The Impact of Text Message Marketing in India

A recent report says that SMS (short message service) usage in India, particularly in the urban areas, has grown significantly in the past few years. Given below are some of the interesting points made in the report.

• According to TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India), an average Indian sends 29 text messages a month.

• Text messages in India are not just used for personal communication. People check their bank balances, book tickets for movies, check air ticket and train ticket status, pay their bills, and do lots more.

• The response rate for text message marketing in India is very impressive. One in every three urban Indians has responded to such marketing campaigns either by forwarding the messages to his friends or by calling the sender to get more details.

• A large number of people opt for SMS based value added services. The most popular value added services include business/finance news, stock market tips, astrological advice, spiritual quotes, news alerts, job alerts, and sports updates.

• More than 40% of urban Indians have received promotional offers via SMS. Nearly 12% of people who got such text messages have made a purchase based on the information given in the message.

• 30 to 45 year olds – people with a significant disposable income – are more likely to respond to text message marketing and make a purchase.

• Nearly 30% of urban Indians have participated in some kind of SMS based contests. As you can guess, males are more likely to take part in such contests than females.

While this report does not have any groundbreaking information, it does confirm the fact that mobile advertising, as an advertising medium, has a bright future in India. There are a few important reasons why I think so.

1. Data plans in India are quite cheap. Most operators charge only a very small amount for text messages. Incoming messages are never charged. So, it allows people to respond to promotional offers and other such stuff without worrying about a huge mobile bill at the end of the month.

2. In the past ten years or so, Indian economy has improved considerably and the purchasing power of the middle class – comprising nearly 300 million Indians - has increased as well. Hundreds of millions of people with disposable income – now that’s a dream for any marketer.

3. A number of mobile operators in India are beginning to focus on not just the urban areas, but the rural areas as well. This will increase the number of mobile users in India by an unbelievably huge extent. In other words, in a few years from now, there will be close to 700 million mobile users in India. It is going to be the dreamland of every mobile marketer in the world.

What do you think? I’m interested to hear your viewpoints.

For further reading, check out these posts.

Indian Mobile Advertising Market on a Roll

Is India the Fastest Growing Market for Mobile Advertising?

Mobile Advertising in India - A Closer Look

Tags: marketing campaigns, mobile advertising, SMS, stock market tips, telecom regulatory authority, telecom regulatory authority of india, text message marketing, text messages, urban indians, value added services