Twenty-one percent of mobile phone users interact with an application and 15 percent of consumers download an app on a monthly basis, according to a new report from Forrester Research.

Forrester?s ?Mobile marketing: three principles for success? study looked at how consumers mobile behavior has evolved over the past year. Using the report?s findings, Forrester laid out a few best practice tips for effective mobile marketing.

The Forrester study looked at how mobile usage has become more sophisticated in the past year by surveying more than 8,000 United States mobile phone owners over the age of 18.

In addition to apps, SMS and MMS continued to be popular activities for consumers.

Forty-one percent of consumers surveyed said their received SMS messages and text alerts monthly, which is up from 34 percent in 2010.

When asked about their weekly SMS habits, the study?s numbers went up. Sixty percent of consumers surveyed said they send or receive an SMS message on a weekly basis, compared to 52 percent in 2010.

Similarly, 37 percent of consumers surveyed used MMS on their mobile device. Twenty-eight percent of consumers in the study used MMS in 2010.

Although consumers are sending and receiving SMS messages, they are not using the channel for sophisticated marketing activities. Six percent of consumers surveyed used SMS to vote or enter a contest in 2011, up from five percent in 2010.

The study also found that 48 percent of consumers take photos or videos on their mobile devices.

Mobile is also increasingly being used for news consumption, per the report.

Twenty-three percent of consumers check weather, sports and news on their mobile device, representing a nine percent year-over-year increase from 2010.

Location-based services have also grown in the past year. Twenty-one percent of consumers looked up directions or a map on their mobile device compared to 12 percent in 2010.

Consumers checking email generated 11 percent of mobile phone activity, pointing to the growing need for emails to be optimized for mobile. 

Thirty percent of respondents said they relied on their mobile devices to send an email at least once a week.

Mobile banking activity also continued to grow with 11 percent of consumers in the study saying that they managed their finances on their mobile devices. 

Commerce-related activities are still slow for consumers to catch on with but there is growth across mobile coupons, buying and product research.

Ten percent of consumers surveyed said they used mobile to research products with the intent to buy compared to five percent in 2010. 

Four percent of consumers said they had bought items via their mobile devices, representing an increase in two percent from 2010.

Seven percent of consumers used their mobile devices to receive promotions and coupons, which is up from two percent in 2010.

The Forrester report also found that mobile Web usage is on the rise. Thirty-four percent of consumers surveyed used the Internet on a weekly basis, up from 20 percent in 2010.

Twenty-two percent of consumers played games on their mobile device, up from 14 percent in 2010.

When it comes to social media, mobile usage continues to be a hit for consumers. Twenty-three percent of consumers accessed social media networks via mobile in the study, up from 12 percent in 2010.

The Forrester report also offered mobile marketers a few key takeaways from the data to boost their campaigns.

Depending on how ingrained mobile is in a company?s strategy, there are five phases of mobile evolution - foundation, experimentation, device strategy, channel strategy and comprehensive strategy. 

At the basic level, brands need to optimize their Web sites and develop mobile apps that are designed for long-term usage.

The next step is to create small budgets for short-term campaigns that include a mobile component such as mobile advertising, mobile microsites or one-time apps.

A more cohesive mobile strategy includes a combination of mobile Web, SMS and MMS, apps, mobile display and mobile search.

A top-tier mobile strategy includes multiple mobile touch points that tie in with online and offline campaigns.