WASHINGTON ? An American Cancer Society executive at the Nonprofit Mobile Day said mobile Web is now a primary channel for mass market media consumption.

During the ?American Cancer Society: Mobile is a Multifaceted Engagement Tool? opening keynote, the executive discussed how far the nonprofit has come since it first entered the mobile space. The Nonprofit Mobile Day was presented by the DMA, Mobile Marketer and Mobile Commerce Daily. 

?We try and develop a fundamental strategy in large ways,? said Davis Balcom, managing director of digital platforms at The American Cancer Society. ?We try and approach that strategically.

?We look at what channels work and what are still the best practices for building a program,? he said. ?It?s important to take chances and risks.?

Take a chance
According to Mr. Balcom, it is important for companies to take chances with mobile, as well as test any upcoming campaigns.

When brands and marketers look to develop a mobile campaign, it is important for them to try several things and know that realistically not everything is going to work.

?Mobile devices are rarely, if ever, beyond four feet away from their owners,? Mr. Balcom said. ?Hundreds of millions of Americans communicate and consumers on mobile.

Last year, The American Cancer Society defined its priorities ? the nonprofit built new vendor relationships and rolls out new mobile efforts. 

?Now here we are a year later,? Mr. Balcom said. ?We have 4 major mobile launches, a measurable impact on goals and our mobile workflows are defined."

Mobile site launch
The American Cancer Society launched its Cancer.org mobile site in October.

According to Mr. Balcom, there has been strong growth since day one.

Users can access the mobile site by entering m.cancer.org on their mobile browser.

?Mobile Web enhances the online fundraising ? it supports a wide range of marketing objects,? Mr. Balcom said.

?We wanted to create a mobile-specific version of cancer.org,? he said.

The American Cancer Society?s approach to developing its Cancer.org mobile site was to use a real-time proxy with dynamic page restructuring to mobilize all the content. 

?The mobile friendly site delivers Cancer.org content, which is customized for easy viewing on a smartphone,? Mr. Balcom said. ?Content published on Cancer.org is instantly live on the mobile site.

?The mobile site puts our trusted cancer information in consumers? hands whenever they need it and wherever they need it,? he said. ?We use the same color scheme, but it?s just highly tuned for mobile.?

According to Mr. Balcom, it was more relevant to Cancer.org that the nonprofit mobilize its content immediately.

The American Cancer Society mobile site was launched in October ? both on time and on budget, per Mr. Balcom.

?The key performance indicators all show positive growth,? Mr. Balcom said. ?Mobile traffic has increased, there have been more than one million mobile visits since launch.

?The mobile percentage of total site visits has doubled since launch,? he said. ?The user-friendly mobile sites also let supporters get local information, as well as donate.

In addition to the mobile site, The American Cancer Society has also rolled out an SMS platform.

?It?s currently live and we?re running multiple pilots,? Mr. Balcom said. ?All the campaigns will run on The American Cancer Society?s vanity short code 22723.?

The nonprofit will use SMS for its Relay for Life events, which will give the company an opportunity to communicate with event participants.

Additionally, SMS will help enhance event participation by leveraging the intamicy and immediacy of the mobile channel at the local event.

The American Cancer Society is also running a Quit Buddy SMS program.

Quit Buddy is an SMS engagement tool that was created to help smokers stay motivated and inspired as they try to kick the habit.

The SMS tool aims to extend the reach of a lung cancer awareness campaign and to engage and build brand affinity.

?It provides a means to communicate important and timely health information,? Mr. Balcom said.

To opt-in for Quit Buddy, users can text the keyword QUIT to the short code 22723.

?That starts an ongoing feed of SMS messages with smoking cessation tips and a lot of encouragement,? Mr. Balcom said. ?You can also text the keyword BUDDY to the short code 22723 whenever you need instant support. ?

Applications also play a big role for The American Cancer Society.

The nonprofit is ready to develop and launch a framework of behavior applications, per Mr. Balcom.

?We want to have an imprint on Android and iPhone devices,? Mr. Balcom said. 

Final Take
Davis Balcom is managing director of digital platforms at The American Cancer Society