Mobile Marketing Ad Spend to Reach $2.5B by 2014

Mobile Advertising Spend to Reach $2.5B by 2014, According to Google

Not long ago, I had the pleasure of having an email dialogue with Michelle Scruggs from Google about some of the trends she saw coming down the pike in mobile marketing. The dialogue was so insightful, I wanted to post it again for the people who might have missed it the first time we shared it.

Of particular note are the facts that 79% of smartphone owners use their mobile devices to shop and that 59% of the people who do a local search end up visiting that business after conducting the search.

So, with all that said, here are the key facts that came out during the email dialogue with Michelle.

How quickly are advertisers adopting mobile advertising?

US mobile advertising spend was estimated at $743M in 2010 and is expected to reach $2.5B by 2014
Messaging (SMS) made up approximately 44% of mobile advertising spend in 2010, but mobile display, search and video are quickly growing
56.6% of US marketers use mobile display ads and 35.4% use mobile search
However, many companies are not prioritizing mobile – 79% of large online advertisers do not have a mobile optimized site – which is giving early adopters of mobile advertising a competitive advantage
A good mobile experience is an important purchase criteria for users – 61% of users are less likely to visit the mobile site again if they are dissatisfied with the performance of the mobile site

What are some of the trends specifically in mobile search?

There has been 500% growth in mobile search in last 2 years, with mobile searches making up approximately 12% of all searches on Google.com
The top ad position is key for mobile search – 85% of visitors looked at the top 2 results
70% of mobile users complete their search activity within one hour. This very clearly illustrates the “need it now” dimension of much of mobile user behavior
Studies have shown that mobile search behavior is incremental to desktop searches vs. cannibalizing – we see mobile searches peaking during mid-day (lunch), evening (post-work) and weekends when users are potentially away from their PC
Google has been experimenting with several mobile ad formats based on users’ mobile behavior – click to call, location extensions, click to download apps.

What are some of the trends that you’re seeing with how users are interacting with the mobile web?

Mobile entertains us – 65 million minutes (or 125 years!) of Angry Birds is played daily; 200 million mobile playbacks a day on mYouTube.
Mobile complements other media – 86% of mobile phone owners use the mobile Internet while watching TV; during the Superbowl, mobile searches for GoDaddy increased 315x compared to 38x on desktop and Chrysler increased 102x vs. 48x on desktop
Mobile is local – 1 out of 3 mobile searches has local intent; 95% of smartphone users have looked for local business information and 61% of users called while 59% visited that local business after searching
Mobile is the ultimate shopping companion – 79% of smartphone users use mobile devices to help them shop and 74% of consumers purchased as a result of using their smartphone while shopping; up to 20% of Google searches on Black Friday were from mobile. (For more information on how to leverage mobile for your business, read “Mobile Marketing Platforms: What Works and What Doesn’t” on the 60 Second Marketer blog.

What are the trends you are seeing in Tablets?

Google recently separated Tablets from Mobile devices in order to develop solutions best-suited to the tablet user (June 2011)
Google found that 68% of tablet owners use their device at least one hour per day; 34% spend more time on their tablet than watching TV
Tablets have sold faster than any other consumer technology device in history. By the end of 2011, 24 million U.S. consumers will own a tablet and 12.8% of the U.S. population will own a tablet
Apple has sold over 25 million iPads since launch and commands a 97% share of market. However, over 20 new Android-powered tablets launched last year alone
Users treat tablets similar to laptop/desktop – a best practice is to point users to regular website or develop a tablet-optimized site vs. pointing to mobile-optimized site
72% of Gen Xers, 67% of boomers, and 65% of Gen Yers say they use their tablet more than their smartphone to shop online

A very special thank you goes out to Michelle for sharing her wisdom and insights with the 60 Second Marketer community.

Posted by Jamie Turner, Founder of the 60 Second Marketer and co-author of “How to Make Money with Social Media” and “Go Mobile.” He is also a popular marketing speaker at events, trade shows and corporations around the globe.