With the who’s who of the technology world hitting Barcelona last month for the infamous Mobile World Congress, when I was asked to write a guest blog for eCircle, the power of mobile marketing seemed to have a nice ring to it (surely I’m allowed at least one pun?). 2011 has been much heralded as the year of mobile. Marketers are already feeling the same pressure as they did with social media to recognise and relish the opportunities created as internet users leave their desktops behind and take to the mobile internet in their droves to access social media, email and ecommerce. But is mobile just our next hot topic? As marketers, we are all too often accused of only being interested in the next big thing! But in the case of mobile, it simply cannot be denied that it is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of transformation and understanding how this incredibly powerful ecosystem affects businesses has never been more important. It’s a big moment for mobile, as smarter handsets, faster connections, and a seemingly endless supply of innovative applications hit us on a daily basis. From apps to optimising emails for mobile, investing in mobile marketing can simply not be regarded as a ‘gimmick’ any longer. As an example of a business recognising how audiences now wish to access content and the importance of continued investment, we’ve recently worked closely with The Telegraph to gain a comprehensive understanding of how an increasingly sophisticated audience interacts with its iPad app. This understanding, when combined with a series of focus groups run by the Telegraph, has been fundamental in the development of v2 of its app which is currently in the pipeline for a 2011 launch. All too often, however, the confusion is not how to continue mobile marketing investment but where to start. In 2010, we saw a strong shift from online strategies to social media strategies and, I believe, we will follow a similar pattern between social media strategies and mobile device marketing. As a result, it is important to start now and put the budget behind the basics rather than push through a mobile marketing strategy because those all too frequently words of ‘everybody else is doing it’ are uttered. Mobile offers massive opportunities for acquiring customers, delivering services and selling products, so don’t leave anything to chance and cover all the bases. It’s not a time to be overawed by the technology, now is the time to embrace another new and flourishing way to interact and communicate with our customers. [This article was originally posted on the ecircle blog March 3, 2011. Webtrends is a Gold Sponsor at eCircle’s ConnectEurope2011 held on 3/17. Colette Wade is the Marketing Director, Webtrends EMEA and Australasia. -- Ed]

Webtrends kicked off its Engage 2011 conference today in San Francisco to a record number of attendees, and a record number of attending companies. One thing was clear on Engage day one: marketers are realizing that measurement across their brand platforms (web, mobile, social), and the actions that are defined by this measurement, lies with them and they need to understand and harness it. The shift from speaking at, to engaging audiences has been fast and furious, and more brands are getting this every day. The advent and mass adoption of social and mobile has amplified this shift. In celebration of engagement, and our social world, here are a few of the moments of inspired genius from Engage day one speakers in 140 characters or less: Hope Frank, CMO, Webtrends: Today’s companies require fierce creative, a brave marketing team, and a tremendous amount of depth and insight. Ze Frank, zefrank.com & star.me: Everyone is a marketer today. Kids use SEO to get their YouTube videos more traffic. Tyler Lessard, Blackberry: Life is now being lived on mobile devices. Brands now need to deliver hyper engagement experiences, and we are moving to hyper-connectedness: payment terminals, cars. Mark Challinor, Telegraph Media Group: Age of mass media: we talked to the forest. Niche media: we talked to the trees. Micro media: we talk to the leaves and they talk to each other. Sam Yagan, OkCupid: iPhone users have twice as many sex partners as Android users. BleackBerry users are somewhere in the middle. Adrienne Smith, Google Ads: Mobile device shipments have outpaced PCs. 65 million minutes on Angry Birds played every day. 79% of large online advertisers don’t have a mobile optimized site. Brian Solis, Future Works: Don't benchmark against competitors (old thinking) but against the opportunity. I need to speak to you, connect with you, speak through you. David Kirkpatrick, Daily Beast: If iPhone didn’t have a Facebook app, I guarantee it would not be the phenomenal success it is today. Dan Rose, Facebook: Social design principle: building with social first. Our mission is to make the world more open and connected. Dennis Yu, Webtrends: Facebook advertising’s pitfall is confusing # of fans with engagement. Engagement is the number of likes/comments divided by the # of fans. We look forward to what day two will bring. If you'd like to watch the morning sessions live visit our event site. There's lot of blogging and tweeting going on, so follow the hashtag #wtengage