Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised But it will be Texted

Nielsen mobile is doing quite of job of investigating the mobile text revolution. According to a report released Monday by Nielsen's Telecom Practice, Americans should expect to see more text message marketing in the future. Marketers have ramped up their use of the medium to engage their customers -- where there's an audience, marketers are not far behind.

Here are a few key facts from the report:
  • As of Q3, 57 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers use text messaging regularly
  • While the U.S. still lags behind other markets in terms of SMS penetration, short code marketing is gaining momentum
  • 16 percent of U.S. text message users recall seeing some form of advertising while using text messaging
  • Younger and minority subscribers are more likely to recall seeing some for of SMS advertising
So far, Nielsen's report notes, marketers have used short code marketing in a tight but creative range of ways: from simple information messaging, to rewards programming, to couponing, and even direct SMS purchasing.