May is usually a transition month for most midwesterners — storing the cold weather gear and bringing out the hot weather supplies. We BBQ, we burn our pasty white skin, and we look forward to a little slower summer pace.

Mobile doesn’t take a similar seasonal shift. It’s been a race to curate an every expanding and diversifying mobile content pool. If there are topics that you’re tracking and I might be missing, send me a message: email@curtprins.com.

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Here are 7 of the 15 items that I sent in May:

#1: Coca-Cola Powerwashes New Orleans.

Guerrilla or street marketing has always meshed well with mobile. Incorporate a SMS opt-in message or QR code on a sidewalk stencil and you’re good to go…except if you’re a Fortune 500 company and breaking a city ordinance.

It’s a great lesson to learn from Coca-Cola’s mistake:   http://bit.ly/L3DuMt

#2: Mobile Coupon Mania

Paper coupons have always ‘enjoyed’ a redemption rate of well under 1%. After a rough start a few years ago, redemption rates on mobile coupons will approach 8% by 2016 (Juniper:  http://bit.ly/MucSXu). Here are three other great sources on the matter:

• Different stores, different mobile habits (Nielsen):   http://bit.ly/MudufO
• 21% hunted for an in-store mobile coupons (JiWire):   http://bit.ly/MudP1Y
• <10% of mobile user have received a mobile coupon (Mercator):  http://bit.ly/MudZ9I

If you’re taking a serious look at mobile coupons, check out this great local source:  http://mixmobi.com

#3: Responsive Design Isn’t.

Responsive design is a method where one web site morphs based on what device it’s viewed. The only people who seems to love this method is web designers—one less site to maintain. Mobile is not a form factor, it’s a behavior. Mobile web users have different information needs and habits than Internet users.

If you’re contemplating a mobile site, this post from BlueTrain Mobile is required reading:  http://bit.ly/LIs1aQ

 

#4: And Then There Were Four.

The mobile credit card swiping world is getting crowded. With Square, Intuit and PayPal battling for market dominance, VeriFone decided to join the fight. While the fees line up with their competitors, VeriFone launched their platform, Sail, with something the others did not: an SDK for developers. This battle just got interesting.

Read their release here:  http://bit.ly/ICS3a8

#5:  Average Click Thru Rate on SMS: 6.16%

Pulling from metric from over 500M test messages, the SMS vendor Signal compares its numbers against numbers against other sources. SMS handedly beats email marketing by more than 2:1, PPC by 3:1 and let’s not talk about Facebook’s CTR.

It’s a great blog post, especially for you SMS-haters:  http://bit.ly/J6G2NJ

#6: When to Use SMS for Marketing.

Text Messaging perplexes many marketers. Some have used it for branding and failed. Others thought it was a new tool for lead acquisition and also failed. SMS works best when you’ve already connected with a prospect using other promotional methods. It reinforces the existing relationships with your customers and can make their lives easier. And when combined with other mobile marketing tools, it captures the actions of your customers and prospects when their interests peak.

HubSpot builds off the post above to tell you when and to use SMS:  http://bit.ly/KcIL9U

#7: Mobile Inspirations from the Developing World.

Many could use a mobile strategy reset. When most think mobile, they think mobile app. While I have a personal jihad against the mobile app first route, most overlook the power and flexibility of SMS. Instead of selling SMS’ strengths yet again, let’s take a look at where its innovative use really occurs: the developing world.

The PCMag article should inspire some innovative thinking over your lunch hour:  http://bit.ly/KwVBP6