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Mobile apps are becoming so commonplace that brands are being evaluated by consumers based on whether they have an app and how good or bad it is.

Is there anything wrong with 1 million people using your app only once?

Deep group discounting is a proven tactic for immediate bumps in cash flow, but it is not without its pitfalls.

The rapid adoption of mobile technology has introduced a tricky set of constraints – smaller screen sizes, landscape and portrait ratios, odd UI/browser variations – that can overwhelm newcomers.

The thing that is becoming crystal clear in mobile implementation: it is not easy to do. Marketers and retailers that want an easy path to mobile will be disappointed.

SoLoMo is currently talked about by many industry insiders as a handle to represent the future of mobile connectivity and engagement with customers.

Although consumers are demanding coupons and deals on their phones in increasing numbers, marketers may not be ready operationally to handle this appetite for their promotions.

In 2011 unit sales of smartphones and tablets will exceed those of PCs, laptops and netbooks for the first time.

Gamification in marketing has become a popular buzzword in the last two years, but the practice of using game-like mechanics in marketing programs has been around for a long time.

Mobile advertising is expected to grow from $1.6 billion worldwide in 2010 to $3.3 billion in 2011, and will reach $20.6 billion by 2015, according to Gartner research.

A tighter integration of QR codes within the communication mix must happen before they will have a chance to make a mainstream impact on consumer marketing.

With the advent of handheld mobile shopping, retailers must investigate an entirely unique approach to on-the-go merchandising.

Here are three ways that marketers can create mobile opportunities within their email marketing programs.

Consumers read their text messages, even texts from advertisers, at a rate that blows away any other advertising vehicle. Story after story confirms it. Mobile marketing works.

There are sensitivities to how location tracking is used on mobile. Do consumers want that level of customization? Is location the most effective use of your budget, or is it the emperor’s new clothes?

Compared to other markets, mobile only truly became huge in the U.S. three or four years ago. But the U.S. does not have large numbers of people with deep mobile understanding.

How consumers feel a company’s values align with theirs—and even a company’s overall perceived likeability—are all integral to creating a favorable feeling toward a product or service.

The honeymoon of the mobile application industry is over. The fight for users – and the challenge of building a sustainable flow of money from them – has arrived. And it will only get tougher.

What passes for mobile commerce today often amounts to little more than a simple iPhone application or a mobile-optimized Web site.

Mobile marketing is heavy with dark arts. When you brief your agency, you had better know a lot about the technology available – and which of it you want to use.

Going mobile and engaging your audience anywhere and anytime is not about extending an Internet Web site to a mobile Web site and onward to a mobile app.