Yesterday as I was waiting at the crosswalk for the walk signal, I pulled out my mobile phone to look something up on the internet.  Afterall, I had a few seconds to spare. The funny thing is, as I looked around me, I noticed how many other people were doing the exact same thing.

We are becoming attached to our phones and this increased reliance on our smart devices is driving growth in mobile internet usage. According to eMarketer, by 2013, 142.1 million users (53.9% of the US mobile user population) will access the internet using mobile browsers or applications.

For marketers, this creates opportunities for increased engagement and outreach to potential customers via mobile. However, the mobile marketplace is fast paced and marketers will need to keep up with the changes as well as consumers expectations.

A great place to begin in assuring your company is ready to accommodate mobile users is making sure your company website is mobile friendly.  But what makes a website “friendly” to a mobile user? What do they expect when it comes to their mobile web experience?

Gomez, a web performance monitoring firm, recently released the results of a survey “What Users Want From the Mobile Web Experience” that takes a look at what is most important and what frustrates consumers the most when accessing the internet via their mobile device.

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There are a number of different opinions surrounding outbound and inbound marketing and the roles these play in developing a marketing plan.

There are those who believe outbound marketing is passé and suggest focusing only on inbound tactics. Others have done a great job of building up their outbound channels, but have neglected to develop any inbound marketing strategies.

Can you have one without the other?

Sure.  But you’ll get a heck of a lot better results if you incorporate the two.  Together they deliver a one-two punch, pushing out your marketing message, sparking consumer interest, and then drawing them in to learn more as they go online to research more about your product or service.

Outbound marketing consists of the more traditional tactics we as marketers have implemented for years.  And although the internet is now a part of our everyday lives, these off-line avenues are still very important.  Print, radio and television ads, direct mail, email and tradeshows capture attention and spark interest.  These tactics provide a broad reach and offer far more brand impressions than inbound marketing alone.  Outbound campaigns help drive potential customers online to find out more and engage in your inbound avenues.

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Has Facebook really taken over the internet?  From the sound of things, one would think they’d taken over the world!

The buzz surrounding the new announcements from Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg at the third f8 developer conference has been non-stop.

But what does it all mean?  As a marketer and an avid Facebook user, I’m a bit on the fence with this one.

There are three key changes that will have a significant impact on marketers and users:

Social Plugins - will allow users to share content from any website with their social network just by clicking on a “like”/“recommend” button.  This offers huge word of mouth potential for companies that have this like button installed on their website. And it makes it very easy for users to share their likes and interests.  However, all of these websites will now have access to our Facebook profiles and data.

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No texting while driving.  Hands free head set only.  We’re so crazy about our mobile phones that laws have been created to regulate how and where we use them.  It’s predicted that by 2013 there will be over 5.8 billion mobile subscribers worldwide.

Smartphones have already obtained a loyal following among business professionals and they’re changing the way professionals communicate. For B2B marketers, this creates a huge opportunity to integrate a new form of outreach and connect with customers on a whole new level.

So where do you start?  Begin with your company website.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to access a website from my Blackberry and it pops up looking like a scrambled mess.  Professionals are attached at the hip to their phones, yet most corporate websites are not optimized for mobile viewing, are difficult to navigate or impossible to read.

If your website is not mobile-friendly, your prospects will move on to one that is.

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