SMS divorce marks the end of an era

The 10th of April 2009 marked a crossover point for the world with the first divorce by SMS. A Saudi man initiated divorce proceedings against his wife according to strict Islamic Sharia law. Under this law a man can divorce his spouse by saying ‘I divorce you’ three times. The first instance was the text message to his wife informing that she was no longer his wife and then two phone calls to his relatives to let them know. The divorce has been acknowledged by a Jeddah city court and is a recognition that the way we communicate has changed forever.

Text messaging and its varied applications are little appreciated and most consumers and companies still take this messaging medium for granted. The statistics, on the other hand, tell a different story. Strategic Analyst forecasts that there will be 5.6 billion cellular subscriptions worldwide by 2013. And Britons are sending an average of 60 million more text messages per day from their mobile phones than they did at the end of 2007!

Text messaging technology is something that everybody is comfortable with, it is proven and understood. All mobile phones have the ability to send and receive text messages making it a perfect medium to overcome geographical limitations. Text messages can reach anybody, anywhere in the world where there is mobile coverage. As the price of mobile phones and airtime has decreased it also means that messages are not limited by demographic factors such as income or education.

For businesses looking to market or sell their products and services, mobile messaging is an affordable and effective medium. The Internet Advertising Bureau’s Mobile Council found that mobile advertising is fast gaining ground in the UK and should be part of every business’s marketing plan by 2010. The beauty of text messaging for marketers is that is measurable; delivery of messages is tracked, response mechanisms are built in with two-way messaging options plus it is possible to generate additional revenue from mobile marketing campaigns through the use of premium-rated SMS services.

Text messaging possibly offers the only measurable return on advertising investment available today. Because of the immediacy of the marketing message and that it is delivered in real time to the target market’s most personal communication device, the response rate is higher than that towards traditional push advertising.

Well-known UK brands are already using SMS text messaging to promote their products, add value to customer services and increase their customer base. The only limit to mobile messaging marketing campaigns is your imagination. Some examples are SMS text messaging campaigns, mobile surveys, ‘text-to-win’ competitions, viral SMS campaigns, mobile text message voting and mobile customer relationship management programmes.

Any business that has not already started looking at SMS mobile marketing as a way to reach their existing and potential customer market, needs to investigate their options now so as not to get left behind in this fast paced communication revolution. The one thing that no business can afford is for their clients to summarily divorce them!

Related posts:

1. Mobile Marketing: a weapon of mass seduction As with all forms of advertising, there are some brands...
2. Royals embrace new communication technology The British Royal Family, despite the best efforts of the...
3. Recruitment via SMS on the rise The World Bank and other leading financial institutions are warning...
4. Bulk SMS a cost-effective call centre solution The current economic recession could offer UK consumers some added...
5. Bulk SMS message alerts, making a difference Two years ago, I traded in my trusty Toyota Tazz...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Tags: Clickatell, mobile marketing, mobile messaging, mobile surveys, mobile text message voting, SMS, SMS text messaging campaigns, text messages, viral SMS campaigns, ‘text-to-win’ competitions