The Evolution of Mobile Marketing and Why it’s so Important for Businesses in 2017

Mobile technology has come on a long way since 1973 when the first ever mobile telephone phone call was made.  Today people are more reliant on their phones than ever before and use them for a whole range of different things. From surfing the web to checking Facebook profiles and even snap-chatting, the mobile phone has gone on to establish itself as one of the most important accessories in our lives.  Gone are the days when nearly everyone owned a Nokia 1110 and could only text or play snake. Today’s smartphones are quite literally mini supercomputers and the possibilities for marketers are simply endless.

The very first form of mobile marketing originated in Finland when a mobile news service began using SMS to text news headlines to their subscribers. It quickly became one of the most popular new methods of marketing, highlighted by Nike’s hugely successful SMS campaign in 2003. Up until SMS came along, the email had been one of the more favored methods of marketing communication, however, marketers quickly cottoned on to the fact that people were much more likely to read a text than an email. Today SMS marketing is still very much alive, although, following the introduction of smartphones, advertisers have since gone on to find new and more innovative ways to promote their products.

The impact of Smartphones on the advertising industry

The term smartphone is not a new one. In fact, the very first smartphone was created in 1994, when the IBM Simon became the first ever mobile phone to feature software applications and touch screen technology. Compared to a modern day iPhone or Samsung, the IBM Simon was incredibly basic; however, it set a precedent for future companies to follow.  Nowadays most of the western world owns a smartphone and it is estimated that just over 36 percent of the total population will be using a smartphone by 2018 – a staggering statistic when you consider the fact they have only been around for the last two decades.

For advertisers, the smartphone represents a wealth of opportunity, and one of the fastest growing forms of promotion is currently in-app advertising.  According to Arthur (2014), smartphone users spend approximately 80% of their time using mobile apps, making this a highly effective form of advertising.  The mobile app industry is continuing to grow at a rapid rate with gross annual revenue expected to exceed $189 billion by 2020. For business owners, this is an opportunity you can ill afford to miss and mobile advertising is likely to be one of the biggest priorities for businesses in 2017.  This year it is estimated that 59.5 percent of Google’s net global ad revenues will come from mobile Internet ads alone, a rise of more than 10% since 2015(venturebeat.com) and for those still not convinced by the potential power of mobile marketing, check out our infographic via https://appinstitute.com/mobile-data/ which provides real-time data on Mobile app/web usage from around the world. Some of the figures are absolutely staggering.

Mobile App and Mobile Web Statistics and Data in Real Time