Many marketing experts agree the future of marketing, especially local and regionally-based marketing, will be on the mobile Web. Now that phones outnumber computers accessing the Internet and WWW, they are the new frontier of advertising.

The mobile market is growing very quickly and many companies are already taking advantage of the onslaught of mobile users. Especially those businesses that can profit from regionally-based or location-based advertising.

The Wynn Resort Casino and Hotel in Las Vegas, for instance, has a robust and continually-evolving advertising campaign aimed directly at mobile users and geo-location gamers in and around their premises. By targeting these plugged-in users with ads specific to their mobile device, with offers only they can receive, etc., the hotel is finding its customer retention and feedback are higher and better.

Small businesses around the world are finding by tapping into mobile users, they can increase both word-of-mouth and online social networking advertising using the ‘cloud model.’ Simply put, they are giving great service to their customers and encouraging mobile users to ‘reach out’ via their devices to tell others about it. This viral marketing strategy pays off well for many businesses and chains.

=== Types of mobile advertising

There are several types of mobile advertising taking place, of course. Most are just mobilized versions of counterparts on the Web already, such as banner ads and links. Text message (SMS) marketing has hit its stride as well, being the largest segment of mobile advertising today, but it requires users to sign on and has many of the same drawbacks email marketing does with spam accusations and potentially bad publicity.

MMS advertising is also taking flight as advertisers begin ‘product placements’ within games and videos meant for the mobile Web. These take many different forms, such as splash screens before an application starts or specific in-game items with the brand’s name featured. Energy drink and soda companies have been especially fast to adopt this form of advertising.

Upon the emergence of the mobile market, it didn’t take long for marketing companies to realize the Seventh Mass Media Channel (SMS) and begin devising ways to capitalize on it. It’s largest advantage over other types of media is that it’s two-way and semi-personal. It can also become viral as users forward messages and content to their friends and family through their phones.

=== The mobile media advertising boom

In 2007, mobile media was worth $2.2 billion of the $450 billion global advertising industry (about 0.5%). In 2009, that number jumped to $8 billion of a $430 billion global advertising industry. That’s a nearly four-fold increase in only two years. Many believe that it will continue to grow at a similar rate for the next several years.

The types of mobile media advertising will change rapidly as the technology changes. With the introduction this year of larger-screened devices such as the Apple iPad and other tablet computers slated to hit the market this year, other marketing options will merge. With the popularity of the Amazon Kindle and other book reader devices, many publishers are considering embedding ads into electronic books as a way of lowering their costs to consumers while boosting revenues.

This and other new forms of advertising leveraging mobile are the future of marketing through technology. Are you a part of that?

JAMES BURCHILL Shows individuals and companies how to profit from the innovative use of Internet technologies, strategic content and social media marketing. James’ creative solutions are the select choice for those seeking an advantage, and Jim’s valuable money making, marketing, technology and business advice is published regularly on his website. You can find out more at http://www.JamesBurchill.com

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