Continued Importance of SMS

With approximately 90% of the U.S. population owning cell phones, according to CTIA’s semi-annual wireless industry survey, and 98% of those phones being SMS-enabled out of the box, SMS is one of the most popular communication methods in the world. The rise of text messaging can be attributed to its low cost and ease of use. If you have a cell phone, you have the capability to text — no downloads or installations needed. And with the advent of unlimited messaging plans, texting has become the mobile communication option of choice for cell phone-toting teens, beating out e-mail, and phone conversations.

In May, 65.2% of U.S. mobile subscribers used text messaging on their mobile devices, up 1.4 percentage points versus the prior three-month period, according to comScore, making texting the top cellular device feature for all U.S. consumers, aside from calling.

The texting audience is large and still growing. eMarketer projects that the growth of the global market for ad support of mobile messaging will reach nearly $12 billion in 2011, up from about $1.5 billion in 2006.

What’s perhaps one of the most interesting reasons to advertise via SMS is that “about 90% of all text
messages are read within three minutes of their delivery, and over 99% of all text messages are read by the recipient,” according to a whitepaper on conversational advertising [PDF] by SinglePoint. The immediacy of SMS is currently unparalleled by any other marketing channel.

Please read more about Top 5 Mobile Advertising Trends To Watch on Mashable.com