With nearly all students having cell phones, colleges and universities are increasing pulling the plug on dorm room landlines.

Without landlines, some colleges will save tens of thousands of dollars in hardware and hook-up fees paid to phone companies. But the decision to make the change is not solely based on money. The reality is that this generation of college students is almost exclusively wireless.

"I could probably count on one hand the number of times I used the dorm phone,"said Andrew Forrester, a senior at Wabash College. "I used it just one year, when I was a freshman. But I received more calls from telemarketers than anything else."

The limited use of dorm phones reflects what's happening across the broader populace. Twenty-five percent of American homes have switched exclusively to using cell phones. In addition, industry estimates show 83 percent of today's 17-year-olds (tomorrow's college students) have their own cell phones, up from 64 percent five years ago.

Ball State University marketing Professor Michael Hanley, whose campus still uses landlines, has conducted nearly a dozen student surveys since 2005 and estimates cell phone usage is nearly universal on the campus - 99.8 percent of all students have them; 9 out of 10 use smartphones with Internet technology; and a growing number are using text messaging rather than sending e-mail. His survey results are similar to the national rate use on other campuses.

The opportunity for businesses that adopt a mobile presence is timely and it is obvious. Trends clearly indicate an ever accelerating adoption by users of cell phones and especially smartphones for primary access to voice and data. Time spent on the devices also continues to increase with the ever growing variety of rich content including: social media, entertainment, news, special offers, coupons and the like. 

The message for businesses especially retailers: create a presence now on the mobile web and in the various app sites (iPhone Store, Android Market) to reach and interact with this mobile audience, keep them engaged with interesting content and timely offers, and you'll have a great opportunity to establish a long term consumer relationship with not only an individual but due to the viral nature of mobile technology, with his or her friends and family as well.

Mobile commerce is the use of devices like an iPhone or Blackberry to either make purchases or do some kind of product research.  It is poised to be an increasingly prolific marketing tool and the companies that want to succeed in the next decade will be the ones to identify who is using it and successfully market to them.  

Things happen fast; it was only June 2007 when the iPhone first came out.  Given that the industry has come so far so fast it is not likely that the growth will slow down.

The first part of the equation for companies who want to be successful in the m-commerce arena will be to develop applications that target the right demographic.  The people who are most likely to download mobile shopping applications are actually the ones from the 25 to 44 age group.  They tend to have a high level of disposable income and they are relatively comfortable with technology.

The majority of consumers that will want to use mobile applications for shopping online or for product research will be doing so because time is important to them. They will likely have more interest in getting the best product at a reasonable price and save time doing it than they will to get the absolute lowest price. Companies won’t need to sell their products at fire sale prices to successfully reach this demographic.  What they will need to do is offer them convenience.

Another way to pull them in is to offer them something that is fun to do.  There are already mobile applications where you can build your own pizza.  That’s definitely fun, and could probably pull in more customers.  Imagine that this could be done to sell everything from vacations to cars.

The right application would allow a person to visualize what they’re putting together and then buy it.  You could be sitting waiting in the dentist’s office while you select which wheels you want to see on your new car.  You can call the dealership to make sure they’ve got your order from your mobile application and ask them when you can come and pick it up.  

Imagine being able to input a list of all the things you want in your vacation to your mobile device and having it send images back to you of potential destinations including flights and price comparisons.

One of the best things about the people that are likely to download mobile applications is that they are generally tech savvy and won’t need a great deal of support.  It can cost a company a great deal of money to have call centers taking calls around the clock from clients that cannot figure out how to use an application.  Not only does it cost a lot of money, but those clients won’t be calling for long.  They will get fed up and go somewhere else.  In the world of m-commerce, somewhere else is likely only a few clicks or thumb flicks away so it will be absolutely crucial for companies to deploy usable and convenient applications.

Mobile marketing is well on its way of becoming a central part of every successful marketing and visibility strategy.

However, the integration of mobile marketing into existing marketing strategies on a large scale will not happen spontaneously. Instead, it will come about through a concerted effort to educate companies and other organizations about the benefits and unique qualities of mobile outreach.

Teach reach

Enterprises across the nation and the world are already realizing the tremendous reach and penetrating power of leveraging the mobile device for marketing purposes, and they are coming to this realization by discerning the trends and facts on the ground.

Hundreds of millions of Americans use their mobile devices every day, and a solid majority of them express a desire to receive pushed announcements, special offers, coupons, marketing message of some sort through their mobile.

In fact redemption rates for mobile initiatives dwarf those of traditional marketing programs. What's more, the cost per impression of a mobile campaign is often far lower than that of a mainstream media advertising campaign.

It is where your customers are

Mobile phone saturation is nearly complete in the developed world, and the use of mobile devices is on the rise just about everywhere.

This makes the mobile landscape the place of residence for most – not many, most – of the world’s consumers. Engaging in a mobile strategy opens up this vast market to any business that wants to participate in it.

It is targeted, relevant and actionable

Much as email and Internet marketing redefined direct marketing, the mobile space is further expanding businesses ability to engage customers in ways that they find appropriate and attractive.

Importantly, the mobile medium reaches purchase-ready consumers directly at the point of sale.

Now, with the maturity of mobile commerce and the flourishing of the mobile Internet, it means that customers can conduct the entire transaction cycle on their mobile device, from marketing to purchasing to consumption.

It is cost-effective

Mobile marketing features some of the lowest cost per touch and cost per impression of any marketing medium.

It is brand-friendly

The ability of mobile marketing messages to be well-branded – a goal for every mobile marketing initiative – along with the high levels of brand interaction associated with mobile applications, and mobile marketing becomes a panacea for companies trying to define or strengthen their brand.

It is versatile

MOBILE MARKETING IS not the next big thing, waiting for the next next big thing to come along and unseat it. It is the big thing, the game-changer.

In technological terms, mobile is the next evolution in communications, one that is redefining how, where and why people connect with one another.