A significant addition to the increasing list of communication carriers, is that of SMS, Short Messaging Service. SMS has become the fastest, easiest and the most convenient way to communicate today.
For reasons personal or professional, SMS works across purposes. The most recent application of SMS has been to reach out to the consumer offering him products and services just as any of the other mass media would. Be it in the form of promotions or advertising or even sales, the functionality of SMS usage is crossing all barriers.
Why use SMS advertising?
When compared to other media, SMS was found to be the most efficient as SMS messages have to be read before they are deleted.
|
Medium |
Reach |
Cost |
Strike Rate |
|
Television |
One of the Highest |
Very High |
Good |
|
Radio |
Medium |
Medium |
Poor |
|
Internet (Banner) |
High |
Medium |
Dropping |
|
|
High |
Extremely Low |
Extremely Low |
|
Print Media (Flyers) |
Low |
High |
High |
|
Billboards |
Medium |
Medium |
Medium |
|
Moving Media |
Medium |
High |
Medium |
|
Telephone |
Medium |
High |
Medium |
|
Fax |
Low |
Medium |
Low |
|
Standard Mailers |
High |
High |
Medium |
|
Personal Interaction |
Low |
High |
High |
|
SMS |
EXTREMELY HIGH |
EXTREMELY LOW |
EXTREMELY HIGH |
The only disadvantage of SMS advertising is – it is restricted to just 160 characters. So the advertising message has to be SHORT and FOCUSED yet POWERFUL!
Future of SMSin Advertising
Marketing via SMS is the just the beginning of developing relations with the consumer. A lot of innovation has been observed in this aspect which has given more than the desired results. Selling via SMS has also started picking up momentum and will soon be at par with the figures of trading on Internet.
There is an element of personalization in marketing via SMS, which increases the possibility of participation/ response by the consumer. This single aspect can drive the scope of SMS usage to great heights.
Conclusion
The fast growing trend of SMS usage for multi-purpose activities has generated the need to find out more about the profile of people who welcome SMS as a regular feature of their life. SMS developed in the quest for getting into the depths of not only the demographics of such users but also their psychographics and
media habits.
