SMS - The Next Level Of Permission-Based Marketing

As SPAM continues to clog the Internet, and more and more users are taking e-mail evasive action, SMS messaging is emerging as a cost-effective solution to marketers who need to be heard above the advertising noise level. Here's why SMS is hot and getting hotter:

What is SMS?

SMS is an acronym for “Short Message Service”. Also known as Text Messaging or TM, it's the underlying technology for delivering text-based messages to mobile devices. But don't let the term "text" fool you. SMS is capable of delivering a lot more than "pick up some pizza on your way home" messages. In fact, SMS is being used for some pretty sophisticated business applications including invoice delivery and product ordering.

How does SMS Work?

SMS messages are delivered over a different channel than the one that carries voice conversations. This fact makes SMS a very reliable form of emergency communications as evidenced during Hurricane Katrina when thousands of people discovered that although they were not able to make voice calls in the storm's aftermath, SMS messages were getting through loud and clear.

SMS messages use a store-and-forward technology rather than travelling directly from the sender's SMS-enabled device to the message recipient's SMS-enabled device.

There are actually eight independent steps that each SMS message goes through, but those steps are all automatic and transparent to both the SMS message sender and the SMS message receiver, and each step is executed in the blink of an eye.

SMS is changing the face of permission-based marketing

Permission-based marketing has its roots in the e-mail industry. As more and more e-mail users fought back against unsolicited commercial e-mail (UCE), or SPAM as it is commonly called, legitimate marketers scrambled to find an acceptable alternative.

That effort ushered in the era of double opt-in lists where subscribers signed up to be on mailing lists of their choosing, and the mailing list software sent out a clickable link in an email message so the subscriber could opt-in or grant their "permission" to receive e-mail.

As the attraction of receiving advertising via e-mail began to fade, and mobile communication devices began to outpace personal computers in popularity, leading-edge marketers and business organizations began to eye up SMS as a potential e-mail alternative.

While the SMS-to-consumer trend has become an everyday experience in parts of Europe and most of Asia, it is still relatively slow to catch on in North America. But all of that is about to change as new technology makes sending SMS messages as easy as sending e-mail. Even easier in some cases.