14-9. What local businesses in your community are using online, social media, or mobile marketing? Interview the owner or manager of one of the businesses to learn how it uses these and discuss extent of their satisfaction with them. (AACSB: Communication; Reflective Thinking)

By 2016, the value of mobile advertising in the Middle East will have grown at a rate of 37 percent to $2.8 billion. This is just part of the spectacular growth rates in digital marketing across the whole region. Still ahead of the rest of the region is Saudi Arabia, with 36 percent of the mobile Internet users taking notice of mobile advertising. The UAE and Egypt are in tied second place with 32 percent. Across the region, around 60 percent of all mobile Internet users read mobile advertising sent to them; this compares very favorably with just 10 percent who stated they either never read it or do not get sent any advertising.

The opportunities for businesses, big and small, local and multinational, are enormous. Mobile advertising budgets for tablets and smartphones are set to increase at a rate of at least 40–50 percent; this is the biggest segment of the digital market. Since 2013, over 57 percent of all companies across the region have increased their digital advertising spend. These figures are against a very promising backdrop of global growth in mobile marketing.

This is built on the fact that 4.55 billion people own a mobile phone; some 1.75 billion of them are smartphones. In many countries, smartphones are far more common than old generation ones. Inevitably, this means a new focus for marketers.