SMS marketing is simply the practice of sending an SMS to customers with information on products and services, special deals or marketing campaigns.
In November 2008, Limbo released their quarterly report on SMS marketing. They found that over 100 million Americans viewed mobile advertisements in Q3 2008. They also found that one third of the people who received advertisements 'responded in some way', with 18-24 year olds the most likely to respond. Additionally one in seven people reported that they brought a product or visited a store as a result of seeing a mobile advertisement.
ClickATell, an SMS specialist, released a report in 2008 titled '101 Business Applications for SMS' and suggested SMS can be used for a wide range of marketing programs, including:
- product launches and sales promotions
- text to win competitions
- prepaid or discount coupons and virtual vouchers
- promotional activities and events
- customer service activities e.g. confirmation of order placement, reminders of special activities like discount nights for retail shops
