This means, that just in the first months of this year, there has been a 10 percent increase within the advertising world in the amount of companies utilizing SMS marketing. That represents astonishing growth that’s likely to continue into the future, possibly at an even greater pace.

In fact, all mobile advertising communication mediums, like location based advertising and display ads, increased over the first few months of 2011. Mobile advertising is continuing to get and retain the interest of marketers, who are becoming more open than ever to diversifying their marketing mix by including mobile platforms to reach people.

Of these platforms, SMS marketing is still the one that sticks out in terms of reach. Via a simple text message, you can reach over 70 percent of the population, where as the other mobile platforms are just not there yet in terms of the number of users who use or even have them.

Remember- Opt It offers a free 30-day trial that gives you the opportunity to see for yourself, at no cost, just how SMS marketing can take your brand’s interaction with consumers to the next level.

Ninety percent of consumers have said that they like interacting with business in multiple channels. At the top of the list of preferred communication channels is SMS texting. Retailers who want to ensure their customers are engaged with their mobile web sites should add a SMS competent. SMS Texting helps by encouraging people to visit your mobile web site, and it can also help people make a buying decision after receiving a mobile coupon.

It is important to establish a clear link between your mobile URL and text message campaign. To do this, you should insert the URL into a text message being sent out, and recommend that people to add it to their Favorites. Sears, the large department store retailer, has done this with great success. Consider sending out some offers that are only good for purchases made online, directing customers to your mobile site instantly. Also, send out a text notifying your opted in database of users that you have new stock; yet another way to draw them to your site.

Studies have also found that if a user abandons a shopping cart while on a mobile web site, sending a simple SMS message follow up will likely get your customer back on the web page.

SMS is a great tool to use in combination with all marketing mediums, but especially mobile web, as the tools are accessed in the same way and consumers are constantly checking their mobile devices.

The study divided students into groups and out of the 4 communication mediums listed above, asked them which of those tools they would go without for a week. Once the student chose, he or she were banned from using it for a week. Next, the study participant was asked how much, in monetary value, he or she would like to be compensated for the ban.

“The survey of 84 students ages 18 to 22 found that they thought $44 would be “fair compensation” for going without Facebook for a week — compared with $99 for email, $85 for texting and $73 for cellphone calls. One tool — instant messaging — was identified as less valuable, coming in at $27 for a week.” (Wall Street Journal, How Long Could You Go Without Facebook?)

The reason for this was that students said that they only communicated with acquaintances on Facebook, while texting and email was used for connecting with closer friends and family. For students, email is clearly most important as they work on papers and projects in groups and they need to be able to send large files. However, as a communication tool, it’s clear that texting still reigns, shown here by its compensation value of $85.

The study, called the 21st Century Mobile Mom® Report, which studied 5,000 moms, reports that 50 percent of moms are addicted to their mobile devices and that adaptation of their mobile device has risen 64 percent over the past 2 years.

In the mobile marketing world, we think it’s pretty exciting that motherhood has actually been named a trigger for mobile phone adaptation! More than half of the moms surveyed admitted they purchased their particular device as a direct result of motherhood. As a woman transitions into motherhood, the way that she uses a phone changes as well. A woman without children favors her calendar while a mother finds her camera the most important feature of her phone.

The most interesting thing is that 62 percent of moms change brands at the onset of motherhood. This is a key time to communicate with moms and provide them with relevant information about your product offering. Since it is clear that moms love and worship their mobile device, reaching them on their mobile phone is a great way to communicate. For instance, reach out to a new mom about things like nutrition facts if you are a restaurant, or safety facts is you sell baby products.

Also, 46 percent of moms reported that they want information just as they are shopping. This means that you now know the ideal time of the day to communicate your marketing message. You’re likely aware of the time when you see the largest number of mothers at your business location. Plan your messages to go out just as you know the highest percentage of moms will be there, or if possible, send individual messages to moms that you can see walking in or near a certain product. You might even consider offering a keyword that moms can text in next to products that they will inevitably stop by, like baby food or a stroller, to receive additional information on nutrition or safety facts.

In comparison, the usage of print coupons remains consistent. In the survey, 99 percent of participants who used digital coupons also used print coupons, while 35 percent of participants who used print coupons also used digital coupons. This is an interesting statistic and means that people who use digital coupons are much more open to a variety of forms of coupons. In addition, “digital coupon users also used them [mobile coupons] for a wider variety of purchases and at a greater variety of stores than those who used only print coupons”, reports MediaPost News.

This gives insight in determining the “profile” of a mobile coupons user. While they are not picky in regards to the form a coupon takes, the deal that it offers is paramount. The study also shows that people who use digital coupons are more frequent coupon users in general, meaning that they are open and willing to not only receive coupons on their mobile phone, but have also shown that they will use them.

As mobile coupons continue to rise in usage, it’s important to include a text message marketing component into your advertising campaign in order reach this 22 percent of the U.S. population that is looking for a good deal via their mobile device.

That’s right; the LG Mobile World Cup has turned text messaging into an internationally competitive sport. Participants from around the world gathered, stretched out their fingers, and texted their little hands off for a grand prize of $100K. The participants were from 13 countries and texted in 7 languages. Before the event, LG spent a lot of time researching the stroke value of words in different languages to ensure that the games were fair for all.

At the event, which looked like it could have taken place on the same set as American Idol, the crowd watched how well each team of two performed via a monitor that depicted teams as cars going down a race track.

The 2010 Worlds Champions were Christina and Jennifer Sales of Team Panama, who took home the grand prize of $100,000. In 2nd place was team Korea, and in 3rd place team Brazil.

The most recent study by Pew Research Center entitled “Generations and Their Gadgets” offers new, ever- growing insight into the gadgets that people use. Now 85 percent of American adults own cell phones, while 90 percent of them live in households where someone owns a mobile phone. In general, cell phone usage amounts depend on a person’s age. Ninety-two percent of 18-34 year olds own cell phones, and this number goes steadily down until you look at the 75+ age group, where 48 percent own cell phones. This number is astonishing- almost half of all grandmothers and grandfathers have cell phones. Five years ago this would have been a joke, but today it’s a reality; one that keeps evolving.

In terms of cell phone functionality, the younger generation uses its phones for a variety of functions that go far beyond just calling and texting. However, across the board, calling and texting are the two functions for which all age groups said they used their phones.

Comparing the cell phone to other gadgets, the technological tool that came closest to the 85 percent ownership of the cell phone was the MP3 device, which 74 percent of the American public own. At 70 percent, the laptop computer is in third place as a chosen tool for the general population.

The cell phone is the single most used and widespread device in the hands of the American public. It’s definitely worth a shot to deliver your important marketing message to it.

So how do you ensure you’ll get loads of people into your database and ensure the information you receive is valuable and correct? Great question. The answer is, by getting all of your employees on board with the initiative. They not only have to understand the process of taking the information, they also need to understand the VALUE of it.

Steve Madden’s recent mobile database success is a great example of this. They had a mobile campaign that encouraged consumers to text in JOINSTEVE to the Madden short code for the chance to win $100 Steve Madden gift card. When joining, consumers were prompted to answer questions regarding their interests.

A few important things to note about this process: Each stores’ sales representatives asked consumers at the checkout line whether they wanted to win a $100 Steve Madden gift card. As you can imagine, few said no, and the sales representative was next to the consumer and could help them through the process of getting signed up for the list. They could also explain to consumers that they were not signing up for spam, rather to receive valuable coupons in the future. All of the questions that were asked during the text in and reply process were building a profile of each consumer’s specific preferences, whether for information on how to best wear a pair of platform shoes or for coupons on flats.

The result of this campaign was a 4 percent increase in the database within just 2 weeks. Our advice to you is to follow this example and get your entire team on board with your aim to build a solid database.

Pepsi understands this, and had developed a multichannel mobile campaign for the event in order to capitalize on the number of eyes glued to the game. According to Mobile Marketer, the campaign included a mobile website, an application for smart phone users, a scan able QR code for a Pepsi coupon, and an SMS experience. All of these initiatives were publicized on all pieces of advertisement.

A key target group for Pepsi throughout this campaign was Latinos, a group that is accustomed to using digital media on their phones. Pepsi’s goal was to engage them in the Pepsi Super Bowl experience as much as possible. There was actually a specific site made for Latinos in Spanish, and a call to action keyword labeled “FAMILIA”. For those that opted in to the keyword in Dallas, six had a chance to win tickets to the Super Bowl.

A few lessons to learn from Pepsi: Creating a marketing campaign around a popular event is a great idea. In, particular, it is an opportune time to accumulate information regarding your consumers while giving them a chance to win something. If Latinos are a part of your target market, try approaching them in Spanish. Even if you don’t have any Spanish speakers on your staff, Google Translator is pretty reliable with its translations. And last but not least, offering a truly valuable prize (in this case, Super Bowl tickets) will have people signing up for your text message list in droves.

The demographic used within this study was 34 million Americans who seek information about restaurant deals on their mobile phones. This population is skewed with a majority falling within the ages of 13-34. A surprising 58 percent of these people live in the suburbs, highlighting an opportunity for restaurants outside the city limits. Incomes for this population were on average $87K USD, and the majority is classified as married. Forty-one percent have one or more children in their house. (Mediapost)

The positive finding within this study is that 34 percent of respondents saw a dining ad or coupon on their phone, and 77 percent of these people sometimes or always looked at it.

The issue of location was an interesting factor as well. Sixty-seven percent of consumers said that they focused on options within their area. Since the majority of respondents were in the suburbs, this tells suburban restaurant locations that text can be an extremely successful means to get consumers in the door. Seventy-seven percent of people surveyed said that they wanted ads that were “relevant to my current location” (Medipost). The study drives home the importance of location to consumers and is inofrmation that you take to heart. It may be easy to make the assumption that you are within walking distance of consumers and they remember you, but in reality, this study shows that a slight nudge in the form of a mobile coupon could result in more folks walking in.

The type of restaurant was also addressed in the study, which found that most respondents were much more interested in local, popular chains such as Applebee’s and The Olive Garden than in three star restaurants like Morton’s Steakhouse. Almost half of respondents, about 49 percent, preferred these locations, with 30 percent preferring fast food locations like Subway and McDonalds, and only 23 percent looking for high class dining opportunities. Again, this data outlines an opportunity that has not been exploited fully. Popular restaurant chains have everything to gain by sending out text messages to their consumers, especially those within close proximity to their locations. This “special” market could be easily identified within Opt It Mobile as a sub-keyword group as the name of the Suburbs you are currently located in, and this group could receive messages from you with last minute specials, as they are the most likely to have the ability to stop in with a minutes’ notice.

This study shows that mobile marketing has reached a point where all consumers, not just early adapters, are now aware and actually using this medium for information. This is a clear opening for marketers to reach their consumers faster and more effectively than ever before. Since people on the go will make dining decisions quickly, sending a last minute special into the hands of your target market is actually the best way to communicate with them in today’s mobile age.