NEW YORK -- For those marketers who are ready to start a mobile initiative, Access 360 Media's Chris Goumas covered the "how" aspect of mobile marketing at the Direct Marketing Association's DM Days Conference.

In part two of the Intensive Mobile Marketing Workshop yesterday, Mr. Goumas led the audience step by step, explaining the best way to launch a mobile campaign. He said mobile marketing is a behavior-driving product, not just banner ads on WAP pages, and that gathering data, communicating with consumers and driving consumer behavior should be the main objectives of any mobile campaign.

"Mobile is another good channel, but not the king of all channels," said Mr. Goumas, who is senior vice president of retail and marketing solutions for Access 360 Media, New York. "Mobile gets so much hype these days, but it just happens to be a strong channel with some customers."

Mr Gouman said that those interested in direct mobile marketing should either use their existing list of contacts or start building a list via indirect channels.

The best ways to build a list are in-store signage with a mobile call-to-action, an email blast, a Web site with a mobile tab or using traditional media such as television, print, newspaper and radio to launch a mobile call-to-action.

Mr. Goumas listed the strengths and weaknesses of the mobile channel.

Immediacy is one of the main strengths of the mobile channel, since people always have their phone on them. It is also the most real-time medium, meaning that marketers have the ability to change the messaging on the fly and see instant results.

In addition, mobile is the lowest cost-per-engagement channel and is the preferred communication method among younger demographics.

Most importantly, mobile is as close as marketers can come to being truly one-on-one with consumers.

Some of mobile's weaknesses are reflected in the limited space for ad messages due to small screen size, as well as the issues with redeeming bar code coupons at the point of sale.

Additionally, WAP pages and full-motion video are not as sophisticated as they are online, so the experience of mobile is, at times, too basic.

According to Mr. Goumas, due to market fragmentation, each wireless network taken on its own has a lower market penetration than other media forms, as well as slower adoption among select demographics.

However, Mr. Goumas reminded the audience that if worked right, mobile can make up for its own weaknesses.

One way to get a mobile campaign going in the right direction is to remember the customer lifecycle, which is customer acquisition, relationship development, retention and expansion, customer retirement and retrieval, and finally to extend and restart that relationship.

It is also necessary to remember that consumers' persona affects the right type of approach in the consumer lifecycle.

"The over-60 generation is not adopting mobile the way other demographics are," Mr. Goumas said. "Yet there is essentially no other way to communicate with a younger demographic [other] than through their cell phone."

Since there is such an extreme difference in mobile adoption across demographics, direct targeting is vital to an effective campaign.

Mr. Goumas then got into the logistics of how to integrate mobile into a multichannel campaign with a list of questions:

? Who is your audience?
? What is your value proposition?
? What are your objectives?
? Where does mobile fit in?
? Which are the best channels to introduce mobile?

Finally, Mr. Goumas gave the crowd a few final hints. He explained that, just like in anything else, practice makes perfect.

Value exchanges are judged by each customer, so the best way to target them is to learn what each customer values.

Mr. Goumas closed by saying that before anything goes into full swing to test all different types of offers, test times to send messages and split groups in testing.

"You need to look at mobile just like you look at other marketing channels, because mobile will impact lifetime value," Mr. Goumas said.