With an estimated 86 cell phones for every 100 people on the planet, taking your advertising campaigns to text makes sense. However just a third of businesses currently have a mobile marketing strategy. Read on to discover why you should be one of them.

Spend Less Time in Production

Marketing teams spend days pouring over complex dramatic scenarios and lengthy scripts to create traditional advertisements. Even email campaigns require relatively detailed production. But when it comes to SMS, you”re forced to relay your message in 160 characters or less. This saves valuable time, but there”s another added benefit. By writing concisely, you”ll ensure your key message isn”t lost in irrelevant details.

Save Business Dollars

Text messages cost less money to distribute than many advertising mediums. Businesses can send a text message for as little as five cents. However you”ll pay at least 10 cents for each word in your local newspaper classifieds, between $500 and $1000 for an ad on local radio, and a whopping $110,000 for a television ad in prime time.

Deliver Your Message Fast

Few marketing methods can boast the speed of text messaging. An SMS ad typically takes less than seven seconds to reach customers. Around 84 per cent of us keep our cell phones within 10 feet of us, so it”s little wonder than 97 per cent of customers will read your text within 15 minutes.

Ensure Your Message is Seen

Subscribers can choose whether to open emails or not, and often they don”t. After noting the subject line and sender, consumers open just 20 per cent of marketing emails. They”re also recording their favorite television shows in increasing numbers, and skipping past all the commercials. In contrast, a whopping 97 per cent of SMS ads are opened. There”s just something about those beeps from a vibrating phone that customers can”t resist!

Target Your Customers

Television and radio advertisers identify wide target audiences and hope they”re tuning in when their messages are broadcast. While consumers opt-in to the online marketing campaigns of their favorite brands, they must wade through the 65 per cent of junk mail that shares the same space.

However, just 10 per cent of text messages are considered spam. Without common clutter to consider, SMS marketing campaigns seem more important.

Modernize Your Business

Pamphlets and radio advertisements are old hat. Choosing a new advertising medium like text messaging ensures your business seems relevant to your customers. It won”t just endear your firm to the youth demographic either. Tech-savvy consumers aged between 35 and 54 have warmed to cell phone marketing methods.

Go Green

Recent studies show that around 54 per cent of supermarket shoppers base their buying habits on green business practices. Choosing sustainable marketing methods helps companies capture the attention of these consumers. Text messages are one of the greenest marketing mediums as they”re transmitted electronically. Subscribers also can”t print the messages, as they can with email marketing campaigns, so there”s no temptation to waste paper.

With a host of benefits, it”s easy to see why smart businesses are using text messages to reach their customers.