ChaCha. Ask Away.

Mobile Advertising is considered an emerging media channel, but it certainly isn’t new. To be sure, the more established players in mobile were well represented at IAB MIXX this year and mobile marketing and advertising was mentioned throughout the day by panelists and presenters. Over the course of two days, experts gave the attendees some important advice. I was struck by how many of the themes in presentations could be uniquely addressed with mobile. Here are just a handful:

“Go small”

Advertisers and marketers were encouraged to think of more relevant ways to reach and engage audiences.  Chris Anderson, Editor-in-Chief of Wired Magazine said “It can’t be a one-size-fits-all approach, and the shift needs to be addressed with new forms of advertising.”

“Defragmentation is our friend”

AOL is on a publicity train and their CEO Tim Armstrong has been laying out his strategy to the media, advertisers and anyone who wants to listen. They are not trying to become everything to everyone — but instead, want to position themselves as a “holding company” ala Disney for several smaller, more niche brands and content to appeal to targeted marketers.

“Stop making ads. Start making stuff that people will spend time with.”

Nick Law and Bob Greenburg from R/GA delivered some inspiring gems. I understood them to mean that marketers need to think about their audience and focus on engagement. Don’t just try and sell something.

There were lots of other great ideas, content and case studies — and while I am obviously in love with mobile as an advertising medium, it’s clear that not everything works for every audience. Mobile as a media platform has unique attributes that can be manipulated to meet your marketing objectives, but even within the platform it isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” game.