Quick Summary

For businesses, texting is evolving from SMS broadcasts into a full-scale system for conversations, lead qualification, automation and customer engagement. As businesses adopt AI Agents and outcome-based workflows, texting will power every stage of the customer journey—becoming a core communication system by 2030.

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In 2016, I saw firsthand that business texting was broken.

Back then, I was running another SMS platform. That texting platform had over 20,000 users. But even with all that traction, one huge thing was missing: We could send out texts for businesses, but nobody could text those businesses back.

Everything worked for one-way SMS broadcasts. But when someone replied? Silence. Those responses went nowhere. No conversations. No follow-ups. No potential sales. No real connection.

In effect, our customers had the most direct way to reach people—unless you actually wanted to hear from them.

So I made a decision. I started over with an entirely new startup.

That Startup's Name: Salesmsg

We built Salesmsg from the ground up. We added everything to Salesmsg that I always wanted in my previous company, starting with two-way texting.

Salesmsg made it easy for businesses to text back and forth with their customers. Real conversations that marketing, sales and support teams could actually manage.

Soon, we added shared inboxes to our texting platform. Eventually, we added calling too, so teams could handle all inbound and outbound calls and texts in one place.

That’s where it started. But we’ve been building it ever since.

Every month, we talk to customers. We study what works. And our product team ships about 150 new features (and about 1,500 updates) every year to fill in the gaps.

Because we’ve seen firsthand: texting evolves fast.

What’s coming next isn’t just better automations or a cleaner inbox. It’s a full transformation in how texting works as a system.

In the next five years, texting won’t just be a tool you add into your sales pipeline. It’ll become the backbone of your customer journey. It will be how you reach customers from first touch to long-term retention, powered by AI and automation.

Here’s what I see coming...

This Cleanest Channel Will Stay Clean

Text messages have always had one big advantage: people actually read them.

Even as new tools flood the market, SMS remains one of the most trusted and effective ways to reach people.

It’s still personal. Still direct. Still earns attention.

Industry estimates suggest that as many as 98% of texts are read. Most are seen in minutes. And unlike email, DMs, or in-app messages, texting hasn’t been overrun by spam or ignored.

To put this in perspective: the average email open rate hovers around 20%. Ads are ignored by most people. But texts? Nearly every single one gets seen—usually within 3 minutes. That makes texting not just another channel, but the most responsive one businesses have.

Why Texting Will Stay Trusted

A few years back, mobile carriers took steps to keep texting clean.

They cracked down hard on businesses sending spam texts. And they put new rules in place known as "10DLC," short for “10-digit long code.”

10DLC requires businesses to register before they can text their customers. It’s a strict process, but it works. Once approved, your messages get delivered. If not? They’re blocked, throttled, or quietly disappear.

We built 10DLC registration right into Salesmsg to make the process as fast and simple as possible. Because doing it right matters—for your delivery rates, your compliance, and your reputation.

That’s what’s kept texting clean. Looking forward five years in the future, this channel will stay clean.

A New Evolution for Texting

We're seeing a subtle shift in texting right now.

Businesses aren’t just looking to capture their leads' attention. They want more.

And over the past few years, we started hearing the same questions from customers:

• “What if texting could do more than send?”
• "What if it could respond automatically?"
• "What if it could qualify leads?"
• "Book meetings?"
• "Send reminders?"
• "Even close deals—by itself?"

That’s the change we’re seeing now—where texting still grabs customers' attention, but gains the intelligence to move the conversation forward.

And it’s why we started building AI Agents.

How AI Agents Are Changing Texting

We’ve always believed conversations are good for business.

They build trust. They uncover real needs. They move people forward. But conversations also come with a cost—time, attention, and people to manage the inbox.

That’s where AI changes the game for texting.

Last year, we built AI Agents directly into Salesmsg to handle texting for you. These built-in AI Agents can qualify a lead in seconds, ask custom questions, capture and sync data to your CRM, book meetings through your calendar or Calendly, and follow up automatically if the lead doesn’t take action.

All through texting.

AI Agents don’t pretend to be human. But they feel human enough to keep the conversation going—moving customers through your pipeline 24/7.

They’re not here to replace your team. They’re here to give your team back their time.

What Happens Over the Next Five Years

We’ll see more businesses give AI Agents real responsibilities—owning the earliest, most repetitive parts of the conversation. Instead of a human jumping in to say, “Hey, are you free for a call?” your AI Agent will have already asked. Captured the answer. Logged it. Booked the meeting. Or handed it off to a closer.

The best businesses will deliver fast, helpful, personalized experiences to every lead—even at scale.

And your team? They’ll step in when it matters most—when a lead is ready to buy or a customer needs a human touch.

In other words, AI Agents won’t just help you talk. They’ll help you win more of the right conversations, without drowning in busywork.

Texting will still feel personal. But behind the scenes? It’s about to get a whole lot smarter.

Setup Dies. Outcomes Win.

For years, business texting meant building workflows.

You had to map triggers, set conditions, write replies, and build out the logic behind each branch. It worked. And if you’re a Salesmsg customer, you probably already have those workflows in place.

But that’s not the case for everyone.

Many businesses don’t even have the tools to create texting workflows. They’re still stuck copying and pasting messages, manually following up, or jumping between tabs just to send a reminder.

The irony? Businesses spent years building elaborate workflows—only for AI to make most of that setup obsolete. You don’t need 20 branching conditions anymore. You just need an outcome: qualify, book, win back, repeat.

AI is changing that.

Now, instead of writing the playbook, you define the goal.

Need to qualify leads? Win back customers? Book more meetings?

Great. You turn on the Agent, and it gets to work—asking questions, syncing data, sending reminders, and handing off when needed.

No delay. No complex logic. Just results.

Texting is becoming outcome-driven. Workflows aren’t going away. But the setup that used to slow everyone down? That part is.

And in a world where speed equals revenue, that shift matters.

The Rise of Text-to-Everything

We’re seeing another change in behavior.

Customers aren’t just open to texting businesses anymore—they expect it. And not just for support questions or appointment reminders.

They want to:

• Text to ask a question
• Text to book a demo
• Text to reschedule
• Text to buy
• Text to give feedback
• Text to download your best content

It’s fast. It’s easy. It feels like a conversation, not a transaction.

Text-to-Everything in Action

And now that AI Agents can read context, respond intelligently, and trigger the right actions in real time—those interactions don’t have to be manual anymore.

• Your customer sends a text.
• Your system responds instantly.
• The right outcome happens.

That’s what I call textizing your business.

In five years, this won’t be a competitive advantage. It’ll be expected.

Every step of the customer journey—from lead to loyal customer—will be powered by simple, natural conversations that happen over text. And the businesses that make those experiences frictionless will win.

Texting Will Power the Full Lifecycle

In five years, texting won’t just be a touchpoint anymore.

It will be the thread that runs through your entire customer journey—from lead capture to long-term customer care.

It’s why I created what we now call the Textize Framework:

• Capture leads through forms, keywords, QR codes, or ads
• Connect through two-way texting or AI Agents
• Convert with meeting booking, follow-ups, or purchases
• Care with review requests, feedback, and referrals

This wasn’t a theory. It came from years of watching what actually worked—for us, and for our customers.

So we built the system around it.

And now, with automation, analytics, and AI built in, texting isn’t just fast. It’s one of the most effective ways to drive real results—at every stage of the journey.

Looking Ahead to 2030

The question isn’t “Will businesses still text in five years?” They will. That’s a given.

The better question is: Who’s building the systems to do it better, smarter, and faster than everyone else?

Because by 2030, texting won’t just be how customers hear from you. It will be how customers hire you, buy from you, and stay loyal to you.

And the companies that don’t make that shift? They won’t just fall behind. They’ll disappear from their customers’ conversations entirely.

That’s the opportunity.

The companies that win by 2030 won’t be the ones sending the most messages. They’ll be the ones driving the most results—with less manual work and more meaningful conversations.

That’s the future we’re building toward at Salesmsg.

Smarter systems. Better outcomes. And a faster, more personal way to connect at scale.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between a chatbot and an AI Agent?
Chatbots follow scripts. When a customer goes off-script, things fall apart. AI Agents are different. They’re outcome-driven—built to understand natural language, qualify leads, sync data to your CRM, and book meetings over real conversations. They don’t just respond. They get things done.

How is AI changing the way businesses use SMS?
AI removes the need for manual setup and follow-up. Instead of building complex workflows, you can turn on an AI Agent to handle replies, gather info, and drive outcomes—without losing the personal feel of texting.

What does it mean to “Textize” your business?
It means adding texting—and intelligent automation—across your entire customer journey. From capturing leads to booking meetings to collecting reviews, texting becomes the system that drives results at every step.

How do I get started with texting the right way?
Start with permission. Add opt-in language to your forms. Then use texting intentionally—follow up with leads, confirm appointments, get more reviews. You don’t need to do it all at once. Just start one conversation at a time.