What if your company could target advertising and promotions to the right people in a manner that is "just in time" and relevant to them? What if this marketing was permission based and seamless to the user experience? Sound interesting or far-fetched? With the power of properly linked data that day is coming sooner than you might expect.

Recently, I spoke with two companies that are on the cutting edge of geography-targeted services that are opening up the world of mobile advertising on the handheld platform -- Jabbertise and Relevantis.

Jabbertise

The Internet is the primary tool most people use to find local merchants before shopping. So the days of the web not being relevant to brick-and-mortar stores is long gone. For many of these merchants, though, if they even have a web presence it is a very basic brochure getting little traffic, and it does little to build relationships with potential customers. That is where Silicon-Valley based Jabbertise comes in.

Using a geography targeted service that aggregates local merchants based on the zip codes of their physical location, merchants can tap into the power of mobile technology and permission based marketing. Jabbertise offers a solution that targets both merchants and consumers but from different angles.

For the merchant, it offers the opportunity to have a web presence that receives internet traffic and translates into increased foot traffic into stores based on merchant-provided mobile coupons and offers. Because Jabbertise is promoting the different virtual merchant malls in each geography, businesses benefit from increased Internet traffic, visibility, increased foot traffic and the ability to communicate with potential customers via their cell phones and email addresses in a way that has zero tolerance for spam.

For consumers it offers a local mall-like experience via the web and mobile device based on a person's geography. Consumers can sign up and opt-in to receive electronic coupons from specific merchants or all merchants in certain Jabbertise locations or categories.

According to Jabbertise founder and President Jennifer Persson, "The secret sauce is in its simplicity. It is targeted for soccer moms, students, and other budget-conscious folks who are smart with their money."

The coupons are "hip and green" as they are delivered directly to a consumer's cell phone using text/SMS messaging, leveraging existing technologies and carriers while providing a new mobile marketing engine, Persson said.

Consumers will have the ability to search the site and merchants via cell phone and then search for coupons as a quick way to save money based on where they are at any given point in time. No longer will you have to remember paper coupons or recycle gobs of unused coupons. You can grab them on-demand electronically via your cell and present that text message at the store or restaurant to redeem it.

Relevantis

What if advertising were so targeted, relevant, and integrated into a person's experience that it didn't feel like advertising? That is what Relevantis is in the process of doing with its Universal Ad Platform and Relevancy Engine. As a technology provider, Relevantis works with existing mobile web sites, application providers, and device manufacturers to provide relevant and seamless advertising within existing web services.

Click here for page II of this story at Intranet Journal.