Smartphone’s have gone mainstream. As of March 2011, nearly 72.5 million Americans—nearly 25% of the population—owned one. So it should come as no surprise that companies increasingly are leveraging mobile technology as a marketing and customer engagement tool.

Last week, Hubspot devoted 64 pages of information, charts and graphs to the explosive growth of mobile marketing. But the analysis failed to mention an important opportunity for companies to look internally at engaging their workforce through their mobile.

Most PR pros opt for a combined marketing approach relying on multiple channels to fit their various audiences and demographics.  An organization’s internal communication campaign is no different and should address their employee’s reliance and use of mobile technologies.

The Mobile Lifeline

As cell phones have increased their features and functionalities, they’ve become a constant, increasingly indispensable appendage. The majority of women will opt to leave their purse at a restaurant table—but will still take their cell phones to the restroom.  Companies can take advantage of this new culture and engage, reward, and communicate to their on-the-go employees.

Apps and texting are the preferred method of engagement for a growing number of your workforce.  Each month in the United States, nearly 19 billion text messages are sent.  A growing number of people are relying on their smartphone device to be their alarm clock, mobile computer, video and still camera, music player, and even television device.  Our need to stay connected no matter where we work or play is the driving force behind this new mobile workplace.  Our definition of work is also impacting the increase in reliance on mobile technologies.

The Flexibility of Mobile

In 2010, the Government Telework Bill was passed allowing federal workers greater flexibility to work virtually from home.  Flexible work schedules and programs like the Results Oriented Workforce (ROWE) are driving companies and managers with how they communicate, reward, recognize and engage their workforce.  Mobile apps, push notifications, text messaging, email, video chatting, and mobile websites offer different channels to ensure that all parties are working and communicating towards a common goal.

What Your Employee Engagement Strategy Needs to Consider

• Mobile Apps.  With more than 11 billion apps downloaded from the Apple store in 2010 and 8 billion expected in 2011, these are popular ways to customize your smartphone.  Company specific apps and communication channels can be downloaded and offer unique ways to engage and hold the attention of your workforce.

• Push Notifications.  These are common features used in conjunction with a mobile app.  Notifications and information can be “pushed” to the front of the user’s phone, increasing the likelihood that they will read the message.

• Texting.  Ninety-four percent of text messages are read.  Text messaging reaches a larger cell phone user population.  Although the smartphone market is growing, text messaging is the most popular activity, outpacing phone calls, when it comes to cell phones. (In comparison, emails get a lower read rate; and emailers take longer to respond when using a mobile device.)

• Video Chatting.  Skype, GoToMeeting, and other apps allow mobile users the ability to video chat with the device providing a more personal conversation or discussion among users.  In my house, Skype is our communication tool of choice with our three-year-old daughter when my husband or I is away.

Maximizing Your Impact

Adding mobile not only increases the likelihood that your message will reach your intended audience, but it also makes the ability to communicate easier and more frequent.  And isn’t that what employees want?  I’ve never seen an employee survey where too much communication was cited as a problem.  And if that survey did happen, would it really be a bad thing?  Likely not.