The growth of the mobile industry shows no signs of slowing down. Smart phones are becoming the norm in North America, and elsewhere they are replacing computers. Tablet sales continue to grow at a rate of 150%  led by the enormous success of Apple’s iPad. (85% of the market). 25 billion apps have been downloaded to these devices to date, with games being the most popular category.

Further Google Android has garnered 53% of the smart phone market surpassing Apple iPhone market share, while Microsoft, who has teamed up with Nokia, is fighting for its piece of the pie with its soon-to-launch, Windows 8 platform. Are they too late for the party? Time will tell.

So with so many people using mobile phones and applications where is the mobile marketing opportunity for your business in 2012? Here are a couple of tips to get your started:

1. Have a Mobile Site

Mobile search will continue to grow and your first course of action should be to ensure your company has a mobile web presence. This is different from your website as a mobile site is lighter and easily rendered on mobile devices.

2. Build your mobile marketing customer database

This can be done in many ways and by experimenting with the various mobile technologies from SMS, QR Codes, NFC,  proximity marketing methods etc.. Think integrated strategies when building your database. A good mobile marketing strategy firm like Firo Communications can help you with the strategy, build and manage your mobile database, and optimize on the best combination of mobile technologies to ensure maximum promotion and engagement for your brand.

3. Decide on whether building a mobile app is right for you

In 2012 the flurry of activity around the application development market will continue as consumers look for more ways to streamline their busy lives, and to have fun. The almost 900 million dollar mobile gaming market in North America (soon to be 1.5 billion by 2014 according to emarketer) cannot be underestimated. This is where a lot of innovation and revenue will be focused in 2012.  You might find advertising in games would deliver better ROI next to your objectives than spending the dollars on creating your own application.

4. Measure what matters

Mobile analytics is very different from web analytics due to the strange environment. There are 1,000s of handsets, many different browsers, cookies are not supported, and IP addresses are not supported or accurate. It is important to clearly define your objectives and from there you can prepare the reports that matter to you. In mobile you can take advantage of image tags, link redirection, geolocation info, handset info, operating systems,  etc…

2012 is a brave new world for mobile marketing solutions and technologies are constantly changing. I invite you to call us at Firo Communications at: 1800 980-4146 ext 5 to discuss how we can assist you in harnassing the mobile marketing opportunity.