The Performance SMS Era: A Letter from TextUs CEO
A letter from the CEO of TextUs, Martin Payne, on the future of TextUs, the Performance SMS category, and what you can and should expect as a TextUs customer in the future.
Written by
Martin Payne
Published
July 17, 2025
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To our customers, partners, and the future of business texting,
The next chapter of business communication is here, and it’s all about performance.
At TextUs, we’ve always believed in the power of SMS to engage customers in ways that create business impact. However, today we’re drawing a line in the sand: simply adopting SMS as a complementary channel is no longer good enough.
We’re ushering in a new era of business texting - we call it Performance SMS. It’s a much smarter way of texting that drives markedly higher open rates and engagement levels. It means every message you send is part of a measured, optimized strategy that drives pipeline, accelerates revenue, and demonstrates ROI.
This is where we’re headed, and we’re bringing you with us.
With our new brand, we’re making a clear commitment. We no longer rely exclusively on generalized best practices that every SMS vendor professes. We rely on data. Specifically, a large proprietary data set refined for specific insights that drive measurably better results.
Performance SMS is more than a catchphrase. It’s a promise. And you’ll see it come to life over the coming months as we deliver:
- Smarter analytics to help you prove what’s working and double-down on what converts
- Improved deliverability to protect your brand and maximize your reach
- Innovative automation that enables messaging with more scale AND better engagement
- Platform features that can be used as an integrated part of your broader tech stack
This isn’t about adding more tools or chasing trends. It’s about building the most impactful SMS platform for modern revenue teams and holding ourselves to a higher standard.
So here’s our ask: hold us to it. We embrace the challenge because we’ve focused our next wave of innovation on performance and results — and we’re excited to share what’s coming later this quarter.
Onward,
Martin Payne
CEO, TextUs
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Performance SMS?
Performance SMS is a strategic approach to business texting where every message is part of a measured, optimized campaign designed to drive pipeline, accelerate revenue, and demonstrate ROI — rather than simply sending one-off texts.
How does Performance SMS differ from standard business texting?
Standard business texting is often reactive — answering inbound messages or sending one-off notifications. Performance SMS is proactive, data-driven, and tied to business outcomes. It treats texting as a strategic revenue channel with measurable ROI.
Why is TextUs moving toward a Performance SMS positioning?
TextUs is positioning around Performance SMS to help customers move beyond SMS as just a communication tool and start treating it as a revenue channel. The goal is to give teams the data, automation, and strategy to prove measurable business impact from every text sent.
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