SMS couponing is a great way for retailers to improve their business during the holiday season. Sending coupons as text messages can build brand awareness and provide consumers with incentive to shop at specific stores. And while this method is working well this time of the year, it's effectiveness doesn't stop when the holidays are over.

According to a study conducted by Juniper Research, over 500 million mobile phone users will receive mobile coupons next year. This is a 30 percent increase over 2012 and a sign that text coupons are becoming an increasingly important component of mobile marketing.

One of the reasons text message coupons are becoming so popular is that technology is changing in the mobile environment to improve the process. Smartphones now have better displays and many retailers use systems that can scan devices and read coupon codes right from the screen.

An article in KSL.com discusses the recent rise in mobile coupon demand. Rob Brough, the author of the article, suggests that while many people probably don't regularly carry coupons on them, nearly everyone is attached to their cell phone 24 hours a day, making the ability to scan coupons from these devices a valuable money-saving practice.

"I rarely carry coupons, but I almost always have my mobile phone handy," Brough writes. "So I'm far more attracted to deals that are redeemable by cell phone – whether via a smartphone app, email or text message – than offers that require clipping coupons (or worse, hoping there's ink in the home printer) and then keeping track of those elusive scraps of paper. Apparently I'm not alone."

Retailers looking to improve their business in 2013 may have no choice but to adopt some form of SMS couponing. Swift SMS Gateway offers the tools needed to construct and send effective mobile coupons