Some 1.5 billion people worldwide now carry a mobile phone — more than the number who have landlines. No wonder integrated marketing professionals are so eager to call, text, and reach out to customers on the move. But mobile marketing is tricky, requiring technological sophistication, creativity and an appreciation for the fickle whims of spam-sensitive recipients. Here are the best ways to phone in your message correctly.

1. Let people opt in. A Ball State University study found that the vast majority of students who received unsolicited ads on their cell phones couldn’t remember what was being peddled, but they did recall being annoyed by the communication. Get subscribers to opt in to certain types of alerts, news, and advertising.
2. Make it fun. “If [your message] is not buzzworthy enough to tell or forward to friends, it will be perceived as spam, spam, spam,” says Mark Hughes, author of the book Buzzmarketing. The best mobile marketing, he points out, focuses on fun and flair. For instance, the cable network Oxygen promoted its show Mr. Romance by sending text messages to 50,000 women inviting them to send a Valentine’s Day greeting to a friend’s cell phone along with a recorded message from the show’s host, Fabio. Over the next two days, traffic on Oxygen’s Web site jumped 30 percent.
3. Be “pully,” not pushy. In Europe, Levi’s allowed teens to download its latest ad from a special Web site so they could view the ad on their mobile devices before it was shown on television. “We use mobile as a pull medium, not, as many advertisers do, to push,” Helene Venge, head of digital marketing at Levi’s Europe, told Marketing magazine. “People don’t use mobiles to receive ads; they use them to communicate with friends.”
4. Be interactive. Remember that mobile devices communicate two ways. Maxim magazine and Bud Light have run in-bar promotions where customers can send text and images to a large screen as a way to flirt. This is the type of fun, attention-getting gimmick that plays perfectly to a young demographic.
5. Be immediate. Mobile marketing can reach people anywhere instantly. If you sell products at retail stores, make your mobile campaign effective at the checkout counter, says Michael Becker, president and COO of iLoop Mobile in San Jose, Calif. At sporting events, offer prizes on the Jumbotron at halftime if mobile users send a text message to a certain number.
6. Know when to send a message. “Unlike email, cell phone users will read the message instantly; therefore it must be at a respectful time in the day,” says Jeff Pokonosky, founder and president of WiggleWireless in San Diego. “This requires one to be very sensitive of time zones.”
7. Think integration. The mobile channel is most effective when integrated with traditional media, such as TV, radio, and print. Because of technological advances, consumers can now respond to TV programming, billboards, in-cinema ads, event marketing, and Web sites via their phones. “If you’re a consumer goods company, why not print text-messaging instructions on your product labels?” Becker suggests.
8. Make the mobile marketing message simple.There’s no time or space for sophistication or gee-whizzery. Get right to the point.

Use existing content — carefully. ESPN, the Weather Channel, and other companies have repurposed marketing materials from their Web sites, such as special daily offers and games, for mobile devices. When adapting content, be sure to understand the personal aspects of mobile devices and the requirements of smaller screens.

10. Don’t go overboard. “No matter how much people enjoy receiving certain information, they’ll tune out if you send too many text messages,” Pokonosky says.

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