Mobile Marketing Facts

• “Mobile will soon have more reach than TV, radio or the Internet. Mobile is the access point to the Internet in the developing world.” (Alex Barza. Google Ad Sales)
• “The mobile phone is considered by many to be the most effective channel for direct and indirect marketing and advertising” (Michael Becker, VP of mobile strategies, iLoop Mobile)
• “Smart phones are set to surpass laptops this year in unit sales and by 2012 in revenues. Not only are the giant mobile phone device makers awakening to this trend, but so are some other unusual suspects – Google, Dell, Microsoft, and HTC, among others. This turf war for market share is pushing down price points and increasing consumer demand and adoption. Each one of these players has a stake in mobile. For Google, it is search. Mobile search advertising revenues are expected to increase from $20 million in 2008 to $1.3 billion in 2013, a compounded annual growth rate of 130.5 percent. “Jacques Hart (Roar Media) 
• Two-thirds of the world’s population has a mobile phone subscription—4 billion people—and there will be 5 billion wireless subscribers worldwide by the end of this year, according to some estimates.
• Magna, a unit of Mediabrands, projects U.S. mobile ad spending to grow from $169 million in 2008 to $409 million in 2011. Other industry forecasts indicate that the average campaign budget will triple over a similar time period.
• “If mobile is employed smartly, it can be a real performer on a media plan. Nothing else allows marketers to close the loop between consumer action and out-of-home advertising, provide location-based messaging, or engagement on the go…” (Jason Steinberg, media director at Spark Communications)

• According to an Experian study conducted in mid-2008 (analyzed and reported by Ellen A. Romer SVP, Strategic Planning), 2.7 billion mobile phones were in use all over the world at the time – 70% of the world’s population. For comparison, there were 850 million personal computers, 1.3 billion fixed landline phones, and 1.5 billion TV sets at the time.
• In a press release dated February 24, 2009, BIA/Kelsey predicted that mobile local search ad revenues in the U.S. will grow to $1.3 billion by 2013, from $20 million in 2008, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 130.5 percent. During the same period, mobile search and display advertising revenue is predicted to grow to $3.1 billion in 2013, from $160 million in 2008, representing a compound annual growth rate of 81.2 percent.