Personalized mobile marketing strategies are set to become the preferred method of targeting increasingly niche audiences. According to a recent survey published by Econsultancy, personalized desktop campaigns are being run by 43% of companies. Only 13% are using the same for mobile devices – but industry analysts expect all that to change over the coming year. Around 54% of companies who responded to the Econsultancy survey announced their intention to adopt personalized campaigns across both desktop and mobile over the next twelve months.

Even among those companies who are slow on the uptake, there is a general awareness of the potential of mobile marketing personalization as a way of boosting revenues and retention rates. Already, mobile drives 20% of all online sales. In 2012, e-commerce conducted via mobile was worth $139 billion. By 2015, that figure is expected to exceed $400 billion.

Desktop campaigns have proven that creating personalized, targeted campaigns gets results. Mobile marketing advertising has much to learn from desktop, but it must also adopt strategies that apply only to smartphones and tablets. Understanding what some of these strategies are will help you create a more effective campaign from the outset.

First of all, your marketing strategy needs cross-channel synergy to work to the fullest. But how does cross channel marketing work? In order to realize a complementary, integrated, synergistic marketing campaign, each channel needs to feed into the others. Send an SMS containing a hyperlink to some free content on your website or affiliate site. Advertise the free content on social media. As new users are attracted to your Facebook page, offer them another freebie on condition that they opt in to your SMS contact list. Spreading your tentacles across all these channels will scoop up users who don’t stray far from their habits. It’s also a vital way to gather data on consumers – both existing and potential – and improve your mobile marketing personalization approach. Remember, though, that effective cross-channel marketing takes time to grow. Start with small, achievable goals, and develop a long-term strategy as you learn what does and doesn’t work.

Personalize your approach to personalization. There’s no point taking a cold, calculating approach to growing personal relationships with your customer base. Like in real-life relationships, people are at once flaky, habitual, loyal, fickle, impetuous, impulsive, profligate and spend-thrift – take all these very human traits into account when building your opt-in lists. As long as you provide demonstrable value right away, and maintain it over the long term, you will bring out the best in your customers.

The three most mobile-specific keywords are: location, location, location. People take their smartphones everywhere, while their desktops stay… well, on their desktop. Take advantage of the mobility of mobile devices to create personalized, anytime experiences. The rise of geo-location technology has immense implications for the future of mobile marketing campaigns, especially for retail outlets who can send a text to opted-in customers close by, offering personalized discounts to attract them to the store.

Move slowly but surely in your personalization endeavours. Start small, see what works, and watch your momentum – and customer lists – grow into something that will endure.