Search advertising is different on a mobile phone. Mobile search is used for instantly actionable search queries as opposed to the in-depth research and comparison behavior seen on the Internet. People use mobile search to find things they need immediately – directions, company information, movie locations and times, etc. In most cases, the major difference between Internet and mobile search is that consumers don’t look across the entire Web. And most corporate Web sites are not prepared to receive this traffic, due to their use of technologies that are not currently resident on mobile phones, such as Flash, Java and advanced HTML scripts.

What will make mobile marketing mainstream? Mass-market adoption will occur with the decreasing cost and increasing market penetration of Smartphones along with corporate and media Web sites’ ability to accept and translate a mobile search inquiry and re-direct it to a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) site.

If you’re interested in testing the waters and starting a mobile campaign, here are four important tips that can help you on your way:

• Understand your target audience: Mobile carriers and providers are very different. Carriers are a direct reflection of their audiences. Some are broad and reach multiple audiences and others are very targeted. After you identify your target audience, make sure to find a carrier that reaches your end user.

• Find the right technology: If you don’t have a mobile Web site, there are options like click-to-call, that don’t require a mobile site.

• Research keywords: As with Internet search, keyword research is important and must be done.

• Embrace analytics: In order to monitor performance of your mobile campaign, use tracking URLs. With tracking URLs, a unique mobile pixel is used rather than the standard pixel. There isn’t a common, cross-platform technology standard across all carriers; therefore, common ad currency definitions do not exist across all vendors. Specific tracking information can be sought at the carrier level, but it won’t translate outside of the wall across all opportunities.

Although most of us are still learning about mobile, there’s one thing we can be sure of: the mobile handset is the one thing you’d almost never leave home without. Which means your audience is always within reach.

Late-season shipping deals and consumers’ ability to buy online and pick-up their purchase the same day at the retail store are also contributing factors to last week’s online sales gains. In addition, many consumers delayed their holiday shopping to later in the season this year in order to take advantage of late-season price discounts being offered by retailers.

Here’s how the heaviest online spending days of the season stacked up over last year:
                                         2006         2007       % Change  
Thanksgiving (November 22)  $0.21B       $0.27B          29%
“Black Friday” (November 23) $0.43B       $0.53B          22%
“Cyber Monday” (November 26) $0.61B     $0.73B         21%
“Green Monday” (December 10)  $0.66B    $0.88B          33%

Total November 1–December 21 $22.04B    $26.29B        19%

Note:  Dollars are in billions.
“Green Monday” was crowned the heaviest shopping day of 2007 with $881 million in sales. The top ten online spending days of the 2007 holiday season are:

                                                                                                                              
Day                                       Dollars Spent ($ Millions)
 Monday, December 10 (“Green Monday”)   $881
 Tuesday, December 11                           $819
 Thursday, December 6                           $803
 Wednesday, December 5                        $798
 Tuesday, December 4                            $776
 Wednesday, December 12                       $754
 Monday, December 3                              $753
 Friday, December 7                                $734
 Monday, November 26 “Cyber Monday”      $733
 Thursday, December 29                           $733

Source: comScore 2007 Retail E-Commerce Forecast
Needless to say, it’s been a busy year not only for online retailers but also for the overnight shipping companies.

Typically online spending on Black Friday provides a good indication of what’s to come in December.  The significant increases over last year suggest that 2007 may be a good year for retailers.  So what are shoppers buying?  According to comScore the hottest category continues to be video games, consoles and accessories (up 134% over year prior).  Furniture, appliances and equipment is up 36% followed by consumer electronics (up 21%) and sports and fitness (up 20%). According to Forrester, online was the fastest growing media in 2007 and marketers are continuing to increase their interactive ad budgets.  It’s projected that by the end of this year,

 As for my annual Black Friday shopping tradition, I’ve decided to try something new and shop online a day earlier next year while watching the Cowboy game on TV.  Sure, I’ll still hit the malls on Friday, but my list will be a whole lot shorter.

One of the hottest topics in marketing today is campaign integration. While virtually all marketers agree on the importance of integration, they don’t feel like they’re doing it very well. According to a recent report published by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, developing integrated marketing communications is the number one concern of senior marketing executives (followed by accountability, aligning their marketing organization with innovation and building strong brands). Of those surveyed, 91% believe that an integrated campaign is of critical importance to their success; however only 21% believe that their organization actually does a great job delivering it.

The conception, execution and implementation of a successful integrated marketing campaign, is a tough job for any marketer because of the vast array of disciplines involved. There’s traditional media advertising, online marketing, public relations, product placement, promotions, mobile marketing, event marketing, direct response, in-store advertising, merchandising, multi-cultural marketing, guerilla marketing, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. To complicate matters even further, most companies operate in silos with each department working with a different specialized agency. Anyone can see why CMOs become frustrated. They receive different recommendations from different professionals at different agencies, and they’re then faced with the challenge of making sense of it all. It’s like trying to wrestle down a twelve-headed monster.  

To make matters even worse, advertising agencies suffer from similar silos.  In agency holding companies everyone fights for their share of the client’s dollar in order to meet their numbers. In these situations, the agencies are looking to defend their own turf and find it almost impossible to truly be media agnostic. In the end, the clients are the ones that suffer.

So how can CMOs launch successful integrated campaigns? Well, they have several options. They can hire several specialized agencies and coordinate the entire effort themselves. They can hire a holding company or full-service advertising agency and have them both develop and implement the integrated campaign. Or, they can hire a marketing consultant that works with all the agencies to coordinate the campaign integration.

Of these options, I believe that it is the marketers’ responsibility to lead the campaign integration process. They must centralize their marketing departments and break down the silos. I find it ironic that we’re in the communications business, and yet we communicate so poorly with each other. Try to send a few less IMs and emails, and instead meet face-to-face or pick up the phone more often. The result will be stronger relationships between internal departments and agencies alike. Marketers must also value their agencies as strategic partners, openly communicate with them and nurture positive relationships amongst the different specialized agency teams. All this requires a great deal of effort and a lot of hard work. But in the end, CMOs will be rewarded with a media neutral approach, best-in-class expertise, a consistent message and a truly integrated campaign.