Where Is All The Mobile Marketing Money Going?

Currently, the mobile advertising market plays a back seat to traditional and online marketing, with only about $160 million being devoted to it in 2008.  However, the Kelsey Group is projecting that number will balloon to $3.1 billion (yeah, I said billion) by 2013.  So where will all that mobile advertising money be spent?

Currently, mobile advertising is broken down into three categories: Display Ads, SMS Marketing, and Search Adwords. As Erick Schonfeld shows us, SMS Marketing enjoys a commanding majority of the market share, accounting for 63% (just over $100 million) of the money spent.  However, by 2013, the Kelsey Group expects Search Campaigns to overtake all other forms of mobile advertising, with a projected 73% of the multi-billion dollar industry.  Intuitively it makes sense: People searching for something are more receptive to advertising.  And if you are able to incorporate some of the location aware technology into the search parameters, the results can become much more personalized.

For companies that already advertise with search campaigns (and even those who don’t), now is the time to start considering your mobile strategy as well.  Where do you want your potential customers routed to when they find you on Google via a mobile device?  Watch for a blog next week on why it is important to address your mobile presence differently from your online one…