Mobile phone marketing, otherwise known as SMS marketing, is the present evolution of direct marketing. Direct marketing has always been chosen by companies as a personalized and focused way of reaching potential consumers and, with the advent of cell phones, SMS marketing has increased in popularity. Digital marketing is perhaps best defined as the practice of advertising products and services using digital distribution channels to reach customers in a quick, focused, personal and cost-effective way.

The most well-known form of mobile marketing is SMS marketing, which has expanded rapidly in Europe and Asia. It is thought that several hundred million marketing messages are sent through SMS every month in Europe alone. SMS stands for 'short message service' and is a communication form unique to cell phones where a short message can be simply sent to any mobile user. As well as sending material to customers, advertisers can often encourage customers to participate in marketing and brand exposure campaigns by encouraging customers to text a particular number at an event in order to enter a competition, to receive a prize or to have their text displayed on a multimedia wall at an event. All of these techniques engages the customer through the medium of SMS and creates brand awareness.

There are many other forms of mobile marketing. One variation is sending texts via MMS, which is a multimedia version of SMS, allowing customers to receive MMS with color, pictures and video. There is also mobile web marketing, where brands advertise marketing aims through websites accessed by cell phones. Promoters often make innovative use of SMS marketing such as location-based services where customers are offered specific marketing and other network-related information and marketing information based on their whereabouts. With the multitude of techniques and choices available to companies, it is little surprise that a recent marketing survey found that 89% of major brands planned to promote their products through mobile marketing by the end of 2008.

Digital marketing is an example of what is known within the industry as "push" marketing. The idea behind push marketing is that that the business has to send (push) the information to the consumer in order for the material to be received. This is opposite to "pull" marketing, a passive form of marketing, where it is customers who seek out the material from sources such as websites or blogs.

There are lots of advantages to SMS marketing. Primarily, the attraction is that this mode of marketing can be personalized to the consumer. This is the gold standard in marketing as it means getting the campaign specifically to the audience it's aimed at, instead of squandering dollars on an broad campaign. The specialization allowed by this mode of promotions, which results in a more economical campaign, is one example why a high return on investment is possible with SMS marketing. Another advantage of SMS marketing is the detailed tracking and reporting of users it allows. Through this medium, marketers can track how many groups saw their material and also access specific data about each subscriber such as their name, their age, their demographic and where they're located. This allows a marketer to build up profiles of their customers; data which then guides future promotional campaigns and, ideally, their success.

It is noted in the industry that push marketing, of which SMS marketing is a type, can help drive new cash flows and brand exposure if it is implemented correctly and appropriately. This is because it makes customers aware of new additions that they may not think to find already and the way the material is phrased, and even the fact that the material is being sent by a innovative, young medium such as text, can say a lot about a brand and a company.

There are, however, some drawbacks to SMS marketing. Inherently, it needs a mechanism - the mobile - to be able to send information. The marketer, as well, must make use of specific technology and software in order to send the content to customers, which can mean sizeable costs. Another downside is the fact that SMS marketing is heavily regulated by the telecommunications industry in response to customer worries about what data and promotions they get shown. Most Western nations have laws in place that require marketers to get the consent of customers before promotional information is sent to them and must clearly give them with an 'opt out' option if they request to stop receiving material. If marketers are discovered to be in contravention of these laws, network providers can block marketing information by marketers.

As mobile technology grows, SMS marketing will certainly continue to increase in importance.