It’s a common flaw of marketers to want to shove everything possible in front of their customers. The more opportunities I give them to buy, the more likely they’ll do SOMETHING, right? We think, wrong. By now you probably agree. But it’s easy to fall back into that trap, especially when you’re designing your mobile site and there’s 10 things you want it to do but you can only choose one.

As we know, mobile marketing means sharing bite-sized chunks of information, so your internal team needs to think about the practicalities of smart phone viewing. Screens are small, and attention spans are short, so marketing teams have to send out brief messages packed with meaning. Also, marketing teams have to pack messages with value so that they train their customers to respond. Here are a few of the common elements of mobile marketing that your team should be aware of and understand the “less is more” mantra when designing:

Mobile Optimized Websites

Scanning a QR code, responding to an SMS or clicking a link in a tweet often takes customers to websites or landing pages. Those pages have to be quick to load and easy to see on a small screen. Therefore, marketers have to make sure that they pare down their websites for mobile customers, hitting only the high points of what they would offer on their full sites. If sites are too cluttered or slow, customers will move on to the next thing. Make sure your mobile site has easy to read menus without too many options. If there are lots of categories of goods on your main website and you’re a clothing retailer, for instance, combine them into more general categories like “women” or “men,” so visitors are hit with fewer options.

QR Codes

There’s still debate about whether QR codes really work, but one thing’s for sure: they’re short and sweet, so whatever they lead to should be too. QR codes on print advertising or signage can lead customers to different online offers. For instance, marketing teams can provide coupons or web landing pages via a QR code that contains special promotions or supplemental information. Mobile customers want to scan the code, get their nugget of information or exclusive offer, and be on their way. They do not want to be bogged down with a mountain of content or other distractions.

SMS

Short Message Service is another way of saying text messaging. By its nature, the cell phone screen is small, and text messages can only utilize a certain number of characters. So, when utilizing this kind of mobile marketing vehicle, you should keep messages succinct. Customers should be able to text back a code for more information, link to a website or enjoy an exclusive offer with every text message. Every text message should be to the point and value-packed.

Social Media

Twitter is the epitome of the less is more philosophy. With only 140 available characters, tweets have to deliver maximum value in a small package. Many other social media outlets like Facebook also have mobile apps so that smart phone users can stay in contact with their friends, but none are like Twitter in its quest to keep things brief. But status updates on Facebook should also be short and direct, or customers will not pay attention.

As a general rule, no matter what vehicle you’re using for mobile marketing, keep your messaging short, and don’t try to load your landing pages (be they from a QR Code, an SMS, a social media link) with too many options. In mobile marketing, you can’t be everything to everyone so just learn how to say no!