At first glance, mobile marketing seems to be very complex. There are various paths once can choose which include SMS, MMS, email, voice, mobile internet and bluetooth, to name a few and many more ways to engage your audience such as polling, voting, quizzes, sweepstakes and various other applications. The list seems never-ending, but it need not be confusing.

If you are considering getting started with mobile marketing, you should begin by asking yourself who your audience is. Where these people live and where they gather their information (both online and off) as well as what type of media they use when they are looking to have their needs met are key components to know. The point is that the more you know about your audience, the greater success you will have with your mobile marketing campaigns.

By knowing what your audience needs, you can them determine which mobile path (SMS, MMS, mobile internet, etc) makes the most sense to use. You also must take into consideration just exactly what you want to accomplish. Perhaps you wish to run a campaign to build brand awareness or maybe you are thinking of building a permission-based list that you can market to in a very targetable manner. Finally, you should set a clear date of when you want to accomplish your goals and consider how you will measure your progress so that you will know when you have indeed accomplished your goal.

Next, it is imperative that you learn the language of mobile marketing. You should understand the workings of the different paths of mobile marketing and the mechanics of running programs. There are some great ways to learn this language and one of the best resources is subscribing to the Mobile Marketer publication online. You could also consider attending events in person such as the Mobile Marketing Association's Mobile Marketing Forum that meets annually in New York.

As a beginner to mobile marketing you should start out simply. Select a simple program that is easy to use and that has the broadest reach. First put your focus on accomplishing just one of your goals.

For example, you may want to build a permission-based SMS audience. You can do this quite easily by promoting an invitation to get free alerts via your own website. Once people have joined, you can use your Facebook or Twitter account to send messages or coupons to the group and to interact with them.

Be sure to create an interactive experience with your audience and ask them to respond to you and give you their opinions on your programs so that you find out what they are looking for what really interests them.

Mobile marketing is here to stay. You only need to know yourself, your customers and what it is that you want to achieve and then develop a plan for reaching your goals. You will surely discover that once you get moving and have your audience engaged personally, that you will reap the monetary awards you are after.