Don't Forget About SMS

A new report makes the case for SMS text marketing on mobile phones: Texting has become pervasive, and generates response rates two to ten times higher than Internet display ads, it says. That's partly because messages are directed only at "hand-raisers," since SMS marketing requires consumer opt-in.

The study from the Local Mobile Search unit of Opus Research portrays the mobile texting population as a vast, mostly untapped market. It estimates the number of people who use text messaging on a regular basis at 154 million, or 57% of U.S. cell phone subscribers. (A Pew Research Center study on wireless broadband released this month put the proportion of U.S. cell users who send or receive text messages on a typical day lower, at 43%.

The Opus study also cites data showing that text-messaging volume has grown to 3.5 billion a day, with messages now outstripping calls in a given month among U.S. mobile users. The reach of text messaging is also twice that of the mobile Internet, estimated at roughly 70%. Although the mobile Web holds much promise for advertisers, the report casts SMS marketing as an established, ready-to-go option that also doesn't require a smartphone to work well.

The study from the Local Mobile Search unit of Opus Research portrays the mobile texting population as a vast, mostly untapped market. It estimates the number of people who use text messaging on a regular basis at 154 million, or 57% of U.S. cell phone subscribers. (A Pew Research Center study on wireless broadband released this month put the proportion of U.S. cell users who send or receive text messages on a typical day lower, at 43%.

The Opus study also cites data showing that text-messaging volume has grown to 3.5 billion a day, with messages now outstripping calls in a given month among U.S. mobile users. The reach of text messaging is also twice that of the mobile Internet, estimated at roughly 70%. Although the mobile Web holds much promise for advertisers, the report casts SMS marketing as an established, ready-to-go option that also doesn't require a smartphone to work well.

Excerpts from "Online Media Daily" of MediaPost Publications

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