Mobile Marketing Trends and How They’ll Affect Your Business

Mobile marketing is a brave new world, daring to take businesses where they have never been before. If you're not using a marketing guide, chances are you're going to end up lost in the shuffle. We've compiled what appears to be the hottest trends currently setting the mobile marketing world on fire.

1. Mobile advertising spending is going up, up and away. This year alone, mobile advertising spending has reached the billion dollar mark - on its way to $2.5 billion by 2014.
2. Smartphones are taking over the world. Ok, a little dramatic, yes, but you get the idea. It's expected that by the end of 2011, smartphone users will reach nearly 74 million or 23% of the mobile phone population. By 2015 that number jumps to 43%.
3. Keeping up with the iPads. Nearly every cell phone manufacturer has jumped on the tablet bandwagon in an effort to keep up with the popularity of the iPads.
4. Mobile websites are becoming the rage. With the increased need for reaching customers and prospects via mobile phone, web design has been forced to go mobile. New innovations are springing up in an effort to maximize websites for user ease.
5. Mobile meets social. Americans spend one of every six minutes online in a social networking environment and it's estimated that by 2015, the mobile social network population will hit 79 million. Yet another window of opportunity for marketers to increase their exposure via the power of social media.
6. Check-In Please. It's no longer enough for social media junkies to update their status. Now, they want to update their status with their exact location and who they're with. You have Foursquare, who experienced tremendous growth this year, and now Facebook has added their Places Application - all of this will lead consumers to expect mobile sites that can keep up with them.
7. Make it accessible. Consumers no longer need to rely on their desktops or even laptops. In fact, research shows the average cell phone user spends 6 minutes on their mobile browser. That means that these same consumers want mobile websites that are optimized for speed and efficiency and give them what they want NOW.

There's no doubt about it, folks, Internet users are fast becoming dependent on mobile sites for information and deals. If you're a business owner and hoping to succeed, it's imperative that you put mobile marketing on the front burner.