Spun Digital - Finding customers online

Mobile marketing via text messaging may soon overtake traditional email advertising campaigns, according to software experts.

Adrian Segens, business development director at Pierhouse, said the business case for mobile marketing was compelling as the cost is as low as the price of a text message.

With 90 per cent of text messages read, compared to 25 per cent of emails, mobile is becoming an increasingly essential element of the marketing mix, Mr Segens explained.

He suggests a key driver to go mobile is the ability to more effectively communicate richer product information, including offers.

And while a recent report by AdMob found that the iPhone was dominating the smartphone market, with half of web-enabled smartphones running on Apple's operating system, Mr Segens said it was a common misconception that mobile marketing had to involve smartphone applications.

While he admitted that MMS messages, iPhone applications and even QR codes have their place, he said he believed the essence of good mobile marketing is to "keep it simple".