Mobile usage is on the rise as more and more consumers are purchasing smartphones and tablets. Mobile marketing, whether through advertising, a mobile site, or an app, is the best way to reach your customers at the exact point of purchase. With mobile marketing you can reach customers at the moments that matter the most.

Google understands the importance of mobile marketing and also that it can be quite intimidating to those of us that have not ventured into this media before. To help people understand and build their own mobile marketing strategies, Google has created “The Mobile Playbook: The Busy Executive’s Guide to Winning with Mobile“.

The playbook is broken down into 5 easy sections – the 5 most importance mobile questions a executive should be asking:

• How does mobile change our value propositions?
• How does mobile impact our digital destinations?
• Is our organization adapting to mobile?
• How should marketing adapt to mobile?
• How can we connect with our tablet audience?

This playbook offers great tips and resources for serving the mobile customer, creating mobile-optimized websites, building branded mobile apps, developing a mobile search strategy, understanding mobile brand building, integrating on-line and off-line marketing channels, and adding tablet to your strategy.

In each section Google includes great examples and case studies on how other companies have successfully reached their mobile customer, including:

For a concise to-do list for implementing what you learn in the playbook, check out the conclusion section for a checklist of the top 10 things to remember when diving into mobile marketing.

1. Define your value proposition by determining what your consumer wants to do with your business in mobile. Benchmark against others in your industry for ideas.
2. Build a mobile website. Once you have a mobile website, check the stats and optimize based on consumer usage.
3. Build an app for a subset of your audience after your mobile site strategy is in place. Don’t forget to promote your app.
4. Assign a Mobile Champion in your company and empower them with a cross-functional task force.
5. Set up a meeting with your agencies about what’s working and what’s not for your brand on mobile and tablets.
6. Search for your brand in mobile, as a consumer would. Take 5 minutes and do this today. What’s working? What’s not?
7. Separate mobile-specific search campaigns from desktop search campaigns so you can test, measure and develop messaging specific for mobile.
8. Run rich media HTML5 ads to extend your branding message to reach the mobile audience.
9. Assign everyone in your marketing org the action item of reviewing their programs through a mobile lens.
10. Check out your tablet consumer’s experience with your brand. Take 5 minutes today and search for your brand on a tablet as a consumer would. What’s working? What’s not? Maximize the tablet environment with rich media creative.

Does your company have a mobile website? How do you plan on using mobile marketing in the future?

Image: suphakit73 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net