Global Mobile Maturity Online Survey for Q3 2010 by Forrester which had interviewed more than 200 executives in charge of their company’s mobile strategy shows that forty-five percent of marketers are just considering the opportunity of integrating mobile into their strategies. A third of respondents have had a mobile strategy ready for more than a year.

Are these good numbers? Well, not really. Seems like every year we are getting the same reports over and over again. Companies are still unsure about the whole mobile thing and fail to allocate costs, define exact objectives and answer the question “What it gives to our business?” Only forty-four percent of those with mobile strategy have precise outlined objectives for their campaigns. That is despite the growing sales of smartphones and market as a whole.

If you are one of companies who are cutting down expenses on mobile marketing or just waiting for more adventurous companies to test it out then here is a tip for you – the time is now. You may find yourself a couple of laps behind as race started a while ago and smart companies are already pushing new ways of mobile advertising. See the recent Starbucks and L’Oreal initiative.

Mobile marketing is for people who have ideas. It is not channel for spam. It really doesn’t work like that. There are many things to consider: a customer should be engaged, advertising should be in a context, it should be interactive and simple and finally it shouldn’t be intrusive. The whole scenario should be well thought-out. That is why you should put creative people to be responsible for it. Don’t be stingy here. Fund the ideas.

One more thing. Mobile marketing is not only about direct revenues. Nowadays people consume a lot of information, and you have to find new, more delicate approaches to attract their interest. That’s what mobile marketing is for. It’s about involvement of a buyer, engaging him/her and creating long-lasting relationships with a consumer. Name any media which can do that besides mobile. Right, there isn’t any. Then why are you still hesitating?

[photo: flickr/otzberg]