(from Mobile Marketer and Mobile Commerce Daily Magazines 01/12/12)

The potential and opportunity of mobile marketing is astounding to professional and DIY marketers of all levels. Mobile is along just enough in its life cycle where it can aid in gaining or sustaining a serious competitive advantage for any sized business. And, tactics and technologies that remove traditional barriers to content publishing and distribution are finally accessible to the masses. Assuming you have finally convinced, or are in the process of convincing, management to commit to a mobile strategy and budget of some kind, be prepared to clearly answer “Now what?” closely followed by “What have you done for me lately?” If the Internet, email and social media have taught us anything, brace yourself for intense marketing ROI scrutiny in the coming months. You will be ready though with the following tips in key areas on how to optimize your mobile marketing, and minimize risk in 2012:

1. Plan your mobile marketing as if your business (or job) depends on it. The opportunity in mobile is huge yet fragmentation runs deep. Leverage fundamental marketing principles of ‘getting the right message to the right people to create, gain or sustain profitable customer relationships.’ Understand your audience, as well as the phones, carriers, data plans they subscribe to, and how they behave, wirelessly. Document a defendable brief that spells out success metrics for your mobile marketing, albeit revenue, branding, new customer acquisition and/or loyalty, to name a few. Clearly indicate how your mobile strategy fits in with your business strategy for additional boardroom points. Lastly, be sure to include how you will track success for ongoing accountability and constant improvement.

2. Engage your audience with a sound mobile content strategy: Bill Gates had it right in his 1996 essay, and it rings truer than ever with mobile… “Content is (still) King”. Create meaningful interactive experiences with your content, for your customers. Can your mobile content answer these basic questions: “Are my customers interested?” “Will they keep my content on their phone?” “Will they access it often?” And, most importantly, “Will they respond?” Consolidate marketing and communications content among other channels, across mobile, when applicable.

3. Reach all customers and provide easy access by choosing your mobile marketing weapons (tactics) wisely. SMS, mobile web and/or apps can serve different marketing objectives. Consider the reach and access of each, cost of entry and available Do It Yourself (DIY) independent content creation and publishing tools to best mix and match your tactics to reach desired objectives. Build a mobile customer P&L illustrating customer acquisition, retention, monetization and growth of each relationship, as a result of your mobile marketing mix. Don’t exclude any segment of your target audience from accessing your mobile content due to inherent tactical limitations as it may very well cost you the relationship along with valuable lifetime value, eventually opening the door for your mobile marketing competition.

4. Get mobile content noticed with a clear path to discoverability and promotion: How will you promote your mobile content, get noticed and drive success? The efficient integration of mobile with your traditional and tradigital marketing efforts are critical. Consider contemporary methods of generating frequent engagement of your mobile content such as proximity, location-based services, search, shortcode/keyword calls to action, QR codes, mobile gaming, viral forward-a-friend and/or push notices, to name a few. Consider an affiliate program to keep costs low yet drive adoption and think well beyond traditional app marketplaces.

5. Make money and drive return on your mobile marketing investment: Consider a model that yields direct or indirect revenue and profitability. Whether it’s pay per download, advertising/sponsorship, in app purchases, freemium, or simply driving online sales and/or brick and mortar foot traffic, establishing rough estimates for mobile marketing success will make your mobile marketing strategy that much more defendable. Track your efforts and remain flexible with revenue models that the market may dictate along the way. Calculate a mobile Lifetime Engagement Value (LEV) estimate for your efforts showing value over the long haul.

                                                                Mindshare + Response

mLEV      =    Brand Access    x     Frequency    x    Reach

In other words, the longer your brand, content and offer stay on a customer’s phone and in front of them, the more chances you have for ongoing and frequent engagement, and therefore, a sales response.

It’s hard not to get excited about the opportunities that mobile marketing affords, mostly the immediate reach, influence and communication with new and existing customers wherever they are, 24/7. As a mobile marketing instructor for NYU SCPS (upcoming online/mobile class entitled “Mobile Marketing for Small to Medium-sized Business starts March 17), it’s imperative that, to achieve success, marketers employ best practice yet stay focused on marketing fundamentals. This will earn you valuable marketing share and a competitive advantage early on as well as significant value per mobile marketing dollar spent.

About the Author

Angelo Biasi is an Adjunct Professor for mobile marketing at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies and General Manager of SMART Marketing Solutions, LLC, a full-service integrated marketing company in Southwest Florida and New York, since 2001. He is also VP of Business Development for DIDMO. His upcoming class entitled “Mobile Marketing for Small to Medium-sized Business” is the first of its kind that will be delivered online and via mobile. Angelo has an MBA in Marketing from the University of Connecticut. For more information or to learn more, email him at abiasismartmarketingllccom  (abiasismartmarketingllccom)  , follow him on Twitter @angbiasi, visit www.smartmarketingllc.com or call 239.963.9396.