Looking for a way to get more feedback? Use marketing automation software to build, send, and analyze SMS surveys that help you better understand your customers.
Effective SMS survey questions can help you learn how your customers feel about various aspects of your business, including your products, service, Customer Support team, and communication methods. Collecting feedback lets you understand what you’re doing right and what you need to improve.
Allowing your customers to tell you about their experience shows that you care about them. Customer insights can also help your business pinpoint problems and brainstorm solutions. There are many ways to collect feedback, but SMS surveys are growing in popularity, and for good reason. These surveys allow you to communicate with your clients in real time, learn about their experience, and find new ways to boost customer satisfaction.
Like many marketers, you’ve probably asked “How do I create effective SMS survey questions?” Ideally, you’ll start with a single clear goal. Then, ask 1 simple number-rating question, personalize the message when possible, and send it at the right time. Keeping your survey short and relevant makes it easy for customers to respond and provides more useful feedback.
What is an SMS survey?
An SMS or text message survey is a customer survey you send directly to your customers’ smartphones. You can create SMS campaigns using text messages to collect customer feedback on everything from customer service interactions to products and even your marketing efforts.
SMS feedback surveys work similarly to email survey questionnaires, but instead of sending them to someone’s email, you’ll send them to your customers’ mobile devices. For example, you can text a client asking them to complete the survey and provide a link to submit their answers.
You can also send a short text survey and allow customers to reply via text. A text message survey example would be asking customers to rate their experience—you can request that they respond with a rating between 1 and 5 and any feedback they’d like to share.
To send an SMS survey, you need a text message marketing platform to collect customer phone numbers and contact information and send them messages. Your SMS survey software should also allow two-way communication so customers can respond to your texts.
Benefits of sending SMS surveys
SMS questionnaires allow you to collect feedback from your customers in real time. For example, a food delivery company may automate surveys that ask consumers to rate their experience after their order arrives. Conversely, an ecommerce company might send SMS questionnaires after clients communicate with the Support team. The survey can ask how they feel about the experience and whether the team resolved their issues.
When done right, these survey methods not only gather immediate feedback but also boost customer loyalty by showing people you care what they think. So, should your business invest in SMS surveys? Here are a few benefits that might convince you:
How SMS Surveys Benefit Your Business | ||
Benefit | Why it matters | Business impact |
Affordability | Costs are comparable to email marketing and depend on your platform tier. | Increase your marketing return on investment (ROI). |
Strong click-through rates | Most businesses report SMS click-through rates over 20%. | Encourage more customers to open your survey and share their honest feedback. |
Fast response rates | SMS messages see response rates of 45% to 60%, compared with 6% to 8% for email. | Get real-time feedback collection for immediate action. |
Simple setup | Modern software uses drag-and-drop tools and pre-existing templates. | Reduce technical overhead and faster SMS survey campaign launches. |
High customization | You can personalize surveys with relevant data from recent transactions or support interactions. | Increase SMS survey engagement through relevant, tailored content. |
Widespread adoption | In 2025, 84% of consumers opted in to receive texts from businesses. | Increase survey reach through an established communication channel. |
How to create SMS surveys
Now that you understand what an SMS survey is, you might want to compare it to other methods to determine whether it’s more effective at soliciting customer feedback. Luckily, creating an SMS survey is easy. Follow these simple steps:
- Identify your target audience.
- Build your SMS survey.
- Choose SMS survey software.
- Send your text survey.
- Evaluate the results.
Identify your target audience
Customer survey SMS campaigns require you to identify your target audience because you need a contact/participation list with mobile phone numbers. Anyone you text must have agreed to receive messages from your business. The easiest way to ensure customers opt in to SMS communication is to add a pop-up to your website.
Once you have a list of subscribers, you can segment contacts into different groups so that each receives the appropriate message depending on where they are in the customer journey. For example, a new subscriber might get a welcome experience survey, while a repeat customer gets asked for product or event feedback. Tailoring your survey to each audience helps you improve response rates and collect data faster.
Build your SMS survey
Once you’ve identified your target audience, you can build your survey and create a draft before sending it out. Think carefully about your audience and goals as you make the first draft of your survey. Keeping your text messages short is important because customers will view them on a small screen, and you typically don’t want to take up the entire space.
It may be easier to ask customers to give you a rating instead of requesting short answers. You can also build your survey on your website and send customers a link, allowing them to complete it on their mobile phones without responding to your text. Creating a survey on a webpage is ideal for longer surveys requiring lengthy responses.
Choose SMS survey software
To create an SMS feedback survey, you’ll first need text messaging capabilities. Various SMS survey software is available to facilitate mass messaging and integrate with your other marketing tools. Plus, most survey software has text survey templates, making it easy to create and test surveys.
If you don’t already have SMS-enabled marketing automation software, we recommend using a service that allows both SMS and MMS messaging. While you won’t need MMS capabilities for your survey, you can choose to compare SMS versus MMS marketing campaigns in the future to determine which your customers respond to the most.
Look for an SMS survey platform that also supports A/B testing, so you can compare different message wording, lengths, and formats to see what works best. Audience segmentation is another helpful feature because it lets you target different customer groups with more relevant surveys.
Send your text survey
Once you’ve built and previewed your survey, it’s time to send it out or schedule it for a later date. Depending on your SMS provider, you’ll send your survey from a short code or a dedicated phone number. You can also set up automatic reminders for individuals who haven’t replied to your messages after a set period.
The best way to encourage customers to respond to your text surveys is to give them a reason. Clients usually only communicate with businesses when they’re thrilled with the experience or seriously unhappy. Unfortunately, most customers fall between those categories, so they may not feel like they have to reply to your text messages. Offering an incentive for completing the survey, such as 10% off or a chance to win a prize, can help you secure more responses.
Evaluate the results
You can evaluate your survey results with SMS survey analytics provided by the software you’re using. You can review the results of your campaign after a few days and send reminders to individuals who still need to complete them.
Assessing your results can help you determine what percentage of your audience responded to your survey and identify the changes you need to make next time. For example, if a small percentage of customers responded, it might be because your survey was too long. To figure out what went wrong, try A/B testing.
While customers prefer the convenience of texting you, they may not want to answer survey questions, so it’s crucial to determine if your SMS feedback survey is too long or intimidating. In most cases, it’s better to ask customers to send a single response in the form of a number rating and give them the option to provide additional feedback.
What are some best practices for text message surveys?
Creating a text survey is as easy as building an email marketing campaign. However, it’s important to remember that your goal is to get responses from your customers. Here are a few best practices to help you encourage customers to reply to your SMS surveys:
Ensure your goal is clear
Before you send SMS surveys, you should have a clear goal. These surveys aim to collect valuable customer feedback, but what do you want this information for?
Do you want to understand how your customers feel about your business or its products and services, or are you interested in learning something more specific? For example, you can ask clients who have recently purchased a product about the product instead of requesting feedback about your business.
Having a clear goal can help you accurately measure the results of your SMS survey campaign and allow you to make better business decisions in the future. It also gives you a benchmark to build on, so each new survey you send generates more valuable feedback than the last.
Keep the content simple
Your customers don’t want to read or respond to long text messages. Therefore, keep your text survey concise. The best way to get as many responses as possible is to ask for a 1-word reply. For example, a question like “How was your experience? (1-10)” lets users respond with a fast, single-number answer to your question.
Limit your survey to 1-3 questions, as they tend to have the highest completion rates. Also, keep your entire SMS message under 160 characters. Ideally, you want to use easy, closed-ended formats (like yes/no options) but you can include a single open-ended question.
Some other survey methods include:
- 0-10 net promoter score (NPS): “How likely are you to recommend us to a friend? Reply 0-10, with 0 for not likely at all and 10 for extremely likely.” Use for tracking customer loyalty over time. Send a week or so after purchase.
- Multiple choice: “How did you hear about us? Reply 1 Google, 2 friend, 3 social, 4 other.” Use for attribution or quick segmentation. Cap it at 4 options.
- Open-ended customer satisfaction survey: “In one word, how would you describe shopping with us?” Use sparingly, when you want some qualitative feedback alongside the numbers.
Know your audience
Having a basic understanding of your audience ensures you can tailor your messaging to fit their needs. Before creating your SMS survey messages, research your audience’s preferences, purchase history, and past interactions with your brand. The goal is to understand what information is most relevant to each person.
Then, use what you know to segment your audience into smaller groups, like new customers, frequent buyers, or people who just had a support issue. Then, tailor your survey to each group. That way, you can send different questions to first-time buyers versus people in the middle of the customer service process.
Also, use your audience data with merge tags (personalization tokens) and dynamic content fields to personalize each SMS. These elements automatically insert details like a customer’s name, recent purchase, or appointment date into the message. This allows you to send truly relevant messages without having to create separate surveys.
Send the text survey at the right time
Knowing when to contact your customers is crucial because reaching them at the right time can encourage them to respond. For example, you wouldn’t send an email when they’re likely asleep, so you shouldn’t send a text at that time either. Instead, consider your target audience. If you have an audience segment of working professionals, you can expect few responses during their regular working hours.
It’s also important to avoid survey fatigue. Sending surveys too often can cause customers to ignore your messages or opt out altogether. Only send surveys after meaningful interactions, such as a purchase, delivery, or support conversation, and give customers enough time between requests. The frequency of your surveys matters just as much as when you send them.
What are the legal and compliance requirements for SMS surveys?
Before you start sending SMS surveys, you need to understand the legal requirements. Federal law sets the rules for SMS survey distribution, and failing to follow the rules can result in costly fines and damage to your overall brand reputation.
How do you obtain express written consent (TCPA compliance)?
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) requires you to get express written consent before sending marketing or survey texts to customers. This means someone has to actively agree to receive messages from you—you can’t just add their number to your list because they made a purchase or filled out a contact form.
The most common way to collect consent is through a web form, pop-up, or checkout flow where the customer checks a box agreeing to receive SMS communication. Your SMS survey tool should make it easy to track and store these consent records so you have documentation if questions come up later.
A few things to keep in mind when collecting consent:
- Disclosure language: Your opt-in form should clearly state that the customer is agreeing to receive text messages, including the type of messages and approximate frequency.
- Separate consent: SMS consent should be separate from general email or marketing opt-ins. Bundling them together can create compliance issues.
- Recordkeeping: Save a record of when and how each customer opted in. This protects your business if a complaint is ever filed.
Why is a clear “STOP” opt-out process required?
Every SMS message you send, including surveys, must give recipients a simple way to stop receiving texts. The standard practice is to include “Reply STOP to opt out” at the end of your messages.
This isn’t optional. The TCPA and the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) both require businesses to honor opt-out requests immediately. Once someone replies “STOP,” your system needs to remove them from future SMS survey responses and any other text campaigns automatically.
Failing to process opt-outs quickly is one of the most common reasons businesses face TCPA complaints. Most SMS platforms handle this automatically, but it’s worth testing to make sure the process works before launching your campaign. It’s also a good idea to send a confirmation text so the customer knows the request went through and doesn’t file a complaint thinking they’re still on your list.
What are the message frequency and timing restrictions?
Even with proper consent, there are limits on how often and when you can text your customers. Sending too many text messages or reaching out at inappropriate hours can lead to complaints, opt-outs, and potential legal issues.
Here’s what to keep in mind:
- Frequency limits: Only send messages at the frequency you disclosed when collecting consent. If you told customers they’d receive 1-2 texts per month, don’t send 5. Look at SMS survey examples from established brands to get a sense of what’s standard in your industry.
- Quiet hours: The TCPA restricts calls and texts to between 8 am and 9 pm in the recipient’s local time zone. Many businesses set even tighter windows to avoid bothering customers during early morning or late evening hours.
- Content relevance: Every text message should have a clear purpose. Sending surveys too frequently or about topics that don’t relate to the customer’s experience can hurt engagement and increase opt-out rates.
Following these guidelines protects your business legally and helps maintain the trust you’ve built with your audience. Customers are far more likely to engage with your surveys when they feel respected rather than spammed.
Send SMS surveys today to collect feedback and data
Sending SMS surveys can help you collect valuable feedback that gives you a clearer picture of how your customers feel. Surveys can tell you how much your clients enjoy your products, how often they use them, and whether they’re satisfied—giving you direct insight into the people that fuel your business.
Frequently asked questions
How do I create effective SMS survey questions?
SMS surveys don’t take much time and money to set up, so don’t overthink it. Keep questions short and specific. Ask 1 clear thing at a time. Use simple language and closed-ended formats, like ratings or yes/no answers. And always think about what you’ll actually do with the feedback.
How many questions should an SMS survey have?
For the best completion rates, limit your survey to 1-3 questions. Rating scales, NPS, and yes/no formats work best because customers can reply with a single number or letter. If you do want a written response, save it for the last question and cap the answer at 1 word if possible.
What is a good SMS survey response rate?
A response rate between 45% and 60% is considered good for SMS surveys. If you land below 30%, your survey is probably too long, poorly timed, or going out to the wrong audience. A/B testing can help you figure out the problem and improve your results. Also, consider automating reminders and follow-up texts to save time and improve engagement.
What makes an effective SMS survey question?
An effective SMS survey question is under 160 characters and asks for a number, Y/N, or a single word response. It’s also neutral. Always steer clear of leading phrasing, like “How much did you love our service?” since it nudges customers toward a positive answer and skews your data.