I’m pleased to announce that Customer Intelligence is returning to the Forrester #IMChat tweet jam next week with a session on mobile application measurement – at 2 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, July 12th. Just in case you’re new to our tweet jam sessions, these are weekly interactive discussions held via Twitter on a variety of marketing topics, using the #IMChat hashtag. Everyone is welcome to join in.

Mobile is top of mind for many marketers due to growing market penetration, improved mobile network capacity, and the availability of compelling devices such as smartphones. Engaging with consumers via mobile is no longer optional; the traffic numbers for mobile web browsing and application usage are too big to ignore. I am fascinated by mobile because it is very much related to other interactive channels, and as a platform, mobile is a tremendous enabler of other channels such as social, yet it is a very unique, specialized, and personal experience.

Mobile applications are an exciting frontier for digital marketing, with huge potential for engaging customers and driving revenue and loyalty. But as an emerging channel, mobile applications are challenging due to new and evolving technical requirements, uncertain consumer expectations, and a paucity of benchmarks. Clearly, this is an environment where measurement is critical: to optimize customer experiences, maximize ROI, make the case for investment, and to meet customer needs. But sophisticated mobile application measurement remains the exception rather than the rule.

In April I published my first report on mobile measurement, and the follow-up report on mobile site and application optimization will be available shortly. This tweet jam is an opportunity to continue discussing mobile application measurement with the community to encourage adoption, build up our collective knowledge, and develop best practices.

I will lead this discussion alongside my co-host Brian Suthoff from Localytics – focusing on the following five questions:

1. What role do mobile applications play in the digital marketing mix; are they enablers of marketing and commerce, or are mobile apps products in and of themselves?

2. How do we judge the success of mobile applications?

3. What challenges do you experience in measuring mobile applications?

4. How should mobile application measurement data integrate with other marketing and enterprise systems?

5. As applications mature, is the “mobile” distinction less important than the concept of an “app”?

As always, we’ll be joined by Sarah Glass, who runs our tweet jams, and you can read Suresh Susarla’s post on #IMChat best practices for some additional background information.

So get your thoughts together around measuring mobile applications and join me and the #IMChat team on Tuesday, July 12, at 2 p.m. Eastern time at TweetChat or by following the #IMChat hashtag on your Twitter app of choice.

See you there!