Everywhere you look today, it seems everyone has a mobile phone, specifically a smartphone, in hand. It has become a lifeline for many of us.

In fact, roughly 90% of adults in America own a cell phone and 60% own a smartphone. According to the Mobile Marketing Association, that number is supposed to increase to 80% in the near future. That’s why it’s no big surprise that the SMS segment is dominating the mobile advertising market in revenue.

SMS stands for short messaging service but is referred to in today’s vernacular as a text message. Marketers use SMS to send targeted ads and promotions to smartphone users who sign up to receive them.

According to Transparency Market Research (TMR), SMS can also be used to send banner ads that appear on smartphone apps and because smartphone users sign up to receive the messages and have downloaded the apps themselves, marketers are not bound by privacy issues.

TMR also says advertisers will start using MMS, multimedia messaging services, like mobile videos and mobile games, to promote their products and services to customers, but for now, SMS makes up 90% of all revenue for mobile advertising.

Reference:

Essany, Michael. “SMS Segment Looms Large with 90% of Revenue as Mobile Advertising Market Grows”. Mobilemarketingwatch.com. 4/10/2015.