Marketing Forecast from Ad-ology

At the recent Interactive Local Marketing East conference sponsored by BIA Kelsey in Boston, analysts presented a rosy outlook for the mobile marketing channel. By 2015, combined marketing spending by national and local merchants is expected to reach $2.9 billion. Analysts supported their data with some convincing arguments.

Businesses have no shortage of media channels to use when promoting their products and services online to other businesses. While some online venues are specialized B2B operators, many consumer sites also offer business content. Which channel is most effective for B2B marketers? BBN Networks recently hired OTX MediaCT to study the topic and findings indicate that marketing through dedicated B2B websites improves campaign performance.

If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it – that may be the attitude of marketers who feel like their campaigns are working quite well. However, ad agencies don’t agree with this viewpoint and they’re eager to encourage clients to try something new. This disconnect between client and agencies suggests that providers of new media formats should work hard at convincing advertisers of their merits of their offerings.

With all of the media hype about bells and whistles being added to mobile marketing programs, it’s easy to forget that SMS text messages are the standby for many businesses. Marketers continue to use SMS text messaging to reach consumers and consumers are responding. New data from GfK MRI shows that consumer responses to text messages vary by age group. This form of advertising is likely to be effective for years to come because only half of consumers currently own smartphones and data plans which enable them to receive more sophisticated forms of mobile marketing.

By any account, mobile device use exploded in 2010.  Over 63 million smartphones were in use in the U.S.  at the end of last year. As smartphone use has increased, so has the consumption of mobile media. This has led service providers to set limits on free data use and in some cases, growth ofRead the Rest…

The typical small business owner has a lot of irons in the fire and can’t afford to make expensive mistakes. These small merchants often lag behind when it comes to implementing the latest marketing tools. Research from MerchantCircle shows that small businesses are finally using some forms of social media and online search effectively but they have yet to embrace mobile marketing and group buying strategies.