by Claudia Bruemmer

With 87 percent wireless penetration in the United States, wholesalers and retailers can both gain by using mobile marketing to reach their customers and prospects. SMS (short message service) is one of the most effective mobile marketing channels in the advertising realm. That’s because of its simplicity, widespread adoption and extensive reach. All cell phones can receive SMS, which means you can reach 5 billion subscribers worldwide – a great way for wholesale and retail merchants to reach their target market.

ABI Research estimated consumers worldwide will send over 7 trillion SMS messages in 2011. According to Nielsen Mobile, the average consumer sends 600 messages per month and uses less than 200 voice minutes. On top of that, 22.7 percent of the U.S. population uses wireless rather than landline phones. When you look at the fact that over 90 percent of text messages are opened and read, versus less than 40 percent of email solicitation messages read, you can see that mobile marketing is a great opportunity.

Wholesalers and retailers can use SMS in the following ways:

• Reach customers who don’t have smartphones
• Reach your customers for retention and loyalty programs
• Acquire new customers
• Drive sales through coupons and discounts

Here’s how SMS campaigns work. Mobile subscribers use a Common Short Code (a 5 or 6 digit carrier-approved number) to send SMS messages in order to receive promotions, alerts and other content on their devices. This enables them to access mobile applications and participate in various activities such as: customer feedback, voting and polling, news and offer alerts, contests, surveys, games, couponing, direct marketing and mobile commerce. Short code campaigns are rapidly growing in popularity because of their simplicity and easy access to consumers. Mobile coupons, incidentally, get a 10 to 20 percent higher conversion rate than print coupons.

Setting Up an SMS Campaign. There are three types of SMS campaigns you can use: text blasting (bulk messaging), keyword response and smart texting.

Text blasting/bulk messaging involves a single message is sent to a group of users. Systems that offer bulk messaging functionality usually have an address book that stores names and phone numbers to create groups of recipients.

In most countries, it’s illegal to send unsolicited text messages. Therefore, it’s important to create and maintain your list of phone numbers to text with care, knowing who has opted in and that they may later opt out. This is important because most people will not tolerate unauthorized use of their phone number. Service providers have tools to help you manage opt-outs, and some stand-alone software has default opt-out rules.

Keyword response involves an automated reply sent to all incoming messages containing a specific keyword. For example, if you requested a response that requires texting the words “I accept” to a mobile phone number, the response would be “Thanks for texting! You’ve accepted our free trial. We’ll send you the software in 24 hours.” This is a good way to gain leads for future sales, but you must follow up on every message.

Smart texting is an advanced form of keyword response where an incoming text message triggers a complex interaction that could involve requesting further information from the user. For example, you might ask a consumer to text the word “Report” to describe the report they want among many offered. It could be something like “Report SEO for Retailers.” The response could be, “Thanks for requesting the report SEO for Retailers! Do you want it sent electronically or postal mail? If so send address by return.” The report could then be sent as requested.

Commercial Service Providers. There are many commercial providers that offer bulk SMS services. Some offer international service with local numbers (in the case of incoming SMS) to many countries, while others cover a specific country. Message costs vary, and sometimes there is also a monthly subscription cost. Commercial providers can provide a simple setup in addition to other services such as free web-based or desktop management tools; a technical helpline is often provided at no cost.

Conclusion. Mobile marketing and SMS are very attractive promotional channels for many reasons. SMS mobile marketing is particularly effective because these brief messages can deliver personal, immediate and actionable content to a targeted audience that has opted to receive such messages. Additionally, research indicates mobile coupons get a 10 to 20 percent higher conversion rate than print coupons. Lastly, there is significantly less clutter in the SMS channel from too many brands using it at this point.