(Newswire.net — July 10, 2013) Kansas City, KS — There are dozens of ways to get your business out there on the market. Many an owner has been propositioned with bids and claims about “SEO” and “PPC” and “Social Media,” and it can be hard to figure out what services are worth budgeting for and which can be avoided. Now a new advertizing method is makeing a splash, and local business ownwers might want to be aware of it.
Text message marketing (or SMS Marketing) is a form of permission marketing that takes advantage of the ubiquity of cell phones and the prevalence of texting as a form of communication. “Cellphones are here to stay,” said Justin West, the founder of Hundreds of Customers, LLC., a local marketing company based near Kansas City. “And the statistics are pretty impressive when it comes to considering them from a marketing perspective.” Key statistics cited by Mr. West are that:
- 91% of adults have a cell phone, and over 50% of those are smartphones;
- 96% of smart-phone users use SMS/Text messags;
- The average text message is read within 5 seconds;
- 97% of all text messages are read within the first 7 minutes of sending them;
- Surveys have shown that at least 70% of customers would like to get special promotions on their cellphones from brands that they value;
- Text message marketing coupons are at least 9 times more likely to be redeemed and shared than those sent through the mail or in the newspaper;
All of this adds up to an enormous opportunity for local businesses who know how to take advangate of the opportunity while it’s young. Services like Habañero Social (http://www.HabaneroSocial.com/Mobile) are springing up to help businesses take advantage of this trend. “Packing the house one extra night a week can mean thousands of dollars to a small business,” concluded Mr. West. “When they can get access to a service that can do that for them for $500 to $1500 a month, and not have to worry about managing any of it, it begins to make really good business sense.”
Time will tell as to whether this opportunity will remain viable, or whether it will simply end with people ignoreing text messages more often, but presently, it looks like early adopters of the technology are poised to benefit.