Gone are the days of 60-minute TV shows. Consumers today have become very selective - they only want to nosh on the most interesting bite sized subject matter when, time spent on mobile devices grew 9.3 percent in 2014. While time spent on TV has remained flat. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American consumer is allotting almost 3 hours per day to their mobile devices.

This vast following of opted-in consumers has created a tremendous opportunity for brands to turn these users into brand loyalists by presenting them with personalized and engaging content. Today, CMOs can leverage their apps as strategic marketing channels to promote products and services enabling them to monetize their customers in a new way.

Having 17.2 million active mobile app users and TripAdvisor, which owns multiple apps including TripAdvisor, City Guides, SeatGuru, Jetsetter, and GateGuru

In today's digital era, branded apps from leading banks to the most popular airlines have hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of opted-in consumers.

1- Engage your audience when and where they are

Now that mobile viewing has officially surpassed TV, it has become the new primetime. In fact, according to Flurry Analytics, time spent on mobile devices grew 9.3 percent in 2014. While time spent on TV has remained flat. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American consumer is allotting almost 3 hours per day to their mobile devices.

Gone are the days of 60-minute TV shows. Consumers today have become very selective - they only want to nosh on the most interesting bite sized subject matter when and where they want. To no surprise, mobile has become the ideal forum for consuming content.

2- Don't recreate the wheel - leverage existing content channels

When implementing a mobile content marketing strategy, the task of developing new and organic content for apps can be one of the biggest roadblocks for CMOs.

Ironically, most brands overlook their existing content that lives within various company entities, including social media feeds, blogs, webinars, video clips, eBooks, etc. A successful mobile content marketing strategy doesn't require the marketer to reinvent the content; rather, the focus should be on curating existing content and presenting it in fresh and interesting new ways. As Kevin Spacey recently said, "the audience has spoken. They want stories."

3- Trust in the 21st century - let technology simplify your processes

As mobile marketing becomes more complex, brands should consider taking advantage of mobile content marketing solutions that could help them monetize their opted-in users. By personalizing existing content to users in real-time, brands will increase the duration of in-app sessions and retention. Time spent within an app interacting with engaging content translates to more money spent with the brand.

4- Use big data to personalize content and inform all marketing channels

With access to millions of opted-in users, marketers can take advantage of the data collected from each individual customer to help personalize and improve user experiences. Remembering that no customer is alike, collecting and leveraging customer data (in-app habits, preferences, etc.) can turn a consumer's mobile session into an enjoyable content journey and keep them coming back for more. Additionally, by leveraging data from their apps, CMOs can use the data to inform other existing marketing channels. For example, emailing users with relevant offers and promotions based on their mobile viewing or digital preferences can help increase conversions.

In addition to serving highly personalized information, brands can provide ways for their partners to promote their products and services via in-app sponsorship opportunities. Partners can also capitalize on user data for targeting purposes to present relevant content based on individual preferences.

5- Set monthly business reviews and goals

Gather user data to find out what is being viewed the most, shared, liked, etc. to evaluate what marketing programs and content are performing (or not), and habitually optimize the mobile content marketing strategy for continually improved results. Use data to make informed, actionable decisions on what is succeeding or failing, and make real-time adjustments to address the wants and demands of brand loyalists. If certain content isn't trending as much as others try to understand why some content is more popular and fine-tune the content on the fly.

What's Next?

As CMOs continue to maximize their content marketing efforts across countless screens, one thing is certain - marketers will undoubtedly be thinking about exciting and innovative ways to develop and deploy a successful mobile content marketing strategy. Whether embarking on new or updated mobile content marketing programs, remember to leverage existing assets and find unique, creative approaches to engage more opted-in app users. This is the secret to creating more valuable customer relationships.