The most recent CITA (an international association for the wireless industry) data indicates that 89% of the total U.S. population are cell phone users. “Right now there are close to 300 million mobile phones in use in this country,” states Ola Ayeni, president/ceo, Mobile Dialog, a mobile marketing firm. And of those, he says 99% are text-enabled and close to 90 million are smart phones (Blackberry, iPhone, Android, etc.) with advanced capabilities such as email, texting, camera, and Internet. As a result, consumers are using mobile phones like miniature computers. In fact, according to a ComScore Mobilens study last fall, those using mobile media (use their phone’s browser, applications, download content, etc.) measure 34% – about the same percentage as those who use SMS text messaging or just voice capabilities.

Marketers understand the momentum – and the potential of connecting and interacting with consumers almost immediately, wherever they are. The Mobile Marketing Association predicts that mobile marketing will be one of the fastest growing marketing strategies, along with social media. And increasing numbers of those marketers are restaurant marketers – testing the waters with text message and mobile email campaigns, mobile-friendly Web sites and applications, social networking on mobile devices, and mobile advertising.

A frontier with a great potential for restaurants is local search – people are increasingly using their cell phones to find information about what’s around them when they’re away from a computer, using phones with GPS capabilities (which experts say will become commonplace). For example, on an iPhone or Android phone, Google offers the option to click “near me now” to bring up search results close to the user’s immediate location. “Location-based capabilities will be huge,” says Kim Dushinski, founder, Mobile Marketing Profits, a consulting firm. And while she acknowledges that strategies involved are advanced for those beginning in mobile marketing, she advises, “Restaurants must have a local business listing on Google and they must participate as actively as possible on Yelp, OpenTable, etc. – sites that offer mobile experiences.” Ola agrees, “Yelp and Urbanspoon have incredible mobile apps, and you can’t afford not to be part of Google.” (Visit Google.com/LocalBusinessCenter for a free business listing and other services including offering mobile coupons.) Next edition: an update on text messaging campaigns.