By Jeff Hasen, Chief Marketing Officer, HipCricket

With time and budget being so precious, marketers considering using Twitter and/or mobile marketing must ask important questions: Are they interchangeable, complementary, or even necessary?

Have the days of the Sunday circular disappeared? As marketers seek new and innovative ways to reach the connected consumer, digital executives are deploying technologies that are displacing traditional methods of communicating with consumers in the offline world. Increasingly, consumers are turning to their mobile phones for information and offers on-the-go.

By Chris Glode - July 20, 2009

The new generation of mobile Web browsers provides the missing ingredient for marketers: location.

Ever heard this story? A customer walks past a Starbucks, receives a timely SMS alert with a coupon, and a full-on latté-sipping-fest ensues. This, we have been told, is the Promised Land of location-based mobile marketing.

Setting aside whether customers would embrace this type of experience, mobile technology limitations and platform fragmentation have currently constrained reach (read: how many customers are accessible).

By Mike Wehrs, President & CEO, Mobile Marketing Association

Brands and agencies recognize and agree that the mobile channel is a highly effective way to reach consumers. But the most successful campaigns are built on the understanding that the mobile channel isn't homogeneous. Instead, savvy brands and marketers know that it's actually a set of options, each with its own strengths and considerations that must be factored in to ensure a maximally effective campaign.

By Mike Wehrs, President & CEO, Mobile Marketing Association

By Mike Wehrs, President & CEO, Mobile Marketing Association

Protect consumers and you protect the opportunity. That maxim applies to mobile marketing, where U.S. expenditures on mobile marketing for 2009 are $ 1.7 billion, according to MMA research. This prediction is expected to grow by about 26 percent to $2.16 billion next year.

By Randy Haldeman, Chief Marketing Officer, Apptera

By Steve Leonard, General Manager for off-deck, Motricity

CNN’s Rick Sanchez stands before you on television, encouraging you to text-in your feedback during his interactive news program. Feeling inspired to contribute, you send your two cents to short code 44546: “Mickelson’s got this one in the bag.”

The cable network then thanks you for your contribution and offers to deliver you breaking mobile news alerts from its fellow Time Warner Inc.-owned sibling magazine, Entertainment Weekly.

By Mayur Pitamber, Product Marketing Strategist for Openwave®.

One of the major talking points this year at Mobile World Congress was how Western consumers’ mobile phone usage patterns are shifting from text and voice, to data. Mobile internet, mobile applications, email and location-based services are no longer just add-on services, but a core part of many operators’ and handset manufacturers’ strategies.

By Steen Andersson, 5th Finger

Think about the way you feel when you forget your phone or PDA at home for the day. Alone? Disconnected? Unprepared? That’s the true test right there. Mobile is more than just cool. Frankly, it’s a necessity. Mobile has gone from novelty to true utility for the 4 billion people who use it.