By Bob Speyer and Kristen Tomlinson, Web Success Team

Text messaging has officially jumped ship from being a high school phase made popular by teenagers to an advertising craze utilized by business powerhouses to promote their brands. SMS stands for “short message service,” and is more commonly known as texting. This type of service can be found on an array of cell phones and allows text messages to be sent from one phone to another or from the Web to a cell phone.

The Coming of Age of Mobile Marketing
Demographically speaking, there are over 2 billion people in the world that own a cell phone, and of that number, 200 million are in the U.S. These figures alone make SMS Marketing very appealing to businesses. There is now great opportunity to target untapped markets for new and existing customers cost-effectively and achieve web success by delivering promotional online campaigns direct to cell. SMS Marketing gives corporations the ability to personalize and customize messages via text. Mobile SMS marketing is a quick, personal, and direct way to publicize products and services, producing real time measurable results.

In Text We Trust — to Promote

SMS allows you to send a variety of promotional materials, such as coupons, daily reminders for upcoming events, specials on products, and emergency alerts with the click of button. This form of direct response marketing is also beneficial because it allows you more personal contact with your clients “one-to-one” and enables you to reach customers anytime, anywhere. SMS Marketing is a great way to let your audience interact with your brand. Notable marketing campaigns include President Obama’s text notification of his pick for Vice President during the 2008 Campaign and the current Red Cross 90-999 Mobile Campaign to raise money for the earthquake victims of Haiti were groundbreaking and very successful.

Valuable Take-A-Ways to Consider

1. Pricing: At present SMS Marketing is new and therefore very reasonable.
2. Branding and Updates: It is a quick and easy way to connect with your customers and potential customers.
3. Captive and Unlimited Audience: Everyone has a cell phone. And they read their messages.

Get Your Slice of the Mobile Pie

With the Mobile Advertising Industry worth at least $1 billion, the informed are positioning to slice up the mobile pie. So now is the time to get in on the action. With Google’s recent purchase of AdMob and news that Apple is buying Quattro Wireless, the mobile advertising industry is fast becoming one of the biggest social media outlets since Facebook and Twitter. SMS marketing is easy, quick, and it falls directly into the palm of your very own hand.