More Companies Dialing into Mobile Marketing

Perhaps as a reflection of the rapid adoption of smartphones and other internet-connected mobile devices, more companies have increased their spending for mobile marketing campaigns, according to Digital Marketer's managing editor.

The online newsletter notes that more signals suggest budgets for adding digital mobile components to campaigns are on the rise, and will only increase from the 0.9 percent share of advertising dollars that mobile pulled in over 2011.

Digital Marketer cites research from Nielsen, which puts the group of smartphone-owning Americans at 43 percent of the population of cellphone users. While mobile commerce only accounted for 2 percent of all ecommerce spending in 2010 - possibly held back by small screen sizes - that market may become a bigger target for advertisers in the future.

The company predicts that mobile ecommerce statistics will be more positive as 2012 progresses, and will rise from the measly 0.9 percent share of advertising spend that the channel took home in 2011.

"With the sheer number of smartphones being purchased, methods for purchasing using smartphones will surely be improved and then advertising should follow," the company says.

That increase may mean greater chances for ad agencies running multi-channel campaigns. Vanessa Clark writes for Biz Community that the "failure" of mobile marketing last year was "more about missed opportunity, too little integration of mobile into overall marketing tactics and the need to be much more strategic about using mobile marketing."

She notes that not all mobile marketing has to be preemptive - some of it can even occur at the point of sale in a brick-and-mortar store. For instance, consider having a QR code at the checkout that sends the consumer to a special website or gives them a coupon for use when it's their turn at the cash register, or offer a reward for the customer who shares an experience or photo of themselves using a certain brand or product.