By Patricia Clark

Do acronyms make us feel smarter, more superior? Do we think we can make clients trust us because we can iterate a string of mobile-tech jargon so fast it sounds like we are coding the human genome project?

The answer is a resounding No.

If history is our guide, we should know that this shameless acronym slinging doesn't work. Smart customers demand answers and real results that are, yes, trackable, and that we need to back up.

New technology and innovations inherently hold some intrigue on their own. But when it comes to mobile marketing, you could say that ship has sailed and now, as an industry, it is time to get serious.

My friends are probably tired of hearing me compare mobile marketing to the early days of Internet marketing but there are a lot of parallels.

In the early days of the Internet there were also a huge range of ad units, technologies, measurements and, of course, the sometimes very snobby jargon.

But the industry didn't begin to scale until we had common standards and language in place. The work the Interactive Advertising Bureau did on this was invaluable.

There are those who said this standardization stifled creativity, and forced everyone into banner-sized boxes. But anyone who knows will tell you that customized programs still flourished. It is just that now we had a common currency and the real dollars could have some confidence being put on the table.

The other key was that the Internet marketing industry stopped thinking of itself as separate, dropped the jargon, started speaking marketers' language and started thinking of itself as part of the whole marketing landscape.

When I talk to customers, I sometimes hear that they have tried a test mobile ad or mobile marketing campaign. What really hurts is when I hear that they feel their mobile tests failed because either benchmarks were never set, or the client's objectives were never understood.

Mobile sellers need to understand it is not about you or your application, or your huge number of uniques, or your patented technology -- it is about them. It is about their needs, their brand metrics. You need to speak their language. If they measure engagement, you need to show them engagement.

These very smart marketing professionals and brand stewards understand that mobile is a great way to build two-way conversations for their brands. But without standards and overall understanding of their needs they can be left with questions about the trustworthiness and efficacy of mobile. This hurts our whole industry.

Any great marketing program is only as good as its ability to mobilize an audience. How can we know if that audience was moved? Measurement, tracking, consistent standardization and honesty.

I applaud standards organizations like the Mobile Marketing Association and the Interactive Advertising Bureau and many others who are working to implement consistent standards.

Last July the Mobile Marketing Association issued a public code of conduct for mobile marketing that recommends certain, basic standards for companies offering mobile services.

As you would expect the basics are covered -- privacy, anti-spam policies and so on. All great and all important barometers that will help keep the industry above board. But we need to take this further, faster.

Mobile ad networks, creative shops, publishers and aggregators need to continue working together toward endorsing a system of metrics and measurement we can all agree upon.

Moreover, we need to listen to customers and create programs that really address their concerns and objectives and their overall marketing strategy, including all forms of media.

Mobile marketing will be a true success when it is not insular at all, when the acronyms are gone, when it is just part of every overall marketing effort.

Patricia Clark is vice president of sales at SMS marketing specialist 4Info, New York. Reach her at .