Key stat: Nearly half (48%) of North American CX leaders plan to add two-way SMS/text as a customer service channel in the short to near term, making it the most-planned CX investment on the list, according to a December 2025 survey from Execs In The Know.

Beyond the chart:

• The investment priority runs counter to where most consumers currently land on channel preference. Some 59% of consumers globally still name email as their preferred format for brand communications, ahead of websites, social media, and SMS, per Woo and Klaviyo.
• Meanwhile, the stakes for getting CX channel investment right are rising. Some 85% of global marketing professionals say consumer expectations are increasing, per Salesforce.

Use this chart: Drop this in your next CX strategy or channel planning meeting to show where customer service investment is heading. Use SMS's top ranking to benchmark your own channel gaps, and make the case for why two-way text should move up on your near-term roadmap.

Related EMARKETER reports:

• Infopack: Customer Experience 2026 (EMARKETER subscription required)
• Email Marketing 2026 (EMARKETER subscription required)

Methodology: Data is from the March 2026 Execs In The Know report titled "CX Leaders Trends & Insights: Corporate Edition 2026." 87 CX leaders located primarily in the US and Canada were surveyed online via the SurveyMonkey platform during October 24-December 22, 2025. Respondents were responsible for managing the customer experience and customer care programs of large Business-to-Consumer (B2C), Business-to-Business (B2B) and B2C/B2B organizations.

We prepared this article with the assistance of generative AI tools and stand behind its accuracy, quality, and originality.