion, whereas users are directed to an app when clicking on a push notification.
SMS enables two-way conversation which makes it incredibly useful for customer service setting it apart from push notifications. It can offer more than just a simple message and customers tend to appreciate the convenience of receiving relevant texts.
Here’s a quick overview table showing the key features and differences:
| Features | SMS | Push Notifications |
| Can be used without an app or website | Yes | No |
| Can be used without internet connection | Yes | No |
| Supports two-way communication | Yes | No |
| Can include a link | Yes | No |
| Users need to opt-in | Yes | Yes |
| Personalization | Yes | Yes |
How do they compare with email?
Push notifications and SMS are sent directly to a mobile which makes them more personal, whereas email can be accessed through an app on any device. With email there is a risk that messages are sent to a spam folder and they might not be checked straight away. That said, push notifications can easily be swiped or ignored.
Email is more measurable than push notifications, because campaigns can easily be tracked by open, conversion, click-through, bounce, unsubscribe, or spam complaint rates.
Push notifications tend to be short to grab attention, but email can be more creative and detailed to engage customers and build trust. It can also support multimedia features like videos, pictures and attachments, and just like SMS, it can be used for two-way communication to answer queries or connect with customers.
Both SMS and push notifications are less resource intensive because messages are short, so you can save costs and time. Emails tend to be used for bigger campaigns and designed to be eye-catching. SMS is the only channel out of the three which doesn’t rely on an internet connection, so texts are more accessible.
For all three channels, opt-in is required. But it’s worth noting that notifications are more likely to be turned off for push notifications if they are too frequent or not relevant enough.
Which one should you choose?
Push notifications are great for sending timely updates and alerts, and the high-click through rate means it’s a good channel to drive traffic to your app or website. However, out of the two, SMS is a more reliable and accessible option because it doesn’t require an app, website, or internet connection.
It has an unbeatable open rate of up to 98% and high engagement rates, so you can boost conversions and customer satisfaction. It’s suitable for all sectors and businesses of any size, and enables two-way conversation to answer customer questions and build loyalty.
Find out how SMS can be sent in bulk and automated to increase reach and save time.
Julia Applegate
Based in Charleston, SC Julia is a Demand Generation Marketing Manager with 6 years of experience in B2B technology businesses and an emphasis on growth and demand generation marketing. Julia is passionate about balancing data-driven marketing with creative campaigns and bringing agile methodology to new companies.