Earlier this year, the Pew Research Center found that more than half of American adults own a smartphone, and that the dominance of these devices will soon expand across many other nations.
Within the first half of 2013, shipments of smartphones are already up 40 percent from 2012—likely to hit the 1 billion mark by the end of the year, according to Computer World. On top of that, the IDC expects to see 1.8 billion cell phones shipped around the world by the end of this year.
"Two years ago, the worldwide smartphone market flirted with shipping half a billion units for the first time," IDC analyst Ramon Llamas told the source. "To double that [amount] in just two years highlights the ubiquity of smartphones."
Businesses within the United States and abroad that sleep on SMS marketing are losing the opportunities to get in touch with prospective and loyal customers. More than 171 billion text messages are sent each month, it is clear that mobile marketing has the potential to be more effective than email, television or radio.
IDC expects that the smartphone market will dominate the mobile device industry by 2017. This includes users in developing nations. Part of this is due to the fact that Android accounts for 80 percent of the worldwide mobile market, CNET reported. If Android continues to make phones with large touch screens, SMS apps and mobile-friendly internet layouts, companies are capable of grabbing the attention of more parties than ever before through these marketing techniques.
Even though one text message is capable of fitting 160 characters, that is plenty of room to give a direct yet engaging promotional message. Retailers, for example, can promote a sale and include a shortened link to the mobile version of its website. This way, customers can continue exploring an organization's products without leaving their home.
It may sound too simple, but that's why SMS is one of the most used applications on a person's device. A majority of text messages are read within four minutes after they come into a person's inbox because all a user has to do is open the message, read and respond. Swift SMS Gateway has the tools to help companies make the most out of their SMS marketing campaign.
