WhatsApp vs SMS vs Email: Which Gets UK Tradespeople More Google Reviews?

The open rates, response rates, and real-world data behind why message-based review requests outperform email by 5x — and what it means for tradespeople collecting Google reviews.

SMS has a 98% open rate vs 36% for email in the UK. WhatsApp messages get read within 90 seconds. Here's the data on which channel actually gets tradespeople more Google reviews.

TapReview 9 min read Digital Marketing

Key Takeaways

WhatsApp vs SMS vs Email: Which Gets UK Tradespeople More Google Reviews?

You've just finished a job. Customer's happy. You know you should ask for a review. But how? Do you send an email? A text? A WhatsApp message? Or just hope they remember to do it themselves?

Most tradespeople who do ask tend to send a quick text or mention it in person. Some try email. Very few have a system. And the channel you choose makes a bigger difference than you'd think — not by a little bit, but by a factor of five.

We've pulled together the UK data on open rates, response rates, and consumer preferences across all three channels. The numbers are clear, and they have direct implications for how you collect Google reviews.

For the full picture on why reviews matter, see our complete stats roundup: Google Reviews statistics for UK tradespeople (2026).

TL;DR

The numbers: SMS and WhatsApp vs email

Open rates

This is where the gap is most dramatic. According to Gartner and multiple industry studies, SMS messages have an open rate of 98%. WhatsApp Business messages are similar — Infobip (2025) reports 95–98%, with WhatsApp Business API messages hitting 99%.

Email? The DMA UK Email Benchmarking Report 2025 puts the average UK email open rate at 35.9% — and that's after Apple's Mail Privacy Protection inflated the numbers. Globally, Mailchimp (2023) puts the figure closer to 21.33%.

So for every 100 review requests you send:

That's not a marginal difference. It's the difference between collecting 4 reviews a week and collecting 1.

Response rates

Open rates only tell half the story. What matters is whether people actually act on the message. Here the gap is even wider.

SMS response rates sit at around 45% (Business.com/Notifyre, 2025). Email response rates are roughly 6%. That's a 7.5x difference.

For review requests, the response rate is your conversion rate — it's the percentage of customers who actually click your Google review link and leave a review. A 45% response rate on a WhatsApp message containing your review link means nearly half your customers will at least click through. With email, it's 1 in 17.

Speed of response

This matters more than most tradespeople realise. The best time to ask for a review is immediately after the job — when the customer is happiest and the quality of your work is fresh in their mind. Every hour that passes, the likelihood of getting a review drops.

The average text message gets read within 90 seconds (Kenect/multiple sources). According to RedEye (2024), 97% of SMS messages in the UK are read within 15 minutes.

The average email? 90 minutes before it's even opened. And that's the average — many sit unread for hours or days, buried under other messages.

If you send a WhatsApp message at 4pm when you've just packed up, your customer reads it at 4:01pm while they're admiring the finished work. Send an email at 4pm and they might see it at 5:30pm — or tomorrow morning, mixed in with Amazon dispatches and energy bills.

Click-through rates

When someone does open your message, how likely are they to click the review link?

SMS click-through rates average around 10.66–19% (Statista, 2024). WhatsApp promotional content achieves 45–60% CTR (Our Own Brand, 2026). Email CTR in the UK is 2.3% (DMA UK, 2025).

Again, it's not close. A WhatsApp message with a clear Google review link is roughly 20x more likely to get clicked than the same link in an email.

WhatsApp in the UK: the numbers

WhatsApp isn't just popular in the UK — it's dominant. According to Ofcom's 2025 Online Nation Report (based on Ipsos iris data):

Statista/DataReportal (February 2025) puts WhatsApp as the #1 social network among UK internet users with a 79.9% usage reach.

For tradespeople, this means something practical: your customer already has WhatsApp on their phone. They use it every day. They're comfortable receiving messages from businesses through it — D7 Networks (2025) found that 73% of UK daily WhatsApp users communicate with brands via the platform.

You already have their phone number because they called or texted you to book the job. WhatsApp is the natural extension of that conversation.

If you haven't set up WhatsApp Business yet, our guide walks you through it in 15 minutes: WhatsApp Business for tradespeople: the complete setup guide.

What UK consumers actually prefer

It's not just about what works technically — it's about what customers want. And the UK data is clear.

According to Esendex UK's 2024 Connected Consumer Report, 94% of UK consumers prefer SMS above all other channels for business communication. 92% would respond to email, and 66% via social media.

Attentive UK (August 2024), surveying 1,370 UK respondents, found that 93% of UK consumers are either signed up to or open to SMS marketing — up 7% year-on-year. Half of UK consumers said they'd made an unplanned purchase based on a text message.

Among millennials specifically — an increasingly important homeowner demographic — 2 in 5 list WhatsApp as their preferred channel for brand communication (Twilio UK, 2024).

And speed of response matters to consumers too. ServiceNow's 2024 Consumer Voice Report found that 93% of UK customers value prompt response times, while Twilio UK (December 2023) found 85% expect fast responses from businesses.

A review request via WhatsApp ticks every box: it's the channel they prefer, it's fast, it's personal, and it reaches them on the device they check most.

Why email fails for tradesperson review requests

Email isn't just worse by the numbers — it's structurally wrong for how tradespeople work.

Most tradespeople don't have their customers' email addresses. The typical booking flow is: customer finds you on Google or gets your number from a friend → they call or text → you quote → you do the job. Email rarely enters the picture. You'd have to specifically ask for an email address, which adds friction to an already busy handover.

Email feels formal and impersonal. A review request email from a tradesperson feels like corporate marketing. A WhatsApp message feels like a follow-up from someone you just had in your house. The tone matches the relationship.

Email inboxes are crowded. The average UK professional receives 100+ emails per day. Your review request is competing with newsletters, promotions, and work emails. In a WhatsApp or SMS inbox, it's competing with messages from family and friends — a much smaller, more attention-worthy list.

The timing window is shorter than you think. BrightLocal's 2026 data shows that review requests sent within 24 hours of the service get significantly better response rates. With email's 90-minute average open time (and many emails not opened for days), you're missing that window. With WhatsApp's 90-second open time, you're right in it.

The complete channel comparison

Here's every key metric in one place:

Open rate 95–98% 98% 20–36% Response rate ~45% 45% 6% Average open time 90 seconds 90 seconds 90 minutes Click-through rate 45–60% 10–19% 2.3% UK user base 42 million Universal Universal Daily UK users 35.9 million N/A N/A Customer already has it 92% of smartphone users Everyone with a phone Need to collect address Feels personal Yes Yes No Cost per message Fractions of a penny via API ~3–5p per message Free (but low ROI)

Sources: Gartner, Ofcom 2025, DMA UK 2025, Infobip 2025, Statista 2024, Esendex UK 2024

The data points in one direction. For tradespeople sending review requests, WhatsApp and SMS outperform email on every single metric.

What this means for collecting Google reviews

The practical takeaway is straightforward: if you want more Google reviews, send your review link via WhatsApp or SMS — not email.

Here's the maths. Say you complete 5 jobs a week and send a review request to every customer:

Via email (6% response rate): 5 × 0.06 = ~0.3 reviews per week. That's roughly 1 review per month.

Via WhatsApp/SMS (45% response rate): 5 × 0.45 = ~2.25 reviews per week. That's roughly 9 reviews per month.

Over a year, that's the difference between 12 reviews and 108 reviews. One leaves you invisible on Google. The other puts you at the top of your local results.

And as our Google Reviews statistics roundup shows, businesses with 25+ fresh reviews earn 108% more revenue than average. The channel you choose for your review request directly affects your bottom line.

TapReview is a £9/month tool that helps UK tradespeople get more Google reviews by sending automated review requests via WhatsApp and SMS after every job. It sends the message at the right time, to the right channel, with your personalised Google review link — so you can focus on the next job.

A note on SMS volumes: the shift to WhatsApp

One trend worth watching: UK SMS volumes are actually declining. Ofcom's Q4 2024 telecoms data shows UK SMS/MMS volume dropped to 27.98 billion messages in 2024 — down 11.7% from 31.68 billion in 2023.

That's not because people are messaging less. It's because they're moving to WhatsApp. The 2025 Ofcom data shows WhatsApp daily usage up from 67% to 76% year-on-year, with daily time up from 13 minutes (2023) to 17 minutes (2025).

For review requests, this means WhatsApp is increasingly the primary channel — but SMS remains essential as a fallback for customers who don't use WhatsApp, particularly older demographics. The ideal approach uses both.

Frequently asked questions

Is WhatsApp or SMS better for sending review requests?

Both have near-identical open rates (95–98%). WhatsApp has a slight edge because 92% of UK smartphone users already have it installed, messages feel more personal, and you can include your business name and logo via WhatsApp Business. SMS works better for customers who don't use WhatsApp — particularly older homeowners. TapReview sends via both channels so you cover everyone.

What open rate can I expect from WhatsApp review requests?

WhatsApp Business messages have a 95–98% open rate, with 90% of messages read within 3 minutes (D7 Networks, 2025). For comparison, the average UK email open rate is 35.9% (DMA UK, 2025). That means roughly 3x more customers will actually see your review request via WhatsApp than email.

Why don't email review requests work well for tradespeople?

Three reasons: low open rates (20–36%), slow response times (90 minutes average vs 90 seconds for texts), and most tradespeople don't have their customers' email addresses anyway. You have their phone number because they called or texted you to book the job — so messaging them is the natural next step.

Can I send review requests via WhatsApp without being spammy?

Yes — timing and tone matter. Send one message within 24 hours of completing the job, when the customer is happiest with your work. Keep it personal (use their name, reference the job), include your direct Google review link, and send one follow-up if they don't respond within a few days. TapReview handles this timing automatically.

How many UK people use WhatsApp?

Around 41–42 million UK users, with 92% of UK smartphone users having it installed (Ofcom, 2025). 76% open WhatsApp daily — that's 35.9 million people. It's the most-used messaging app in the UK by a significant margin.

Related reading

TapReview helps UK tradespeople get more Google reviews with one tap. Try it free →

Frequently Asked Questions

Is WhatsApp or SMS better for sending review requests?

Both have near-identical open rates (95-98%). WhatsApp has a slight edge because 92% of UK smartphone users already have it installed, messages feel more personal, and you can include your business name and logo via WhatsApp Business. SMS works better for customers who don't use WhatsApp — particularly older homeowners. TapReview sends via both channels so you cover everyone.

What open rate can I expect from WhatsApp review requests?

WhatsApp Business messages have a 95-98% open rate, with 90% of messages read within 3 minutes (D7 Networks, 2025). For comparison, the average UK email open rate is 35.9% (DMA UK, 2025). That means roughly 3x more customers will actually see your review request via WhatsApp than email.

Why don't email review requests work well for tradespeople?

Three reasons: low open rates (20-36%), slow response times (90 minutes average vs 90 seconds for texts), and most tradespeople don't have their customers' email addresses anyway. You have their phone number because they called or texted you to book the job — so messaging them is the natural next step.

Can I send review requests via WhatsApp without being spammy?

Yes — timing and tone matter. Send one message within 24 hours of completing the job, when the customer is happiest with your work. Keep it personal (use their name, reference the job), include your direct Google review link, and send one follow-up if they don't respond within a few days. TapReview handles this timing automatically.

How many UK people use WhatsApp?

Around 41-42 million UK users, with 92% of UK smartphone users having it installed (Ofcom, 2025). 76% open WhatsApp daily — that's 35.9 million people. It's the most-used messaging app in the UK by a significant margin.