Brafton has reported that mobile marketing has strong potential, with ad spend on the rise and mobile search predicted to account for 8 to 10 percent of overall queries this year. Now, experts at the first annual Internet Retailer's Mobile Commerce Forum say mobile's moment has arrived.
Internet Retailer reports that Will Pinnell, director of mobile commerce for Sabre Holdings, told Mobile Commerce Forum attendees that global mobile shoppers will spend $119 billion by 2015 – up from $12 billion last year. Pinnell says consumers expect mobile commerce options, and marketers must be prepared to meet their demands.
Pinnell reminded businesses that mobile campaigns involve more than optimizing business sites for smartphones – developing mobile-specific content could be key to success. He said that more than half of consumers surveyed indicated they use their phones for activities including reading product information and comparison shopping.
He also advised businesses to plan their campaigns based on mobile subscriber trends. "Recognize different customers and the phones they carry to tailor products specifically to them," Internet Retailer quotes Pinnell as saying.
With this in mind, businesses may be interested in comScore's mobile subscriber market share report, which indicates that Google's operating system is the only one currently demonstrating gains in the mobile market. The company increased its smartphone subscriber share by 6.6 percent in August over May.
The rise in Google-powered phones should be especially good news for marketers hoping to catch on-the-go clicks and m-commerce. A Nielsen report shows that one-third of Android users click on in-app ads – more than consumers using any other smartphone operating system.
