Digital agency 360i released a report saying that mobile marketers still face significant obstacles, despite the growth of the medium. Reading the report is like reading a list of ‘I-told-you-so’s. Nonetheless, despite its tone, there are some valuable insights to be had in their findings. This is particularly true in light of the fact that many small-time marketers look to their mobile marketing as the first way to reach people.

1. ‘Insights are less accessible.’ In other words, even though mobile marketers want to try and snag sales through their mobile offerings, the offerings themselves aren’t as robust as the company webpages.
2. It’s another source to monitor. Part of your job as a marketer is to know what your clients are up to – how their behavior online correlates with your mobile advertising efforts. In other words, how are they accessing your mobile sites, and how does this relate to them accessing your actual website?
3. Fragmentation. This is the report’s way of saying that having apps spread across multiple platforms leads to new problems. What kind of mobile applications will you use? Will you have it on just the iPhone? Or will you spread it onto the Android as well? And will you have the creative units necessary to work across all of them?
4. Scale: Not only will you have to deal with many different kinds of mobile phone, but you will also have to contend with the fact that, for all its novelty, mobile search is still very small. Projections suggest that even by 2012, mobile searches will make up 25% of all web searches being conducted. Given that you’ll have such a small piece to work with, what do you do with it? Do you focus on the places where it’s strong, like the iPhone? Or do your broaden your horizons and take in the other platforms? Keep in mind, should you do so, you will have to deal with the fragmentation issue as well.
5. So much of this is new. Properly harnessing it will require a certain amount of creativity. Even then, there’s still a significant learning curve to consider.
6. The money rarely matches the task. Either mobile marketers pay too much money for too little return, or they invest too little into it and receive an underwhelming response. Neither one is heartening, but it simply means that you have to be savvy about it and figure out the right balance for you.
7. Integration is key. Mobile users are able to go from a mobile website to a traditional website in a fluid fashion. Whatever story you tell people, it has to maintain its coherence.
8. Who exactly is running this thing? Is the owner a leader in digital marketing or not? Is the owner willing to learn and take responsibility?
9. Innovations are getting faster all the time. Mobile marketers need to figure what’s relevant vs. what isn’t, and figure which is significant where.
10. Mobile shopping can be a hassle. Store staff has to be trained, and the sheer amount of bar codes that can be scanned by mobile devices can be boggling. This especially in light of the fact that mobile devices have a wider range of error. Store staff will require training, and new security measures will be necessary.

This is not intended to be intimidating. But let’s be honest. Sometimes it helps to have your obstacles in front of you.