Tag: mobile marketing

With a highly successful year nearly complete, predictions for next year’s smartphones are already being made.

This year, mobile technology brought about tremendous new successes ranging from the sale of the devices themselves, to record marketing spending, and record mcommerce sales.

For this reason, it is only natural that brands and companies attempt to forecast what is to come in 2013.

According to the most recent reports from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), which is a trade association based in Arlington, Virginia, smartphones will account for approximately $37 billion in sales next year. Dealers will have almost 126 million devices shipped to them in 2013. This will represent an increase of 16 percent over 2012.

Tablets will also become an increasingly important form of mobile technology next year.

For those mobile technology devices, sales are expected to reach beyond 105 million units. This represents a figure that is 54 percent greater than that of 2012. It will also lead to a shipment revenue of nearly $36 billion.

The projections have been based on information such as the following, which can help to form an understanding of in mobile technology for 2013:

• 88 percent of mobile technology users check their email on those devices (especially their phones) each day.
• 85 percent of all American adults have some form of cell phone.
• 56 percent of all American adults who own a cell phone also have internet access.
• 53 percent of the owners of cell phones have a smartphone.

According to forecasts from Forbes, the two areas that will see the largest amount of growth in mobile technology include smart cars and digital health (mhealth). The mhealth marketplace is already seeing a rapid explosion of adoption and popularity including areas such as telemedicine, medical records, apps, fitness monitors, and others. This last year alone, it has experienced a growth of 40 percent.

On the other hand, the mobile technology developments in smart cars include developments such as the Google car, for example. These vehicles will be seen in far more events and prototype and product unveilings over the next twelve months.

Location-based marketing gains steam in social networking

Location-based marketing is heating up and social networking sites are leading the charge. Foursquare is one of the first social networking sites to offer “check-in” services, which allow users to inform their friends of the locations they visit throughout the day. Facebook recently adopted a similar service and both networking sites have found a significant amount of success with these services in the advertising space. This success has garnered the attention of Rich Gorman, an online marketing specialist and veritable celebrity in the advertising industry.

Facebook and Foursquare rivalry could be good for location-based marketing

Gorman notes that Foursquare has made significant advancements to its check-in service that offers users with local search options. This assists in discovering locations that would have otherwise gone unnoticed by consumers, thus directing business to small stores that typically see little traffic. Facebook itself has been working to expand its services in order to compete with Foursquare, hoping to make an impact in  the location-based marketing space.

Mobile technology provides advertisers with direct line to consumers

Location-based marketing is becoming exceedingly important as consumers become more mobile. The advent of mobile devices has taken consumers away from stationary computing and out into the world, presenting a promising opportunity for marketers to engage consumers in a more dynamic way. Mobile devices, such as smart phones and tablets, allow marketers to be in constant contact with consumers and location-based services are providing marketers with valuable geographic information that could be used to target very specific demographics.

Mobile marketing expected to heat up in 2013

Gorman notes that there seems to be a growing rivalry between Facebook and Foursquare. Gorman suggests that Foursquare has a significant head start over its potential competitor, but Facebook has a great deal of clout that will enable it to match the capabilities of Foursquare. Location-based marketing may gain more momentum in 2013, especially as the rivalry between Foursquare and Facebook takes off.