There’s the reminder SMS I get from Hair Room or Back in Line Chiropractic each time I have an appointment. Great for business because it’s a cheap way to confirm appointments and reduce the costly no-shows.

As a Helly Hansen customer I’m also informed by SMS about store openings and VIP sale days. The promotions work! (see yellow arrow markers highlighting Helly Hansen purchases following SMS reminders).

Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch!

So with mobile phones becoming smarter, the introduction of cheap data plans and the iPhone introducing a whole new batch of apps, my question is:

Is SMS marketing going the way of the Betamax? Is traditional paid SMS promotion in danger of becoming obsolete?

A new product for the iPhone called textPlus lets you send and receive SMS messages for free and also supports group chat. Then there are the micro blogging platforms (you may have heard of Twitter) that smart marketers are using to broadcast information and promotions relating to their brands. So with these emerging FREE micro blogging and messaging apps what is the future of SMS?

I’d love to hear from the SMS marketers out there. Why will SMS survive? What impact will free apps and micro blogging platforms have on the industry? Will the sky fall in on our SMS heads?

Technorati Tags: iPhone Apps, SMS Marketing, Web2.0