Reaching Gen Y Through Mobile Technology

More and more I keep reading about the rise of mobile technology. It's everywhere - web applications hooking up to text messaging and mobile internet sites, you can get ringtones and horoscopes by text messaging your crush's name to a number, and now AdAge has pointed out a few magazine ads who have added text messaging to their mix to gain an immediate response.

If readers continue to respond well, digital technology may be poised to support traditional ad sales more directly than ever.

(Read: Text Messaging Makes Magazine Ads Interactive)

ROI is more and more important and this is just one way I think that advertisers can measure it. Understanding your audience can be difficult especially if it's Gen Y. Everyone wants to know what Gen Y cares about.

Advertisers need to reach Gen-Y over multiple mediums, in a way that is not obstructive to what they are doing. Brand recognition is key and the more times we see something the more likely we are to remember it... Make games. Make then funny, bloody and urban. We dig that stuff.

(Read: Gen Y Demographics)

Gen Y grew up when TV was king. Billboards, radio and TV commercials saturated our childhood. I think at this point we're done. We want something that's going to entertain us, not try to blatantly sell us. We rely on friends (online and off) to help us make a decision about what to buy.

Because Gen Y is media savvy and conscious of being marketed to, brands that succeed in the future will be those that open a dialog with their customers, admit their mistakes, and essentially become more transparent.

(Read: Why Gen Y Is Going to Change the Web)

I also thing transparency isn't enough. You have to be willing to engage your audience - to talk with them about what they like, what they don't like. Not sit on complaints for 3 months - or even 3 weeks. We want to know what you're doing about our concerns now.

We're a generation that doesn't own landlines. We might have a digital phone if it's cheaper to bundle it in with internet services but when we own iPhones and Blackberry's with good data packages, we might not even have an internet connection. Surprisingly, those with mobile phones are more likely to respond to advertising.

What's more, users of mobile phones are more likely to engage with advertising. UK ad-supported mobile service Blyk, for example, saw an amazing 29% average response rate on ad campaigns -- with one campaign -- for a book, no less -- receiving an incredible 67% response rate on the service. M:Metrics found in February that mobile users were more likely to respond to advertising than regular Internet users, and 27% more likely to say they are tempted to buy an advertised product then the average person.

(Read: The Mobile Web is the New Hangout)

It makes sense - if we want companies to respond now, then we in turn want a way to respond back immediately. Make it easier for your audience to respond and you might find that they will. If you build it, they will come... Or if you mobilize it, they will text?