Hello! You’re receiving this because you signed up this year for Tiny Texts, the SMS search engine. Thank you for trying it out!
In this newsletter, I’m taking a look back at SMS trends that emerged during 2025. I received over 34,000 texts from about 1,000 brands. I saw some brands that really know what they are doing, and a lot of brands that are phoning it in.
This report covers things like:
The 4 brands that sent the best texts this year
The copy everyone can’t stop using
How to be funny on SMS
5 suggestions to stand out from the crowd next year
Let’s jump right into the superlatives with my picks for best texters of 2025:
Reformation
Patagonia
Omaha Steaks
Fleur du Mal
Reformation just started texting in 2025, and their messages are perfectly on brand, funny, charming, and click worthy.
Patagonia uses SMS to reinforce its brand promise. Their browse abandon message, for example, reminds subscribers of their Ironclad Guarantee as a reason to check out. And they stayed above the Black Friday melee, using the opportunity to text about something their customers care about, other than promos.
Omaha Steaks is one of the few brands playing with RCS messaging and introducing interesting new formats. (We’ll talk about who is using RCS and how, in an upcoming newsletter.)
And at Fleur du Mal, their use of MMS will make your eyes pop. It’s so sexy, it’s hard to look away. I am guessing their unsubscribe rate is close to zero.
Now, on to the SMS trends that emerged this year:
Urgency dominates
What are most brands using SMS for? Urgent, promotional messages. One in 5 messages includes urgent language like “It’s your last chance”, “Last call”, and “Ends tonight”. This doubles to 2 in 5 messages during BFCM. We also saw 63% of messages contain at least one ALL CAPS word. So if your brand is doing this too, you’re in fine company, but a different approach might help you stand out next year.
Exclusive Access Doesn’t Mean That Much
Most of us encourage visitors to sign up for SMS with the promise of exclusive offers or access but only one in ten messages include a nod to exclusivity, something like ‘Early Access” or “You’re Invited”.
Wit is rare
Just 3 out of 100 messages included any attempt at humor. It appears that brands rarely take comedic risks on SMS. But some brands do! Reformation, McDonald’s and Shinesty are three favorite funny texters.
Supportive language peaks in winter
December, January and February are months when messages like "treat yourself" appear the most. This hits a low point in August and September. I’d love to hear your theories about why that is, and if you try out a ‘treat yourself’ email in the fall, let me know how it goes.
The Top 10 phrases reveal an important trend
I looked for the most common words and phrases and found all ten of the top 10 phrases are designed for direct response. On one hand these phrases are converting, but you risk blending in with hundreds of other brands.
Top 10 Phrases
1 X% off
2 Shop now
3 Use code
4 Don’t miss
5 Ends tonight
6 Last chance
7 Free shipping
8 Limited time
9 Today only
10 Early access
Personalization is rare
Despite all the conversation about personalization, roughly 86% of messages are generic.
Only 2% of messages use any name personalization
Fewer than 1% of messages reference something the subscriber could actually attend or act on locally
MMS is for new product drops
MMS can be expensive but many of 2025’s high growth brands like Skims, Poppi, and the Indiana Fever leaned into it, especially for new product drops.
Overall, we saw 22% of all messages include gifs or static images.
✨ The emoji of the year ✨
Only 11% of messages included emojis, likely because they also jack up costs pretty quickly. But when brands did send emoji-fied messages, the sparkle ✨ was the go to.
Most CTAs prod the reader to buy a product
The top 10 calls to action suggest most brands are orienting around direct response, but there are a few exceptions.
65% of messages include action based CTAs like Shop, Order, Buy, Discover, Grab
9% of messages include emotional CTAs like Enjoy, Celebrate, Treat Yourself
8% have urgency CTAs like Don’t miss, Hurry, and Don’t wait
29% of messages have no clear CTA
Top 9 CTAs
Shop
Get
Save
Take
Enjoy
Discover
Grab
Snag
Unlock
5 suggestions to stand out from the crowd next year
Ease off the generic promo language
Let your brand’s voice shine
Share standout campaign imagery via MMS
Make use of personalization
Lean into exclusive benefits for your subscribers
How are you going to do this? I’ll share tips and ideas in every newsletter. Or you can take a tour of Tiny Texts, where we publish hundreds of texts daily from a huge assortment of brands: apparel, footwear, beauty, cannabis, entertainers, sports teams, politicians, and non profits. It updates in real time and it’s a great place for marketers to find SMS inspiration.
And finally, the FIFA Best Text of the Month Award:
Look out for more from Tiny Texts in 2026 and have a great holiday!
