By Warren Billington

As an Australian, my idea of "football" always involved a round ball. Goals, not touchdowns were the aim of the game. Having recently moved to the United States, it's a different story.

It's hard to see what lasting impact David Beckham's move to the U.S. will have on a country that's not obsessed with his kind of football. In many ways, you could say the same about the realm of mobile marketing.

For many countries, including Australia, mobile marketing is already a part of the strategic toolkit for brands. Here, there's still some work to do in integrating a mobile component as part of an extended marketing campaign. In some quarters, it's seen as an afterthought, or worse, not a thought at all.

So, here are some challenges preventing mobile marketing from breaking through to the mainstream marketing consciousness. Also included are ways that mobile marketers can learn from the sports world when it comes to making mobile count in the mass market:

Help wanted: major players in the U.S.: In part because of the slower pick-up of mobile in the U.S. compared to other markets, the mobile marketing industry here is in its infant stages -- the experienced professionals aren't here, like with soccer in America.

It can be challenging to get campaigns off the ground without the army of seasoned mobile marketing professionals that many other markets have on their side. Marketers should consult those who are experts in the field to ensure they get value out of their campaigns.

Breaking down the defensive walls: Even after the uptake of SMS messaging in the U.S., brands have been limited by the walls between carriers. Brands that did earlier promotions with a single carrier were disappointed with limited reach to one carrier's subscriber list.

Brands are now able to do more cross-network promotion, so they should take advantage of the potential here. Complex and often restrictive policies make it necessary to enlist industry veterans who have the expertise in navigating these policies for a mobile campaign.

Breaking through other proven marketing strategies: There are established and proven marketing methods that already work in the U.S., which have a clear ROI. Now that the U.S. mobile market has skyrocketed over the last few years, marketers feel more comfortable with trying out this technology.

Many early programs didn't dedicate enough budgets to mobile pieces or promote them in the most effective way, leading to an even smaller participation rate than the market at the time would have expected.

As some of the tangible results from mobile marketing become more high profile -- just like Mr. Beckham -- others should stand up and follow to achieve that success.

You have to invest and support a game if you want it to be successful. In the same way, mobile marketing needs to be supported financially.

Marketers need to begin testing mobile and increase their understanding of the game so they can then integrate it into their strategic marketing planning for the long term.

Warren Billington is cofounder and vice president of sales for mobile marketing at 5th Finger, a mobile services firm in San Francisco. Reach him at .