Recently, we ran a piece analyzing the various Mobile Marketing Heisman Trophy candidates for 2011. This was a shout out to those 2011 mobile marketing initiatives that made the biggest splash from a consumer and mainstream headline media perspective.

Today we’re taking a different approach: as we look back on 2011, here are the key 2011 trends that will have the biggest impact on the business side of mobile marketing in 2012:

1) Industry Consolidation

2011: In 2011, several mobile marketing companies including iLoop Mobile, Air2Web, and Hipcricket all got gobbled up by various industry players. What was interesting about these acquisitions is that companies were integrated for their expertise in a particular space/industry. This might sound like a no duh sort of statement, but I think the industry consolidation shows that no mobile marketing company can do everything well. More and more companies are realizing that they need to look at best-in-breed providers in a particular space, as opposed to a one stop shop that has attempted to build everything in house.

Outlook for 2012: In 2012, you are going to see if those companies that did purchase players can integrate these companies and teams into their current culture effectively. You are also going to see more and more acquisitions in the space as companies try to find assets that will help make them more competitive in the battleground that the mobile marketing industry becomes more and more each day.

2) Digital Messaging Takes New Forms

2011: As described in the Heisman Trophy awards, Apple, Android and Facebook all announced messaging offerings to captivate the minds of the world’s mobile messagers (latest stat: 7 texts per hour by teens). Unlike SMS, voice and MMS, these mobile messaging offerings go through the data network, as opposed to the carrier infrastructure. Given the ever increasing grip smartphones have on the American cell phone ecosystem, these messaging channels if nothing else are on the mobile marketing radar.

Outlook for 2012: Look for marketing technology companies and marketers to start integrating these emerging digital messaging channels (push being another example) into their ecosystem much more directly in 2012. Given the cost advantages and App integration that these message channels provide, they cannot be overlooked and those companies that take the smartest steps forward will reap considerable advantages over their competitors.

3) The End of Mobile Marketing “Taking Sides” Discussions

2011: So much of 2011 was taken up with conversations that basically boil down people arguing about two competing channels, for example “App vs. Web?”, “Twitter vs Facebook?”, “Desktop vs. Tablet?”, etc. In an effort to get a stake in the ground, many people bantered back and forth over what specific channel would be most influential for mobile marketers.

Outlook for 2012: As I’ve written before, these arguments are going to shift in 2012 into “How do you use a certain channel most effectively,” and eventually culminate into “How do you integrate your marketing communication channels most effectively.” The reason being that marketing in the digital age is not about following one formula (e.g. “Do apps and you will succeed!”). It’s about innovating around a customer base in order to deliver the right message (segmentation), at the right time (targeting) at the right place (location services) in the right format (channel). This formula won’t be the same for all customers since video gamers communicate differently than car shoppers than clothing purchasers than beer drinkers than movie goers, etc. Anybody advocating for web over app will be quickly dismissed as so 2011, while the rest of the strategists explore ways that each channel can complement the other.

4) Mobile Marketing Goes Beyond the Novelty of the New

2011: In 2011 a large majority of mobile initiatives felt more like marketers dipping their toe in the water than actual campaigns. There were two reasons for this. The first, which I have previously characterized as the novelty of the new, occurs as a result of people in board rooms exclaiming, “We need to do mobile! How about throwing a QR code on our next ad?!” This is to say that people wanted/needed to do mobile and just got their feet wet as quickly as possible. This isn’t a bad thing, but unfortunately results in some campaigns that seem unorganized (check out the Art of the CTA for examples). The second reason is because people threw mobile into their media buy category (along with television for example) instead of taking a customer lifetime value perspective. Again, not a bad thing but given mobile’s interactivity not a long term solution.

Outlook for 2012: The percentage of mobile marketing campaigns that feel experimental vs. tactical will shift immensely. As mobile continues consuming consumer time and attention, companies will start making serious decisions to push their mobile strategy beyond early adopters and innovators into penetrating the pragmatic majorities so crucial for long term success.