21 August 2026 · 4 min read
SMS vs Email: Which Actually Gets You More Reviews?
By Charlie Wells, Founder
Why this isn't a universal answer
SMS open rates are consistently higher than email across almost every industry, simply because text messages get read within minutes, while emails sit in an inbox competing with everything else. But higher open rates don't automatically mean more completed reviews. That depends on what happens after the message is opened.
Where SMS tends to win
Trades, home services, and anything transactional and immediate (a job finished today, a delivery just completed) tend to convert better by SMS, because the request lands while the experience is still fresh and the customer is already on their phone.
Where email still holds its own
Retail, hospitality, and businesses with an existing email relationship (booking confirmations, receipts, loyalty programs) often see comparable or better results by email, particularly where the request can include a bit more context or a direct link embedded cleanly, rather than a bare SMS link that can look unfamiliar or suspicious to some recipients.
The one thing that matters more than the channel
Whichever channel you use, the direct link to the exact review box, not a general search for your business, is what actually determines whether someone finishes the action once they've started it. A channel debate that ignores this loses more conversions than the channel choice itself.
How Reputect handles it
Review Generation doesn't force a single channel. It matches the channel to what actually converts for your customer base, and tracks which one is working so the choice is based on your own data, not a generic industry assumption.
Related: Review Generation
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