Companies such as AT&T and M&M?s have stepped up their game in terms of television campaigns for Valentine?s Day, but industry experts say they are missing out by not incorporating mobile to further engage the ever-growing number of on-the-go consumers.

Both companies chose to do television advertisements to celebrate the holiday and drove customers online to further participate in the campaign. However, the campaigns lacked a mobile call-to-action of any kind, which would have been easier for consumers who were not in front of a computer.

?Anything that you do on the Web and on TV can be done on mobile,? said Michael Burke, cofounder of appssavvy, Chicago. ?A majority of audiences have smartphones.

?With mobile, it?s a bigger impact because it?s such a personal device,? he said. ?Mobile gives you the ability to capture someone?s attention ? it?s an impact device.?

AT&T?s mountain of men
AT&T?s ?Shout your love from the mountaintop? campaign let users declare their love on its Facebook page.

The AT&T commercial focused on several mountain men who shout their declaration of love from a mountaintop.

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After the commercial, users were encouraged to visit AT&T?s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/ATT.

Users had the option of submitting their message via the Facebook page. The message then got sent to a group of fully qualified Mountain Man Yellers on a real mountaintop, per AT&T.

Then, users were encouraged to come back on Feb. 14 to hear all of the live shouting via webcast. 

As engaging as the TV advertisement and social aspect of the campaign is, AT&T could have taken an extra step to incorporate a mobile component such as SMS in the campaign.

The company could have asked users to shout their love via SMS and send it to a designated short code.

Then, users could have received a text back with a link to the company?s Facebook page to see if their shout was chosen.

?There has been tremendous growth in texting over the last few years, specifically on Valentine?s Day,? said Shira Simmonds, president/CEO of Ping Mobile, Englewood Cliffs, NJ. ?AT&T?s Valentine?s Day campaign is both clever and out of the box, and includes the required ingredients for a successful social media campaign.

?However, it would have been wise for AT&T to leverage its database of over 95 million subscribers by sending them an SMS message announcing the promotion and giving their own subscribers priority on replying back to have their message of love shouted from the mountain tops,? she said. ?These texts would take off virally as well, as subscribers would forward them to friends in minutes.

?In addition, including a keyword call to action on their viral videos, would have increased exposure and responses, rather than only directing users to a Facebook page.?

Love M&M?s
M&M?s was another company that ran a Valentine's-themed TV advertisement.

The commercial featured the M&M character Red sitting on a bench next to a woman who says she loves him. However, Red cannot find the words to express his feelings.

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The commercial then says, ?If it?s hard to express your feelings, make it easier with personalized M&M?s candies. By adding your own words and faces, you can make Valentine?s Day or any other occasion truly special.?

Users are then encouraged to visit the company?s Web site at http://www.MyMMs.com to create their own personalized candy.

While the commercial is cute and sweet ? a perfect combination for Valentine?s Day ? consumers who have mobile devices might find it frustrating looking at a site that is not optimized for their handset, especially a site that requires Adobe Flash to be able to personalize M&M?s.

The M&M's site is not personalized for mobile

?I think at this point it?s insane, especially for a huge brand, to work on any type of marketing that you can?t access from your phone,? said April Sailsbury, director of marketing at MacroSolve, Tulsa, OK. ?I don?t know if they?re not noticing it or if they?re not thinking about it, but it?s the deadliest sin.

?You?re losing a huge amount of customers that way,? Ms. Sailsbury said. ?If users see a commercial on TV, they?re not going to run and get their laptop.

?Chances are their phone is in their hand already,? she said.

Take note
While companies such as AT&T and M&M?s missed the mark in terms of incorporating mobile into their Valentine?s Day campaigns this year, it is important that brands recognize that they need to be where their consumers are.

Mobile can fit into any multichannel strategy and can enhance a social experience.

Each company should find out what best fits into their goals, whether it be SMS, mobile video, mobile advertising or applications.

Whatever the choice is, companies should focus on reaching their on-the-go consumers.

?I think Valentine's Day is a widely forgotten, oh-my-god I need a last-minute gift holiday,? said Scott Dunlap, vice president of mobile at JiWire, San Francisco.

?Mobile is perfect for that ? get the gift from your phone, or point you to a nearby store to get a last-minute thing that isn't cliché,? he said.