By Eric Holmen, SmartReply

After the changes and mammoth upheavals in 2008 – everything from job security, to consumer spending, to the reorganization of K Street and beyond – we’d be forgiven for thinking that 2009 will be the end of the world as we know it – and it just might be.

A different world order is already shaping the country. Consumers’ spending habits are changing, largely through necessity, and businesses are having to adjust quickly – or perish. Companies are being forced to rethink their strategy and justify their existence. What worked for marketers in 2008 is no longer an indication of success in 2009. To the contrary, sticking to outdated and less effective ways of reaching consumers may actually land businesses right where they don’t want to be.

In this year of immense change – one that will be defined by cost-effectiveness and value - marketers and businesses are seeking better ways to develop, optimize and hang on to relationships with their customers. They are forced to think beyond the traditional – to go social, to go mobile, to think more marketing pull and less advertising push – resulting in a media and CMO frenzy over everything related to mobile marketing and with it, conflicting reports and opinions.

In one arena, a Nielsen Nov ‘08 reports that mobile ad recall is up by 81% year-over-year, while MMA’s survey by Synovate (also released in Nov ’08) states that “consumer interest in mobile marketing has flat lined in 2008”. Unlike the analysts or surveys however, our company is on the very front line of mobile marketing adoption and we are seeing the change happen firsthand: “mobile persuasion, mobile marketing and mobile technology are the watchwords that marketers will need to come to terms with rapidly as the world of advertising, media fragmentation and web 2.0 changes before their very eyes.”

But while mobile’s rapid rise to fame is great for our industry, there is a down side too. Everyone wants in and a many companies have suddenly become experts on mobile marketing, whether or not they understand the mobile space or have sufficient depth of experience. Absolutely, competition is to be encouraged – this encourages us to provide even better services and products to customers. But without extensive knowledge and deeper understanding of mobile marketing in all its complexities and extensions, there’s also a danger that companies aren’t being told what not to do.

Here, I have listed some of the worst “sins” that brands and marketers can carry out when it comes to mobile marketing. This is my list of not-to-dos, the 7 deadliest sins of mobile marketing;

1. Garbage in, garbage out
As with any marketing approach, sending inappropriate, irrelevant or poorly targeted content buys you a ticket to one place - the sin bin. Do not be tempted to send trashy content. SMS marketing works exactly the same way as other ad mediums in turning customers off. 64% of consumers find mobile ads irritating if they aren’t delivering valuable or relevant content, while 3 out of 10 US mobile users recall relevant mobile ads. So if you don’t fancy being blacklisted from your customer’s phone, understand their preferences and dislikes before sending content, even if it’s a simple text message.

2. The road to nowhere
Spam ‘em? Don’t even think about it. The mobile phone is a high-ranking highly-personal possession and should be treated with respect. It is one of the three things people do not leave home without – the other two being keys and wallet. Call it sacrosanct. Spam has no place on mobile phones (as start-up HeyCosmo found out recently when it sent phone spam to certain bloggers). Opt-in is the only road forward for mobile marketing, with FTC regulations firmly in place to weed out any maverick marketers around.

3. Pick a time, any time
Some marketers might be mistaken in thinking that any time is a good time to send a text message. Just like telemarketers calling up during dinnertime, the text message delivered at the wrong time will appear obtrusive, unwelcome and potentially annoying to the customer. So what is the right time to text? Ask the customer when they sign up to receive your messaging.

4. Gimmicks, gadgets, gizmos and junks
As a guest on consumers’ mobile phones, sending gimmicks to enter competitions (that are not relevant), links to irrelevant banners or scrolling through multiple screens will get you blacklisted faster that you can say TXT2LOSE. If a consumer has signed up to receive price alerts, notifications of new arrivals or discounts on favorite items – send those only. Leave the gimmicks and silly banner links for someone else.

5. Don’t dish up seconds and thirds
An honest marketer will tell you that campaigns do not always translate successfully into other mediums. Just because an online campaign yielded great results with low CPM, it is no guarantee of similar success with mobile. A strategy for mobile should have its own identity, but be able to integrate with others. And with a small screen and size limitation of 160 characters, you need to get2the!

6. Safe data, smart operator
Security breaches happen because someone somewhere wasn’t smart enough, while someone somewhere else was much smarter. If you value your customers, then you’ll value keeping their data safe and well protected especially as mobile commerce and banking grows. Brand erosion and the damage from loss of customer trust caused by security breaches can end up costing a company millions.

7. You’re dumped
The point to all this advice is about developing and feeding your relationship with consumers. Marketing - mobile or otherwise - does not drive most transactions. Relationships and trust do. So if relationships drive transactions and business, marketers must treat their mobile relationships with respect and without aggression. Most of all, marketers have to show consumers their raison d’être in order to become a valued and trusted part of that mobile phone carrier’s life. Otherwise, you’re dumped.

Yes, mobile marketing has the potential to make the experience truly miserable, but it doesn’t have to be that way. By avoiding some of these marketing “sins”, mobile marketing can and will continue to flourish.

Eric Holmen is president of SmartReply Inc., and has spent the better part of his marketing career seeking to redefine the nature of marketing messages and assist the industry in resisting the status quo. His company’s opt-in mobile and relationship marketing campaigns have revolutionized businesses’ relationships with consumers and energized their existing customer bases. Reach him at [email protected] or visit www.smartreply.com for more information about the company’s services.