The Future of SMS Marketing: Trends for Ghana and Nigeria

ATAbisola TanzakoAugust 4, 202511 min read

A plain text message on a keypad mobile phone beside a delivery report listing Ghana and Nigeria numbers as delivered or failed, illustrating the future of SMS marketing

What is the future of SMS marketing? For businesses in Ghana and Nigeria, SMS stays in the plan because it reaches people who have no smartphone or mobile data. The SMS marketing trends worth planning for are sharper personalisation, more automation, consent you can prove and results you can measure.

Two practical limits shape that plan. You cannot see whether a text was opened. And on Arkesel, customers can reply only to a dedicated short code in Ghana, because sender IDs and shared routes are one-way and Nigeria has no two-way SMS. RCS, a richer messaging format, is one to watch, and Arkesel does not offer it today.

1. Why the future of SMS marketing depends on reach

SMS can look old-fashioned beside WhatsApp, TikTok or push notifications. Any view of the mobile marketing future in this region still has to start with who those channels can reach.

According to GSMA’s The Mobile Economy Sub-Saharan Africa 2024, by the end of 2023 nearly 44% of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa subscribed to a mobile service, amounting to 527 million subscribers, while mobile internet penetration reached 27%. As reported by Ecofin Agency, citing GSMA’s The Mobile Economy 2026, only 24% of the region’s population owns a smartphone.

These are regional figures from different years, not Ghana or Nigeria numbers, and a subscriber is not the same as a phone in use. We read the gap between them as the reason the future of SMS looks secure here: a text needs a mobile subscription, while an app or a web channel also needs a smartphone or a data connection.

SMS works on any mobile phone, including feature phones, and the person receiving it does not need internet access. If you are planning your first campaigns, our guide to SMS marketing in Ghana covers the groundwork.

2. Can you measure SMS open rates?

No. As a Mobile Marketer column on Marketing Dive explains, no data comes back to the sender from the wireless carrier when a text is opened. An SMS report therefore cannot give you an open rate, so judge your campaigns on what you can see.

What you want to know	Can you see it?	How
Opens	No	The carrier returns no data when a text is opened.
Delivery	Yes	On Arkesel, the per-recipient report shows each message’s status, normally updated within about one minute of delivery. Failures show in the report only, with no alert, so check it after each send.
Clicks	Not on the SMS platform	Create a short link in KOVA IQ and paste it into your message. KOVA IQ then shows total clicks, unique clicks and clicks by date for that link. These counts are per link.
Sales	From your own records	Compare orders, bookings or discount-code use in the days after the send.

Our guide to SMS delivery reports explains how to read each status.

3. Personalisation beyond the first name

A first name is only the start. Location, purchase history and timing can all shape a message, and what you can do today depends on the data you already hold.

On Arkesel, per-recipient merge fields (placeholders that fill in each person’s own details) draw from contact-group fields and from CSV or Excel uploads. You pick from the fields the platform presents, so check those columns for missing values before you send. Our guide to personalising bulk SMS has more on choosing and using fields.

Retail SMS marketing is a good place to start because purchase history gives you something real to segment on. Two illustrative examples:

A clothing shop in Accra could keep a contact group for customers who bought from a particular range, and text them when new stock arrives.
A retailer in Lagos could upload a spreadsheet with each customer’s nearest branch, and name that branch in a flash-sale message.

See how Arkesel’s bulk SMS platform handles merge fields and delivery reports.

4. Automation and AI

Automation means a message goes out because something happened, without anyone pressing send. Your store, booking or payment system calls the SMS API when the event occurs. Common examples are:

Abandoned cart reminders
Appointment confirmations
Payment alerts
A follow-up survey, sent as a link

Our guides to triggered SMS campaigns and connecting SMS to your CRM show how to set these up. Arkesel also has automated birthday messaging, which you enable per contact group. It reaches every contact in the group whose record holds a birth date. The send runs once daily at 08:00, so a restaurant, for example, could send contacts a birthday offer on the morning of their birthday.

AI is useful earlier in the process. A general AI assistant can help you draft wording variations or suggest ways to split a list. Treat its output as a draft and read every message before it goes out, because your business answers for what it sends.

5. What is two-way SMS, and can customers reply in Ghana or Nigeria?

Two-way SMS means a customer can reply to your message and your system receives that reply. A sender ID is the business name shown as the sender, and a name gives a reply nowhere to go.

On Arkesel, what a customer’s reply does depends on the sender and the country:

Dedicated SMS short code in Ghana: a short code is a short number reserved for your business, and on one you can receive replies. They reach you by webhook (an automatic message to your own system) or API, and there is also a custom dashboard for them. Anything built on those replies, such as a poll, is yours to build.
Sender IDs and shared routes: these are one-way. A reply to a sender ID reaches no one.
Nigeria and everywhere else outside Ghana: there is no two-way SMS.

Diagram of where a customer's reply goes on Arkesel: a dedicated short code in Ghana can receive it by webhook, API or custom dashboard; no reply reaches you on a sender ID or shared route; there is no two-way SMS in Nigeria or elsewhere outside Ghana

If you need replies in Ghana, contact Arkesel about a dedicated short code. Otherwise, put a route for responses in the message: a link, a phone line your team answers, or the WhatsApp Business API. KOVA IQ brings WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram DM, Telegram and website live chat into one agent queue. For balance checks and similar menus, USSD in Ghana works on any mobile device, including feature phones. A USSD code is a different thing from an SMS short code.

6. Will RCS replace SMS?

We would not plan on it yet. Treat RCS (Rich Communication Services) as one to watch, and keep your campaigns on SMS. Arkesel does not offer RCS today.

According to Marketing Dive, RCS can deliver video, higher-quality pictures and files, and supports reply and action buttons. The same report gives one announced example: Papa John’s ran a three-day RCS campaign in the UK for World Vegan Day in 2019, and the announcement reported sales 23% higher than SMS. That is one announced campaign in one market, so it does not tell you what RCS would do for your business.

Two other announcements are worth knowing. Apple’s June 10, 2024 press release says the Messages app in iOS 18 supports RCS when messaging contacts who do not have an Apple device. Nairametrics reported on December 24, 2021 that MTN in Nigeria was set to launch RCS Business Messaging with Google and Dotgo. Neither tells you whether your customers in Ghana or Nigeria can receive RCS today, whereas SMS reaches any mobile phone now.

7. SMS and omnichannel integration

SMS can run as one step in a sequence with email, your website and your apps. Here is an illustrative flow for an online store:

A customer abandons their cart.
They receive an email reminder.
If the email is still unopened after a couple of hours, they get an SMS with a discount code and a link.
They follow the link and complete the purchase.
They receive an order confirmation by email and SMS.

Five-step illustrative abandoned-cart flow: cart abandoned, email reminder, SMS with a discount code and link if the email is still unopened after a couple of hours, purchase through the link, then order confirmation by email and SMS

Your store or marketing system would run that logic. The trigger in step 3 has to be the email, because a sender cannot see whether an SMS was opened.

8. Do you need consent to send marketing SMS in Ghana or Nigeria?

Yes, in both countries. Take legal advice for your own case, but these are the rules to plan around.

Ghana. Ghana’s Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) bars using a person’s information for direct marketing without their prior written consent, under section 40(1). A person can also, at any time, require you by written notice to stop processing their data for direct marketing. The Act says direct marketing covers marketing material sent by whatever means to particular individuals, so we would treat marketing SMS as covered. For the telecoms regulator’s sending rules, see our guide to bulk SMS rules in Ghana.

Nigeria. The General Application and Implementation Directive (GAID) 2025 requires consent for any direct marketing activity. Under Nigeria’s Data Protection Act 2023, a person can object at any time to direct marketing use of their data, and processing for that purpose must then stop. If your compliance notes still point to the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) 2019, update them: the Nigeria Data Protection Commission says it ceases to apply the NDPR 2019 as a legal instrument on the issue of the GAID.

In either country, give people an opt-out route that you actually receive, such as a phone number, a WhatsApp line or a web form. Remove opted-out numbers from your contact groups before the next send.

Customers also have reason to be careful. As reported by Graphic Online, Ghana’s Cyber Security Authority issued a public alert on December 30, 2025 after observing an increase in fraudulent parcel delivery and clearance scams, in which messages contain links to fake websites. Customers who have seen warnings like this may hesitate over any link. Name your business early in the message, say why you are writing, and tell people where a link leads.

9. What differs between Ghana and Nigeria

Beyond the separate consent laws, two things change your plan.

In Nigeria, numbers that cannot receive your message still cost you. On Arkesel’s promotional route, Nigeria’s Do Not Disturb (DND) regime blocks delivery to a restricted subscriber, but the send is still billed, because credit is charged for every number uploaded. If you have sent to this list before, open the delivery report from your last promotional send. Leave any number that has failed on more than one send out of your next promotional upload, because you are charged for it either way. Keep the contact in your own records rather than deleting it: a failure can have another cause, and you may still need that number for service messages such as delivery updates. Our guide to bulk SMS rules in Nigeria has more on the Nigerian requirements.

In Ghana, you have two options that Arkesel does not offer in Nigeria: USSD menus and replies on a dedicated short code. If a campaign depends on either one, plan a different route for Nigerian customers, such as a link or WhatsApp.

Comparison of SMS marketing in Ghana and Nigeria covering consent, the right to stop, replies and USSD menus, with a note that Do Not Disturb blocks delivery to restricted subscribers on Arkesel's promotional route in Nigeria while the send is still billed

10. Use cases expanding beyond marketing

Many business texts are service messages, and the same list, consent and measurement habits apply to them:

Appointment reminders for hospitals and salons
Delivery updates for online shops
Event check-ins and ticket confirmations
Verification codes for logins and payments
Mobile banking updates
Weather, health and emergency alerts

11. Preparing for the future of SMS: what businesses should do now

Keep consent records. Note who agreed, when and how, and do not buy contact lists. In Ghana, the Act 843 rule above asks for written consent.
Segment your list. Send each group something relevant to its location, purchases or preferences.
Run one measured test. Change one thing, such as the wording or the send time, then compare delivery, link clicks and sales.
Check message length. Arkesel bills per segment, not per message, so a message that splits into multiple segments is charged as multiple messages. See current pricing when you budget.
Add a route for responses. Give people a link, phone line or WhatsApp number unless you are on a dedicated short code in Ghana.
Connect your systems. Link SMS to your CRM or store so that messages can follow customer actions.
Watch how often you send. Choose a frequency your customers would accept, and stop when someone asks you to.
Keep RCS on your watch list. Build this year’s plan on SMS.

Why SMS still matters and what comes next

The future of text marketing in Ghana and Nigeria rests on work you can start now: reach people on any phone, send them something relevant, hold proof of their consent and measure what happens after the send.

Start with one segment and one test. Your test needs a registered sender ID, and in Nigeria each sender ID is registered separately, as our guide to Nigerian sender ID rules explains. Create an Arkesel account to run it. A new account receives free credits on signup, which cover SMS, and Voice SMS in Ghana.