In the columns, “5 Things About Mobile Marketing Your Venue Should Consider,” I touched on some ways that mobile is changing nightlife behavior. Today, let’s narrow in on one piece of that puzzle: the importance of mobile to nightclubs, bars and lounges, and why mobile should be part of each nightlife professional’s marketing mix.

Follow the Eyeballs

Today, in the U.S. alone, there are more than 85 million mobile Internet users, according to eMarketer. The consultancy projects that number to reach 100 million by next year. Smartphone growth is clearly driving a sea change here, and other data points to mobile Web access outpacing PC Web access within the next five years, globally.

Follow the Money

Ad spending on mobile/wireless continues to explode, reaching more than $1.1 billion in 2010, according to this Fast Company infographic. The category breakdown is all over the board depending on source, but retail is usually among the top players. At that level, it’s no longer an option, an afterthought, or an experiment. It’s a strategic and tactical imperative.

Mobile Purchasing Is Growing, But It’s Not the Only Thing

There is little doubt that m-commerce and mobile-based payment solutions are the future of retail. But in the interim (and potentially beyond), while the industry sorts out ways to make purchases via mobile Web easier and navigates the challenges of mobile point-of-sale (POS) integration, retailers are leveraging mobile advertising to accomplish a multitude of goals, ranging from application downloads to driving sales via click-to-call and various retail promotions. Driving an immediate sale is one thing, but retailers are clearly looking beyond that possibility and are factoring mobile into longer-term strategic plans that involve building a relationship with their consumer base over time.

New Interactions Enabled by Rich Media

Mobile rich media is reinventing the mobile display landscape much in the same way that its desktop PC cousin did. It broadens the horizon of what is possible with interactive advertising. It brings new interactions modes. It creates entirely new ways for nightlife professionals to interact with their consumers, whether via touch, gesture, shake, location-driven messaging, or whatever else. It delivers an entirely new creative palette for nightlife marketers to leverage.

Location May Actually Be Everything

The whole marketing industry is abuzz about location, driven by the popularity of geo-social applications like (but not limited to) Foursquare. Nightlife professionals are chasing this opportunity quickly, joining programs like Shopkick, getting deeply involved with Foursquare and others, and so on. But it’s really just the beginning. Already, companies like Placecast are enabling retailers to send location-specific messaging to an opted-in group of consumers when they enter a specific geographic region (say, within two miles of a particular brick-and-mortar location). The opportunities and implications are massive in this space.

Nightclubs needs mobile. And mobile needs nightclubs. Consumers expect solid service and integration between digital platforms, with mobile at the center. It’s our obligation to make it happen. As the utility and entertainment value of mobile media continues to expand, the audience is following – and the new options represented by mobile are fundamentally changing media consumption. To ignore the channel’s massive advertising potential is folly.

I look forward to your comments.

Follow Alex Miranda on Twitter

Follow Nightlife Marketing Resource on Twitter

Join Nightlife Marketing Resource on Facebook