In the USA alone, 58 million people received a marketing message through their mobile telephones during 2007, a new report has revealed.

A study conducted by Javelin Strategy and Research urged financial institutions to interact with clients and prospective consumers through the mobile platform as it can often be more effective than other marketing methods.

"Mobile marketing provides an opportunity for financial institutions to interactively reach on-the-move consumers closer to the purchase decision in a one-to-one communication," the report stated.

However, it warned marketers not to bombard consumers with messages they do not want to receive as this risks "incurring their wrath".

Recently, Julia Hyde, the founder of Creative Search Media, recommended marketers consider the potential of mobile search, which is "set to explode".

She warned firms that if they do not take steps to ensure they are ranking highly in mobile search results, they could lose potential consumers to more visible competition.