SMS Marketing: What to Send Your Customers and When

Most food businesses treat text messaging as a louder version of email. Same promo, same list, fewer characters. That’s why so many SMS programs produce one good week and then a wave of opt-outs.

The channel rewards something narrower. Texts work when they’re timely and operationally useful: the order is ready, the driver is on the way, the thing you always buy is back. They burn goodwill fast when they’re not. The benchmark data makes the point bluntly: automated texts triggered by something a customer did convert at more than six times the rate of blast campaigns.

This guide covers the whole channel for a food business: how to collect opt-ins that are actually legal, what the US rules require in 2026, which messages to send and when, and the numbers to judge the program by.

The Bottom Line

• Automated SMS beats broadcast SMS badly. Across more than 246 million sends, Omnisend recorded a 0.77% conversion rate on automated texts against 0.12% on standard campaigns, roughly six times better.
• A good SMS click rate in 2026 is about 5.6% for campaigns and 9.65% for automated flows, according to Klaviyo data covering over 183,000 brands.
• Since April 11, 2025, US businesses must honor an opt-out sent by any reasonable method (“stop”, “quit”, “cancel”, “unsubscribe”) within 10 business days.
• Order and delivery status texts are the highest-value messages you send, and they aren’t marketing. They cut inbound “where’s my order” calls sharply.
• Two to four promotional texts a month is the working ceiling for most food businesses. Frequency, not content, is what drives opt-outs.

Why SMS outperforms email for food businesses

Because the message arrives inside a window when the customer can act on it, and because it lands in an inbox with no promotions tab. A text about a 3 p.m. pastry special is read while it’s still 3 p.m. An email about the same thing is read tomorrow, if at all.

The benchmarks show where the advantage sits. Klaviyo’s 2026 SMS data, drawn from more than 183,000 brands, puts a good campaign click rate at 5.6% and a good automated-flow click rate at 9.65%, with top-decile brands hitting 10.44% and 16.6% (Klaviyo, 2026). Omnisend, measuring over 246 million sends, found a 12.39% average campaign click rate but only a 0.12% conversion rate, while automated texts converted at 0.77% (Omnisend, 2026). Clicks are easy in this channel. Orders are not.

There’s a strategic reason to build the list at all: it’s the only food-marketing channel you own outright. Attention from a creator’s video is rented and disappears when the algorithm moves on, which is exactly why the smart play during an influencer-driven order spike is to convert those one-time buyers into phone numbers you can reach in November.

Sources: Klaviyo 2026 SMS benchmarks (183,000+ brands); Omnisend 2026 SMS statistics (246M+ sends).

The practical reading: build the automated messages first. A single well-timed “your favourite is back in stock” flow will usually out-earn a year of Thursday blasts.

How to build an SMS list customers opt into

Ask at the moment the customer is happiest, and be specific about what they’re signing up for. “Join our texts” converts badly. “Text CAKE to 55555 for $5 off your next delivery order” converts, because it names the value and the action.

The highest-yielding collection points for a food business:

• At checkout, online and in person. An unchecked box with plain language beside it, not buried in terms. Online ordering is where intent is highest.
• On the packaging of a delivered order. A sticker or insert card with a short code reaches someone who just liked your food. Aroma and first impressions do a lot of work here, and what the customer smells when the bag opens is the reason they bother to text at all.
• On the receipt or order-confirmation page. Offer the order-status texts separately from marketing texts. Many customers want the first and not the second, and separating them protects your list quality.
• In-store signage where people wait. A queue is dead time; a table tent with a short code uses it.

Two rules keep the list healthy. Never buy or import a list. Those numbers never consented to hear from you, and the legal exposure is serious. And set expectations in the welcome message: say how often you’ll text and how to stop, in the first message, every time.

SMS marketing compliance in 2026: what US rules require

Get written consent before the first message, and make stopping easy. Commercial texts to US consumers fall under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, and two developments define the current state of play.

First, consent. The FCC’s “one-to-one consent” rule, which would have barred a single form from generating consent for multiple businesses, was vacated by the Eleventh Circuit in Insurance Marketing Coalition v. FCC on January 24, 2025, and the FCC chose not to appeal, reinstating the prior standard (Kelley Drye, 2025). That loosened one paperwork requirement. It did not remove the need for clear prior express written consent before you text anyone.

Second, opt-outs. Since April 11, 2025, consumers may revoke consent by any reasonable method, including replying “stop”, “quit”, “end”, “revoke”, “opt-out”, “cancel” or “unsubscribe”, and businesses must honor the request within 10 business days (Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, 2025). You cannot require a specific keyword or a form.

A short compliance checklist for a small operator:

• Documented consent with a timestamp and the exact language shown, kept for as long as you text that number.
• Sender identification in the first message, so nobody wonders who is texting them.
• Opt-out instructions in the welcome message and periodically after, honored within 10 business days and processed automatically where possible.
• A2P 10DLC registration for your brand and campaign through your provider. Unregistered traffic gets filtered by carriers, which means your messages stop arriving.

None of this is optional, and TCPA claims carry statutory damages per message. If you’re unsure about your consent language, have a lawyer read the one paragraph. It costs less than the alternative.

What to text customers: promotions, order updates and delivery notifications

Split your messages into three jobs and treat them differently.

Transactional messages are the backbone: order received, order ready, driver on the way, delivered. These are the texts customers actually want, and they replace phone calls your staff would otherwise answer during a rush. If you run your own deliveries, automated dispatch and progress notifications are table stakes now. Metrobi’s platform sends customizable notifications on dispatch, progress and completion, with real-time tracking on the receiver side, which is the kind of setup that removes “where is it?” from your phone line entirely.

Lifecycle messages are automated and tied to behaviour, and they’re where the conversion data says the money is:

• Welcome and first offer, sent immediately after opt-in while intent is high.
• Win-back at 30 or 60 days, aimed at customers who ordered once and vanished. This is the natural follow-up to a viral week.
• Back-in-stock or back-on-the-menu, for seasonal items with a waiting list.
• Reorder reminder, timed to the natural repurchase cycle: two days before a standing catering order, a week after a wholesale drop.

Promotional broadcasts are the smallest category and should stay that way. Flash specials, holiday pre-orders, a new menu item. Keep them to two to four a month, make the offer concrete, and always include the link to order.

A note on writing them: one idea, under 160 characters, a link, and a reason to act now. No greeting, no paragraph, no emoji pile. “Sourdough’s out of the oven at 4. Delivery slots open until 6: [link]” does more than three lines of brand voice.

When to send restaurant and food business texts

Send promotional texts inside the decision window for the meal you’re selling, and never outside legal quiet hours. Federal rules restrict telemarketing to between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient’s local time zone, and several states are stricter. That’s the hard boundary.

Within it, the useful timings for food businesses:

• Lunch offers: 10:30 to 11:15 a.m. Before the decision, not during it.
• Dinner and delivery offers: 3:30 to 5 p.m. This is the single best window for an evening delivery order, because it lands before anyone has started cooking.
• Weekend pre-orders: Thursday morning. Enough lead time to get on the weekend plan, close enough to be remembered.
• Catering and wholesale: early weekday mornings. You’re texting a business owner about a work decision, so treat it like a work message.
• Transactional texts: immediately, always. No batching, no quiet hours consideration, because these are responses to something the customer just did.

Test your own two best windows rather than trusting a generic chart. A bakery that sells out by noon and a caterer taking orders three weeks out have nothing in common on timing.

How to measure SMS marketing performance

Track four numbers and ignore the rest.

• Click rate, against the 5.6% campaign and 9.65% flow benchmarks. This tells you whether your message is interesting.
• Conversion rate, against 0.27% for campaigns and 1.9% for flows. This tells you whether it was interesting to the right people.
• Revenue per recipient, which is the only number that lets you compare a 500-person list to a 5,000-person one honestly.
• Opt-out rate per send. Watch the trend, not the absolute. A rising opt-out rate almost always means frequency, not content.

Klaviyo notes that brands with fast repurchase cycles, food very much included, tend to see higher conversion and revenue per recipient than the cross-industry averages, so don’t be satisfied with hitting a generic benchmark. Your ceiling is higher than a furniture retailer’s.

Frequently asked questions

How often should a restaurant send marketing texts?

Two to four promotional messages a month for most food businesses, plus as many transactional messages as the customer’s orders generate. Frequency is the main driver of opt-outs, so if your unsubscribe rate climbs after a send, cut the cadence before you change the copy.

Is SMS marketing legal without written consent?

No. Commercial texts to US consumers require prior express written consent under the TCPA, and since April 11, 2025 you must also honor revocation by any reasonable method within 10 business days (BCLP, 2025). Buying or importing a list is the fastest way into a TCPA claim, which carries statutory damages per message.

What’s a good SMS click-through rate?

Around 5.6% for a broadcast campaign and 9.65% for an automated flow, with the top 10% of brands reaching 10.44% and 16.6% (Klaviyo, 2026). Treat click rate as a message-quality signal only. Omnisend’s data shows a 12.39% campaign click rate alongside a 0.12% conversion rate, so clicks alone prove very little.

Do order status texts count as marketing?

Not if they’re purely informational. A confirmation, a ready-for-pickup alert or a delivery notification about an order the customer placed is transactional. The moment you add a promotion to that message, it’s marketing and needs marketing consent, so keep the two streams separate.

Should I use SMS or email for my food business?

Both, for different jobs. SMS is for time-sensitive things: today’s special, the order is ready, the driver is outside. Email is for anything that needs length or images: menus, seasonal catalogues, catering packages. Start the SMS program with transactional and triggered messages, because that’s where the conversion data is strongest.

Where this leaves you

SMS is the most direct line you have to someone who already bought from you, and the easiest one to wreck. The programs that work are boring in shape: legal opt-ins collected at checkout and on the packaging, automated messages doing most of the work, a handful of well-timed promotions a month, and an opt-out that functions on the first try.

Start with the transactional texts, because they pay for themselves in phone calls you don’t have to answer. Add the win-back and the back-in-stock flows next. Only then worry about the broadcast calendar. By then you’ll have a list that wants to hear from you, which is the entire asset.