SMS or Die: What Email Marketers Need To Know About Text Message Campaigning

THE DIGITAL MARKETING COMPANY
WHITE PAPER | SEPTEMBER 2007
SMS Or Die
What email marketers need to
know about text-message
campaigning
Co-authored by Eydie Cubarrubia and Jared Reitzin
SMS Or Die: What email marketers need to know about text-message campaigningCopyright © 2007 mobileStorm Inc. All rights reserved.Published by
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Copyright © 2007
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SMS Or Die: What email marketers need to know about text-message campaigningCopyright © 2007 mobileStorm Inc. All rights reserved.Table of Contents
Introduction .................................................................................................Page 1
In The Beginning A history of email marketing...................................................................Page 2
Get The "Message" How SMS marketing is maturing.............................................................Page 2
Ins And Outs Of Mobile Marketing Technical, professional, and financial aspects of SMS .................................Page 4
Mobile Phones Remain Dominant The benefits of reaching consumers on cell phones ....................................Page 6
Build Databases Now, Use Them In The Future Boost customer data and exploit impending technology ..............................Page 7
Make More Money Via Mobile SMS offers real revenue opportunities......................................................Page 7
Overcoming Reluctance To Mobile Marketing Why certain concerns are no longer deal-breakers......................................Page 8
Conclusion...................................................................................................Page 9
SMS Or Die: What email marketers need to know about text-message campaigningCopyright © 2007 mobileStorm Inc. All rights reserved.Introduction
Over the past few years, email marketing has become a de facto form of communication for companies needing a quick and easy way to reach any number of customers and prospects. Unlike mainstream forms of marketing such as print and broadcast advertising, email offers a sense of personalization to current and potential customers. However, the effectiveness of email has started to diminish thanks to a torrent of spam and the sheer volume of messages through which the average consumer has to wade. Companies therefore must consider alternative forms of communication to reach their intended audiences. Currently, the best alternative is text messaging. Texting is just starting to become a viable option for U.S. marketers and offers benefits that email does not. A brand that disregards SMS could lose potential customers-possibly to competitors who do utilize the technology.
Like email a decade ago, SMS, which stands for Short Message Service (aka text messaging), is a powerful new 620way to attract consumers. Why? Because consumers are BILLIONusing SMS like never before. According to the research firm MESSAGESInforma, global SMS traffic grew 50 percent in the first 413 SENTquarter of 2007 from the same quarter a year earlier - BILLION WORLDWIDE1to a whopping 620 billion messages sent worldwide. 1st Quarter 2006 1st Quarter 2007Today, SMS offers companies personalization, relevancy, and immediacy with their marketing campaigns. In the near future, this will be expanded to include location-based services, giving mobile marketers the ability to reach consumers with specific offers tied to their current whereabouts. In addition, SMS allows for a two-way dialogue, making it possible for companies to gather important demographic and psychographic information from willing consumers. Considering all this, it's hard to see why any email marketer wouldn't want to utilize SMS campaigns now and at least begin to build his databases-and be prepared to leverage such campaigns in the future.
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