What Is Mobile Text Advertising?

Mobile text advertising is a form of advertising that utilizes short messaging service (SMS) messages or text messages to send advertisements to people’s phones. This type of advertising can be utilized in a number of different ways, though it is often done by compiling a list of phone numbers of individuals interested in a particular product or activity. There are other methods by which the messages are sent out to a wider range of numbers, but this may be less effective since there is less control over who receives the message. Mobile text advertising can be generated through a number of different services, which allow companies to send out large quantities of text messages quickly and easily.

Also referred to as SMS marketing, mobile text advertising provides fast and effective ways for advertisers to reach people. This type of advertising utilizes the same SMS system that is used to send text messages between phones. A company can create a small advertisement, such as a coupon code and brief description of an offer, and send that out to various phone numbers. People then receive this mobile text advertising on their phones and can delete the message or act on it as they see fit.

One of the most common methods of mobile text advertising is the use of phone numbers that are received by customers or those interested in a particular service. A restaurant, for example, might allow customers to provide their mobile phone numbers, which are then used to send out these types of offers. There are also businesses that compile lists of phone numbers from a general pool, rather than from specific sources. When mobile text advertising is sent out through this method, however, it can reach a wider audience, but the response may be weak since this audience is less specifically inclined to be interested.

Local businesses can often use mobile text advertising to build interest or notify customers about special deals. A popular night club, for example, could send out a text each Friday morning to notify people about musicians performing or other live events that might be happening that night. This type of targeted advertising is often difficult to achieve in other mediums, where advertising costs can be prohibitive and the scale may be too large or too small. While mobile text advertising is still somewhat in its infancy, there is concern that it could follow email advertising and oversaturation of the market might lead to people ignoring these advertisements much like inbox “spam.”