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8 Guaranteed But Avoidable Ways to Lose Money With Mobile Marketing A lot is still being figured out about how to make money with mobile marketing but the mistakes to avoid are already pretty clear

By Brett Relander Edited by Dan Bova

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

There's money to be made with mobile marketing. And forward thinking businesses are raking in the dough and registering double-digit growth in customer acquisitions through mobile marketing. But for every success story, there are tales of companies generating an average to downright disappointing response to their mobile marketing campaigns.

What is it that these businesses are doing wrong? Let's take a look at these time-tested and proven ways that will most assuredly lose mobile marketers their money. Avoid these.

Related: The Top Five Mobile Marketing Mistakes

1. Not optimizing your website for mobile traffic. A website that does not render correctly on mobile devices is a sure way of driving away visitors and running your ad spend down the drain.

2. Advertising in the wrong places. It's just not worth the returns but many businesses, including big brands, cannot seem to get over the lure of radio and TV ads for their mobile apps. These channels should be used for branding purposes and to supplement mobile ad networks and incentive-based download programs that are proven channels for mobile user acquisition.

3. Abusing permission-based marketing. SMS marketing is a golden opportunity to engage with customers. Customer responses to SMS marketing calls to action (CTA's) are almost immediate, especially compared with email marketing messages and traditional marketing channels. Don't squander the opportunity texting spam to mobile users.

4. Not allowing your mobile audience a way to opt out. Mobile marketers are legally bound to inform their audience on how to opt out of campaigns. Failure to do so violates current laws and can invite action. Moreover, you lose credibility with your audience.

Related: How to Fix 3 Common Online Marketing Mistakes

5. Disappointing customers with insipid offers. A mobile marketer who fails to sustain a prospect's interest is missing potential business opportunities and ultimately damaging the brand.

Plan a campaign that entices prospects to engage with your business via their mobile devices. Loyalty discounts, time-based discounts, bulk-purchase deals, coupons, mobile only exclusives, etc are excellent hooks.

6. Not identifying your business correctly. This is a very basic mistake that mobile marketers make when running SMS campaigns. In the absence of clarity on the sender's identity, receivers are likely to either ignore the SMS or simply delete it. Clear, short messaging is part of the user experience with mobile marketing. See your message through their distracted eyes.

7. Failing to integrate mobile marketing with social media. People use mobile devices mainly to check emails and access social media. If you're not going to integrate social media into your mobile marketing mix, you are restricting the chances of your message reaching a wider audience.

Facebook posts, tweets and Instagram images are just some of the mediums to reach out to consumers and expose them to your mobile app or mobile offers.

8. Not following up on your initial marketing. Mobile marketers often let the intensity fizzle after the initial excitement of a mobile campaign and customer acquisition. Acquiring users without engaging with them in an effective manner is a waste of time and money.

To maximize results, you must strike while the iron is hot and you're at the top of their minds. Start building a relationship immediately! Have an automated system in place that will initiate the engagement process once an app download happens or you get a prospect's opt in.

Apart from ensuring that your business does not commit the above-mentioned mistakes, you must also identify the metrics you associate with the success of your mobile marketing campaign. Track these metrics. Find out where your loyal users are coming from and focus on those traffic sources.

Related: 8 Ways to Screw Up Your Marketing

Brett Relander

Managing Director at X1 Sports Nutrition

Brett Relander is founder and managing director of X1 Sports Nutrition (http://X1Fuel.com). He has a degree in exercise science, is certified as a Master Fitness Specialist and in the biomechanics of resistance training, and is an advocate of all-natural nutrition and advanced performance training.

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