Mobile

The U.S. IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, IAB Europe and IHS revealed that global figures for mobile advertising revenue leaped a massive 82.8 percent to $8.9 billion (€6.9 billion) in 2012 from $5.3 billion (€3.8 billion) in 2011 – highlighting a strong positive growth story taking place across mobile advertising formats.

Mobile consumers are more receptive when brands offer value in exchange for their time, says new research report Exploring the Role of Value in Mobile Advertising.

Around the world, web users are surfing the internet on ever-more devices. A GlobalWebIndex survey of 180,000 web users in 31 countries found that as of Q1 2013, three out of five respondents accessed the internet on a mobile phone, and 22% used a tablet. That’s in addition to the steady percentage of internet users—about 93%—who’ve been using a personal desktop or laptop for the past couple of years.

With close to 75 per cent of mobile users falling asleep with their device within reach, the power and influence that mobile has on consumers’ daily lives is undeniable. To frame mobile as a force in the media world, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) unveiled a new positioning to reflect the value that mobile offers as a marketing vehicle.

So if consumers are using second screens while watching TV, are they using them merely as distractions? Or are they using these second screens to engage more deeply with what they’re watching? The answer is both. Among tablet owners, general Web searches (76%) and general Web browsing (68%) are still among the top second-screen activities. But consumers are also using second screens for activities that are directly related to the content they’re viewing, as almost half of tablet owners look up information about what they’re watching.

A new study by Digitas finds that LGBT individuals and families are embracing the “mobile first” way by adopting smartphones and tablets to manage family households, plan and book travel, and leverage mobile shopping technology.

While disparities in Internet use persist among racial and ethnic groups, smartphones appear to be helping to bridge the digital divide, according to a report issued today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

For the first time since the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project began systematically tracking smartphone adoption, a majority of Americans now own a smartphone of some kind.

In addition, one-third of consumer’s online shopping time is now spent on smartphones and tablets. The ongoing xAd/Telmetrics U.S. Mobile Path-to-Purchase Study conducted by Nielsen also revealed that showrooming is not prevalent, with 77 percent of smartphone retail shoppers ultimately making their purchases in-store versus going online to try and find a cheaper price.

U.S. smartphone penetration is approximately 57 percent so it’s no surprise that consumers are using their phones to assist with shopping needs. What’s interesting is 16 percent of Hispanic shoppers are using their mobile device to make purchases compared to 12 percent of general market shoppers. This was revealed in the latest issue of The Checkout , an ongoing shopper behavior study conducted by The Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research.

The home is where many kids encounter their first smartphone. A Grunwald Associates and Learning First Alliance study in November 2012 found that in 77% of surveyed US households with school-age children, someone in the family owned a smartphone, nearly equal to the penetration rate of PCs in such households.

There is no question that mobile is becoming an essential shopping tool for many US moms. According to a March 2013 survey from retail solutions company Alliance Data, more than half of surveyed mom internet users reported using their smartphone or tablet at least weekly for some aspect of shopping, whether it be research or buying. And 35% of respondents said they used their device daily for shopping purposes.

Mobile commerce is grabbing an ever-growing slice of the overall ecommerce pie. eMarketer estimates that 15% of all US online retail sales in 2013 will be made on a mobile device, an increase from 11% in 2012.

Spending on mobile marketing keeps rising, as brands learn the power of reaching consumers on these devices, and consumers become increasingly mobile-first.

The mobile marketing ecosystem generated $139 billion of incremental output to the U.S. economy in 2012, a significant surge from $48 billion in net sales previously reported in 2010. Over the next five years, this figure is set to skyrocket to $400 billion representing an annual growth rate of 52 per cent. To accurately assess mobile’s economic impact, both consumer (B2C) and business (B2B) mobile sales were measured against total U.S. sales in 2012, approximately $33 trillion. The data was reported in the “MMA Mobile Marketing Economic Impact Study,” commissioned by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA).

The Great Recession put a wide swath of US consumers on the money-saving path, and digital tools helped make bargain hunting all the easier. These are lessons consumers will not soon unlearn, according to a new eMarketer report, “Cheapskates Online: How the ‘New Normal’ Takes Advantage of New Technology.”