Marketing through cellphones' SMS (Short Message Service) became increasingly popular in the early 2000s in Europe and some parts of Asia when businesses started to collect mobile phone numbers and send off wanted (or unwanted) content. On average, SMS messages are read within four minutes, making them highly convertible. Over the past few years SMS marketing has become a legitimate advertising channel in some parts of the world.Today, text messaging is the most widely used mobile data service.

Today the application-to-person SMS messaging services have evolved to include bulk SMS messaging alongside the sending of single messages (such as one time passwords and delivery notifications), interactive messaging (such as group messaging services), and incoming number services (such as mobile marketing campaigns, voting or information lines).
These bulk SMS messaging solutions interface with a service providers’ SMS gateway to ensure the delivery of messages to mobile phone numbers anywhere in the world. An SMS gateway acts as a relay between the mobile network operators and a wireless applications service provider. These SMS gateways allow for SMS traffic to distributed via a direct connection to the SMSC (Short Message Service Centre) of a mobile network operation and then onto a recipient’s mobile phone number.