Mobile is Big and It's Getting Bigger

44% of U.S. consumers will own a smartphone by the end 2012, according to a recent eMarketer survey on top trends, and 55 million will be using tablets to access the internet. As of June 2011, there were over 320 million mobile subscribers in the U.S. and 6 billion world-wide. Research also shows that people are spending more time on the mobile medium and increasingly using mobile as a primary means of communication. jump in to mobile

As marketers, we must engage our audience how and when they want. In this respect, the plunge into mobile marketing can be a game changer for many businesses.

Learning to Swim

So, you’ve waded in aLearning to Navigate the mobile watersnd maybe even started dog paddling around the mobile world. Not seeing much momentum? Here are some swim lessons, my key take-aways from a recent mobile marketing eMarketer webinar, to help improve your strokes.

  • Don’t look at mobile as a channel, but rather a means of consuming content that crosses all channels.
  • Use analytics to determine when and how much of your resources to allocate to mobile marketing. (What % of your traffic is accessing your site via a mobile device? How much time does your target audience generally spend on mobile?)
  • Check out what your competitors are doing right/wrong with mobile.
  • Establish SMART goals and  measure your success.
  • Respect people’s time and in-box. Text messages should be sent less frequently than email.
  • Don’t limit your reach, advertise across multiple mobile platforms, especially when you’re just getting started.
  • Try delivering targeted local, time-sensitive information.
  • Use a mobile-optimized landing page/site. (More on this in the next section!)

Swimming to Win succeeding in mobile marketing

Long-term success in mobile marketing is determined by many factors, but a mobile-optimized landing page is critical to staying afloat. 

Key Elements of a Mobile Optimized Landing Page

  • Finger-friendly navigation
  • Limited content
  • Increased contrast between page elements (particularly text and background)
  • Shorter forms
  • Clear CTAs (buttons, not text links)
  • NO Flash (It's not supported on most mobile devices)

Whether you’ve been invested in mobile marketing for a while now, or you are just getting your feet wet, in 2012, you’re sure to see a lot of mobile innovation and, with it, mobile ad spending.

Do you see mobile becoming a more significant part of the mix this year? And what’s worked best for you?

No dogs were injured in the making of this post.

Sources:
eMarketer Webinar: Key Digital Trends 2012
Mobithinking.com - Latest Mobile Stats
eMarketer Blog - Quick Stat Time Spent on Mobile Equals that of Print