Systematically reaching your target market, and mobilizing that market, is critical for any industry operator. Mobile phone-driven tools, like that just announced by US mobile phone provider Helio, are going to have a growing role over how venues / promoters drive traffic through the doors.

According to Caroline McCarthy:

Helio’s new service, which is ad-supported, lets people in major U.S. cities search on the mobile Web site–linked from the home page of the carrier’s browser–for bars, clubs, and restaurants. Most of the data will be pulled from Buzzd partners like Flavorpill, TimeOut, and the IAC-owned Citysearch. Added on, however, will be “event feeds” with specific pricing and night-specific details as well as short user reviews in real time.

Helio’s service isn’t quite there yet — it still doesn’t fully link into the ’social networking’ of nightlife guests, but it is a tantalizing glimpse at where we are going. Helio may not be the company to succeed with this type of service, but some operator will sooner or later (likely sooner…).

A key characteristic will be the distribution of user / guest reviews. Imagine the impact on buzz on any given night from only a small number of ‘influencers’ shouting out their opinions of your club that night? Already, informal text messaging among friends is playing a huge role in night-to-night turnout at venues. Take that one degree further and systemize the ability for opinions / reviews to be widely circulated in real time…

This can be a nightmare for venues… or a huge opportunity. Those that figure out how to identify, track, and harness the influencers in their local market will have a huge advantage. After that, it becomes a matter of winning the ’small battles’ — encouraging your guests to evangelize your venue and start that viral spiral going in the right direction.