I have said before that there are some things that are not measurable. Creativity and innovation are the hallmarks of the Internet Age (just look around you) but these are, like lightning strikes, rare, and difficult to predict. Sure, you can create situations that encourage them, the way you might position a lightning rod on a high building to attract lightning, but there is no safe and certain route to creativity or innovation. These remain elusive qualities, much sought-after, but impossible to create consistently.
The central paradox of mobile marketing and advertising is that while there are some things that are immeasurable, there remain others that are measurable (in that they can be measured) but are not measured at all. The reasons for this are many, mostly having to do with negotiating the complex web of relationships between all the diverse parts of the mobile ecosystem. The lack of transparency within the system, and the siloing of important knowledge all contribute to the current situation where information is everywhere, but the necessary bits of information cannot be combined to provide useful measurables.
The process of negotiation required to get these various entities to share their information may be a long and hard one, but this is a situation that is in dire need of change. Without adequate access to information, and without proper standardized measurement tools, mobile marketing will continue to be seen as a curiosity, rather than becoming the mainstream tool of persuasion that it could be. Even worse, marketing and advertising have always provided the necessary monetization for other media, and without them, the mobile world could stall for lack of content.
Fortunately, this situation is changing, largely because companies like Nielsen and organizations like the Mobile Marketing Association are working hard to bridge the gap. It looks like the best opportunity is going to come from a place that is already familiar: the internet. The measuring tools used for the internet (cost per click, cost per impression, page views) translate perfectly to the mobile web, and that can be used as a model for other mobile marketing channels.
Because brands and agencies are already familiar with the terms used for the measurement of consumer activity on the internet, they can safely be used for the development of similar measurements for consumer activity on mobile platforms, or as the launching point for new measurement standards should they be required. In addition, the parties involved in the provisioning of the internet are already familiar with the level of cooperation required to provide this information, while maintaining the necessary customer confidentiality and anonymity, which is yet another barrier that must be overcome in the quest for standardized measures of performance.
Hopefully, using the web as the basis for ongoing development will prove fruitful, as all parts of the mobile ecosystem will stand to benefit from having standardized measures for consumer activity. The resulting growth will in all likelihood fuel even faster development on the mobile front, something that all parties, consumers, telcos, brands and agencies, will embrace.
