Text message ads. Cutting edge after 10 years.

In 1999, I was involved in a small company advocating the power of SMS text messaging as an advertising mechanism. Almost 10 years later, the data is starting to prove us right, but mobile advertising is still a little too 'out there' for most marketers.

A survey in the US by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) suggests that although text messaging is popular among young adults, the 160-character format has yet to become a mass influencer.

For those who do send messages by this media, the response rates are higher that traditional advertising. 70% of respondents to the DMA's "Mobile Marketing: Consumer Perspectives" study who had acted on mobile ads said that text messages for a product or service had prompted their actions. That was more than three times as many as responded to a mobile Web offer or coupon.

So, when will mobile advertising will become a common campaign tactic. For most marketers and advertisers, mobile is still only getting experimental budget at most. In one survey, 33% of 'mad-men' surveyed said "no way!" to mobile marketing while 35% said they might dabble in the coming 12 months.

Sometimes it just gos to show, even when you think you are early in a market, you might not realise just how far behind everyone else is.