SMS is still the killer app

It's something I have been saying for a while, but a recent report shows that SMS is still the killer application for mobile and set to double in the next four years.

In their report‘Mobile Messaging Futures 2008 – 2013’, Portio Research found that the mobile messaging industry was worth $120bn in 2008, but set to grow, even in the current economic climate to over $220bn by 2013.

As well as the significant peer to peer marketing, the growth in SMS has been boosted by business messaging, such as mobile marketing or customer service applications. Another factor is the growth in the US. From a slow start, American mobile users have finally realised the benefits of SMS. It remains 'king' as it is cheap, simple to use and available across almost all phones and networks.

Whilst many in the mobile marketing and advertising sector have been talking about fancy applications, the impact of the iphone and so on, I am of the strong opinion that SMS will continue to drive any mobile campaign as it is such a killer application.

SMS helps call centres ..

... to improve communicaton and cut costs.
No surprises here, but call centres have found that switching to SMS can greatly improve customer satisfaction. No more waiting in a queue, or navigating a complex IVR system to find out a simple piece of information such as a current balance.
A recent report states that:
'SMS efficiently replaces the need for live agents, as well as IVR systems, for many simple service inquiries including order status, payment reminders, account activity alerts, delivery notifications, security alerts, and more, allowing live agents to spend time on dealing with more complex customer inquiries.'
Systems such as our own txt4ever allow SMS Marketing and SMS Customer Relationships to be easily managed through web-based interfaces or IP-based systems.