Trilibis' VP of professional services examines a successful NASCAR mobile campaign and spells out what it takes to win in this medium.

In 2006, only a few Fortune 100 companies used the mobile internet strategically to reach consumers; those that did were limited in how they integrated mobile web promotional campaigns into their marketing mix. Not so today, as the mobile industry sees new data that shows a significant uptick in the number of companies that are building mobile internet sites for consumers on the go.

While SMS text messaging campaigns have been pervasive in leading-brands' use of mobile marketing, we now see companies employing the graphics-rich and colorful content that only a mobile website can deliver. This trend is in line with market forecasts by Informa Telecoms & Media earlier this year, that the mobile content and services sector will top $150 billion by 2011, with consumers having better handsets, and being more receptive to mobile web promotions.

In the past year and a half, we have worked on more than 60 mobile web campaigns for brands in diverse markets, including music, sports, television and film. We've made a collection of the lessons learned, particularly from some bold endeavors in WAP such as NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge (NNASC) mobile portal, to consolidate some best practices for any marketer looking to boost visibility through a mobile web campaign.

In 2006, when Sprint Nextel retained us to develop a mobile microsite for the NNASC week of events, we created a mobile web portal with over 200 unique pages. The portal, sponsored by Sprint Nextel, was anchored by the NEXTEL Fan Vote and allowed fans to pick their favorite driver to be included in the NASCAR NEXTEL All-Star Challenge.

For the 2006 NNASC, fans not only voted for their favorite drivers, but also accessed NASCAR-related news, blogs, message boards and downloads via the WAP-portal. This portal also offered special features for those who attended the race, including dates and times of driver appearances, local restaurant recommendations and weather, as well as up-to-date flight and local weather data. 

As a result of the new integrated and content-rich campaign, there was a 700 percent increase in wireless votes, compared to 2005, when the voting was only offered via SMS. The increase was due to a number of factors, including: 

1. The use of WAP enabled the carrier to leverage its own mobile distribution channels directly, which provided fewer technical barriers for users to vote, especially repeatedly. Additionally, utilizing WAP greatly simplified the steps required to vote. The marketing mechanisms were also simplified by linking users directly to the WAP site on-deck, mobile-to-mobile marketing, or via a short code.
2. The portal provided a live leaderboard, so that users were directly aware of the impact of their vote, and how the overall community was voting.  
3. The WAP portal included key elements for compelling mobile content:
   1. Access to information needed at locations where PC access was unavailable;
   2. An interactive experience enabling consumers to be part of the brand's community; and
   3. Content unique to mobile devices.
4. PR and marketing efforts focused on driving fans to the NNASC WAP portal

While such an extensive offering could have overwhelmed consumers, we found that fans managed to navigate to the desired content with ease.

Next: Seven mobile marketing features and their success rates.