Just 20 years ago, CMOs were just getting adept at computers and the internet, online shopping was a new concept, and social media, digital media, podcasts, and mobile marketing weren’t even on anybody’s radar. Those days are gone and a technological revolution has heralded in a host of vehicles that CMOs are trying to quickly get up to speed on. Now CMOs must be focused on mobile.

Highlights:

• Mobile is arguably the closest you can get to the consumer.
• The “Physics of Media” indicate that the new channel has the biggest advantage.
• Mobile to overtake fixed internet access by 2014

via: www.forbes.com

According to an eMarketer study, come 2017, ~25% of online retail transactions in the U.S. will take place on mobile devices, more than double the number that occurred in 2012.

Highlights:

• Mobile commerce sales are expected to increase 82% from $24.81 billion to $38.84 billion
• Online retail sales will amount to $258.9 billion, an increase of 14.8% from 2012
• U.S. online retail sales will only amount to $370 billion in 2017

via: mashable.com

An update to the 1991 Telephone Consumer Protection Act goes into effect October 16, 2013. The ruling classifies text messages with auto-dialed "telemarketing robocalls," and requires "prior express written consent" from the recipient. This consent can take the form of an "email, website form, text message, telephone key press, or voice recording." There is no exemption for an existing business relationship.

via: www.clickz.com

According to the revealing findings of a new survey of U.S. college students, those pursuing their higher education are also overwhelmingly fond of pursuing the deals and discounts available to them through the mobile channel. Incredibly, 90% of college students now use their mobile devices to search for deals and coupons.

via: www.mobilemarketingwatch.com

QR (quick response) codes have opened up a new avenue for marketers to increase and measure engagement with consumers. With so many uses and tangible benefits, it's no wonder QR codes are becoming more popular each year.

via: www.imediaconnection.com

More big news when it comes to mobile marketing as a February report from Econsultancy notes 27% of companies worldwide planned to implement location-based marketing in 2013, and 34% intended to invest in mobile advertising.

Highlights:

• The percentage of campaigns using geo-targeting more than doubled, from 17% in 2011 to 36% in 2012
• The restaurant industry served the highest percentage of ads using this geoaware data (43%)
• The travel industry also used real-time mobile location data in 30% of its campaigns

via: www.emarketer.com

Marin Software has released a report on paid click, CPC and conversion trends across the globe, with a focus on mobile. The biggest takeaway is that Marin forecasts that mobile devices (smartphones, tablets) will drive a third of US paid clicks by December 2013.

Highlights:

• As of December 2012, mobile devices accounted for 23.4% of all US paid-search clicks
• Mobile captured 18.4% of search budgets in December
• CPC prices are rising on smartphones and tablets at rates that outpace PC paid search CPC growth

via: searchengineland.com

Mobile had a great year in 2012 as smartphones continued to be consumers’ device of choice and app developers continued to take advantage of time, location, and interactivity. 2013 is proving to be even bigger.

Highlights:

• Passbook was just the start; Google Wallet is about to evolve
• Major payment companies like American Express will release square-like apps
• Google will create an Ad ID

via: www.mediapost.com

According to Boston-based research firm Strategy Analytics, 92% of all smartphones shipped in the last quarter of 2012 ran either Apple or Google’s mobile operating systems, with Android winning the smartphone war globally. Here are some other notable stats:

Hightlights:

• Smartphone growth for the quarter grew 38% annually between Q4 2011 and Q4 2012
• For the entirety of 2012, Android held 68.4% of all smartphone shipments.
• Global ship growth slowed from 64% in 2011 to 43% in 2012

via: readwrite.com

Marketing Pilgrim takes a look at some stats from recent studies and conferences to note the huge increase in mobile commerce in 2013. Here are some of the highlights:

Highlights:

• consumers will use their smartphones and tablets to buy $37.44 billion worth of retail goods in 2013.
• In 2013 there will be 118 million mobile shoppers in the US and in the next few years, 8 out of 10 digital shoppers will also be using mobile.

via: www.marketingpilgrim.com

According to May research from Forrester, younger consumers old enough to have a bit more cash on hand are leading the way on mobile. The research firm found that Generation Y (ages of 24 to 32) led the US in smartphone and mobile adoption.

Highlights:

• Nearly all Generation Y consumers owned a mobile phone of some kind and 72% owned smartphones.
• Nationwide 93% of Americans owned mobile phones, but just 50% owned smartphones
• The greatest percentage of smartphone app users, 33%, were concentrated among those ages 25 to 34

via: www.emarketer.com

Aaron Strought offers some great stats and predictions for mobile marketing as we move into 2013. From mobile analytics to hyper-location technology, you'll find some great information in this article.

Highlights:

• I also anticipate that Facebook will do more to tap into major (Instagram) and minor (Gowalla) acquisitions in 2013
• Retailers will have the ability to know where customers are in their stores
• The U.S. has the second highest number of mobile subscribers in the world with 172 million

via: marketingland.com

As we move into 2013 and the mobile market continues to skyrocket, we thought we’d put together a list of mobile stats you need to know going into 2013.

Highlights:

• Mobile ad spend set to reach $7.19 billion in 2013
• Android is expected to claim 63.8% market share by 2016
• The number of smartphones will exceed 1.82 billion units worldwide in 2013

via: blog.apptopia.com

According to MarketingLand, "If 2012 was finally, definitively “the year of mobile,” we’re likely to look back on 2013 as “the year of the tablet.”"

Highlights:

• Nearly 1 million Nexus 7s were sold in Oct
• 33% of US adults either owned an eReader or a tablet
• By the end of this year, the installed base of smartphones + tablet should exceed PCs globally

via: marketingland.com

According to Forbes, when it comes to mobile in 2013, more devices will go wireless, context will be king, and Facebook may finally launch a phone.

Highlights:

• HTML5 will make a comeback, helping to make smartphones cheaper
• Carriers will lose more control to software providers
• Big demand for big data

via: www.forbes.com

Mobile ads are about to become amply more plentiful with the mobile ad market expected to triple in 2013 to $4 billion.

Other stats to highlight:

• eMarketer believes mobile ad sales will top $7 billion next year, on pace to almost $21 billion by 2016.
• Facebook is expected to generate more than $339 million after rolling out mobile ads

via: www.mobilemarketingwatch.com

Board members from the Mobile Marketing Association pulled together their predictions for 2013 into one great big powerpoint.

Highlights:

• We'll see a shift in mobile strategy and less focus on apps as a result ~ Alex Meisl
• 2013 will be the year advertisers take their campaigns to the next level with audience retargeting. ~ Gavin Stirrat
• In 2013 we will see an increase in cross channel campaigns across mobile devices ~Rob Jonas

via: www.slideshare.net

According to a survey by StrongMail, email, social media, and mobile rank as marketers' top spending priorities for 2013.

Highlights:

• 55.5% of marketing executives say they plan to increase spending on email campaigns in 2013
• 51.8% plan to boost spend on social media
• 42.8% plan to up their spend on mobile marketing.

via: www.marketingprofs.com

With huge mobile growth rates, mobile advertising is clearly the way of the future. Here are some stats showing click through rates by operating system.

Highlights:

• Average iOS CTR - 0.92%
• Average Android CTR - 0.86%
• iOS users click on ads approximately 7% more frequently than Android users

via: marketingland.com