Amidst Big 2013 Figures, Mobile Spend Expected To Surpass Desktop By 2017

Based on an estimated 120% increase in spend from 2012, mobile looks to be garnering some serious budgets while desktop spend is slowing to a halt with a 1.69% growth from the year prior. Based on this trajectory, eMarketer anticipates mobile spend will surpass desktop in 2017. It appears after initial grumblings of “small screen size” and “fleeting attention”, marketers are starting to treat mobile as the next playground given its intimate connection to our lives. Expect interesting location-based engagements leveraging GPS, wifi and now bluetooth location data to increase in mobile, while custom sponsorships and branded content are likely to compete for a larger piece of desktop spend over the next year as well. 

Report: Majority Of Americans Favor TV For News

It can be easy to get caught up in the latest news feeds and aggregation apps and forget about how the average American still accesses their news: through TV. A new Gallup poll shows that a little more than half of the US still stays informed through TV, compared to 27% who consume news online. Not surprisingly, print has plummeted to just 6-8% of those 64 or younger. Check out the full report for the comprehensive statistics. 

Mobile Payments To Top $1 Billion in 2013

Although the mobile payments market is growing slower than projected, eMarketer nonetheless predicts that mobile payments in the US will break the $1 Billion mark this year – and then shoot up to $58 Billion by 2017. The report defines mobile payments as “transactions for goods or services made by scanning, tapping, swiping, or checking in with a mobile phone at the point o sale,” which differs from mobile commerce – defined as purchasing items on a mobile device. Those sales will hit $34 Billion this year. Mobile payments stalled this year due to the “congested landscape of competing technologies,” that will check its growth until about 2016, when eMarketer predicts a consolidation that will allow the medium to take off.

Mobile Shopping On The Rise Among Affluent Consumers

Mobile shopping is taking off among affluent consumers according to a recent study from eMarketer. Stating convenience as the main driver, affluent shoppers who have purchased on mobile increased from 23% in 2011 to 51% in 2012. Shopping apps have certainly aided this surge, but we can’t forget mobile payments for in-store items as well. Both activities place the phone at the center of commerce. 

Marketing budgets must open to social

Social media's percent of marketing budgets (iStock) To remain successful, marketers MUST market in the social web. According to a May 2009 Anderson Analytics’ survey, 52% of social network users had become a fan or follower of a company or brand, while 46% had said something good about a brand or company on a social network. No matter the marketing goal, from customer service, branding, and lead generation to direct marketing and e-commerce, there is a place for social media in the marketing plan.

Although companies have begun to realize the importance of social media marketing in the near term, budgets have been slow to open up. While traditional media channels attract the largest percentage, online channels represent a growing portion of all marketing spend. But although social network interest, momentum and overall ad budgets are increasing, social network spending will remain a small percentage of total US online spending, remaining at 4.7% to 4.8% over the next few years (eMarketer). Still it’s important to recognize that resources directed to the social media space include time and effort and can be less concrete, and the key advantage of social media marketing is that you can get a lot of value for little investment. Continue reading “Marketing budgets must open to social”