Our January content marketing spending study showed that one thing was clear – marketers are desperate for more information about mobile marketing.

Of all content marketing areas, only mobile marketing rose year over year re: educational needs (see the chart below).

Very relevant to this mobile marketing need, I had the pleasure of sitting through a fantastic presentation on mobile marketing trends and stats by David Doherty at Ascend Media yesterday.  Part of this presentation included a diverse spread of mobile marketing research (included below for your reference). Hoping these will be helpful to you.

Growth of Mobile Marketing

• 23% of mobile phone users had smartphones at the end of 2009.
• 234 million people age 13 and older in the U.S. used mobile devices in December 2009.
• The use of mobile applications grew by more than 40% in 2009. (2008-2009 ComScore, MMetrics)
• Texting usage is growing rapidly as a preferred means of communication among today’s professionals.
• 67% of the world’s population, or two-thirds total, are mobile subscribers–far outweighing online access. Mobile Marketing Watch, February 24, 2010

The Importance of Texting

• People aged 42 and younger text more than talk
• 54% of individuals “Opting In” to a texting program agreed to receive offers.
• The single most used feature of a mobile phone is texting.    (2010 Moblico Solutions, LLC)

Smartphone Usage

Important note on this chart: Google is growing fastest! Palm in decline.

Mobile Marketing Grows

• 56% of companies plan to increase budgets for mobile marketing in 2010.
• Marketers plan to increase their online marketing budgets by an average of 17% this year, drawing money away from traditional channels, like print.

(Findings from email survey conducted of 1000 marketers last month by email marketing company ExactTarget and internet market research company Econsultancy as reported in BtoB Online, February 12, 2010)

Conclusion

David and I had a nice discussion about mobile marketing after his presentation.  The thinking from both of us is that this is really the first year that most marketers are actively thinking about mobile specific websites and mobile applications as part of their content marketing programs.  As budgets continue to free up, 2011 looks to be the year we see incredible integration into content marketing programs.

More to come…