Rapid advancements in mobile technology have opened up all sorts of marketing options in the mobile world. Some examples of these are mobile apps, in-game advertising and dedicated mobile web pages to name a few. While it may appear to some that SMS marketing is loosing some momentum, research from iPling and Frost & Sullivan confirms that SMS is still a brilliant tool for marketing and remains the most universal mobile medium to date.
SMS enables you to send marketing communications to practically any phone unlike with mobile apps, or use of the internet, where compatible software and data usage limits are key limiting factors. SMS marketing has far more potential reach amongst the 91% of adults who own/use a mobile phone in North America.
The open rates for SMS messages are amongst the highest across any form of marketing. Frost & Sullivan reports have found that compared to email marketing, which has an average open rate of 22%, the huge 98% open rate of SMS messages is even more impressive.
Another recent study found the click through rate (CTR) of URLs included in SMS messages is 19% which compares to a 4.2% CTR for emails. This demonstrates that SMS marketing is not only a more engaging marketing method, but it is also more likely to drive responses that companies deem desirable than with email marketing, which is also subject to strict spam filters, a problem that does not affect SMS marketing.
So, despite SMS messaging appearing now a days a very basic way to communicate in the mobile space, it remains a highly effective and engaging medium, with a massive potential reach!
