The exciting advantage of mobile marketing is that consumers need to opt-in to receive your marketing message. They choose to receive your messages, they trust you as a messaging source and this alone makes them highly qualified sales prospects and more likely to respond to your message.

Mobile Marketing is effective because:

• It is permission based (consumers must consent to receiving marketing messages from you).
• Consumers are far more likely to read your message because they chose to receive it.
• SMS marketing messages go to consumers' most personal communication device – their cellphones.
• SMS messages are sent instantaneously and can reach anyone, anytime and anywhere in the world where there is mobile coverage.
• It generates a fast response rate. Most people read a SMS within 15 minutes of receiving it and respond within 60 minutes.
• If a customer's phone is off, the message is delivered immediately once it is switched back on. Your SMS message is not wasted.
• The SMS message is not intrusive as consumers can read it at their convenience.
• Consumers trust SMS technology. Mobile marketing using SMS has proved that it is effective over many years.
• All cellphones support the use of SMS messages.
• Mobile marketing can be used for such an amazingly wide variety of purposes. From raising the quality of your customer service, increasing loyalty to your brand and used as a sales promotion tool to opening up new markets, it is a very effective marketing tool.
• SMS is one of the most cost-effective marketing mediums available.
• You save considerably in the production and distribution costs of SMS messages.
• 2-way SMS messaging allows you to benefit from interactive campaigns and gather real-time responses from your customers.
• SMS campaign results are instantly verifiable through programmes such as Clickatell's Interactive Campaign Manager allowing you to change strategy if need be.
• Advertising costs can be recouped through premium-rated SMS campaigns. Premium-rated SMS also enables organisations to offer subscription-based services to users who do not have access to credit card or online banking facilities.

Mobile Marketing through SMS is affordable; it is easy to use and is undoubtedly one of the most effective ways to reach consumers. Sign up now for a free trial run of Clickatell's Communicator 2, which allows instant web-based sending or connect to our proven SMS Gateway, via your preferred API.

Click here to see how South African companies have taken up the advantages offered by mobile marketing.