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Please, provide critical thinking on the subject that can enhance the discussion on the topic. What Is Mobile Marketing & Why Does it Matter So Much?What Is Mobile Marketing?

First, a quick definition:Mobile marketingis the art of marketing your business to appeal to mobile device users. When done right, mobile marketing provides customers or potential customers using smartphones with personalized, time- and location-sensitive information so that they can get what they need exactly when they need it, even if they're on the go.

I would tell you thatmobileis the future of marketing, but reallythe era of mobile has already arrived. If you're not implementing some kind of mobile marketing strategy, you're already trailing behind!

As you can see from the graph below, more users are spending larger amounts of time engaged with mobile devices than ever before. We can expect this trend to continue even further in the future, so get ready!

Desktop vs. mobile users in millions

How Does Mobile Marketing Work?

Mobile marketing consists of ads that appear on mobile smartphones, tablets, or other mobile devices. Mobile marketing ad formats, customization, and styles can vary, as many social media platforms, websites, and mobile apps offer their own unique and tailored mobile ad options.

Why You Need a Mobile Marketing Strategy

Your business needs a mobile marketing strategy for the same reason that you need a computer and wi-fi access - this is the age in which we live! Walk around any major city and you'll find more than just a few folks with faces glued to their smartphone screens. According to recent reports,40% of users' internet timeis spent on mobile devices, which means simply ignoring the rise of mobile just isn't an option.

Some other interestingmobile marketingstatistics:

• 80% of mobile device timein spent on apps, with game apps eating up the largest percent of app time
• People browse70% more web pages on tabletsthan smartphones
• Retail conversion rates are2.2% on tablets, considerably higher than 0.7% on smartphones, but traditional PC conversion rates are still highest at 3.3%
• Mobile searches have increased200% year over yearin 2012
• Mobile ispredicted to surpass desktopin 2014

Mobile is here to stay, and if forecasts are correct, it will soon by eclipsing desktop usage. If you don't have amobile marketing strategyyet, it's time to get going!

Types of Mobile Marketing Strategies

There's a healthy variety of mobile marketing strategies to try. The kind that works best for your business will depend on your industry, target audience, and budget.

App-based marketing:This ismobile advertising involving mobile apps. While 80% of mobile time is spent engaged with apps, you don't have to design an app yourself to get in on the action. Services likeGoogle AdMobhelp advertisers create mobile ads that appear within third-party mobile apps.

Facebook also allows advertisers to design ads that are integrated into Facebook's mobile app. Facebook's mobilePromoted Post adsintegrate so seamlessly with Facebook's news feed that users often don't realize they're looking at ads.

In-game mobile marketing:In-game mobile marketing refers to mobile ads that appear within mobile games, like in the example below. In-game ads can appear as banner pop-ups, full-page image ads or evenvideo adsthat appear between loading screens.

Example of an in-game mobile marketing ad

QR codes:QR codes are scanned by users, who are then taken to a specific webpage that the QR code is attached to. QR codes are often aligned with mobile gamification and have an element of mystery to them, since users who scan them don't always know exactly which rabbit hole they're jumping down.

Location-based marketing:Location-based mobile ads are ads that appear on mobile devices based upon a user's location relative to a specific area or business. For example, some advertisers may only want their mobile ads to appear when users are within a 1-mile radius of their business.

Mobile search ads:These are basic Google search ads built for mobile, often featuring extra add-on extensions like click-to-call or maps.

Mobile image ads:Image-based ads designed to appear on mobile devices.

SMS:SMS marketing involves capturing a user's phone number and sending them text offers. This is considered somewhat pass.

If you're ready to dig in and optimize your mobile marketing campaigns, check out our list of13 mobile marketing tools you need.

Mobile Marketing: Google AdsEnhanced Campaigns

On July 12, Google rolled outEnhanced Campaignsfor all Google Adsusers, integrating mobile advertising options with classic online Google Ads advertising (formerly known as Google AdWords).

Enhanced Campaigns allow advertisers to manage their Google Adsbids across various devices in one single campaign, rather than make separate campaigns for mobile vs. desktop. Googleadvertisers can simply take the Google search ads they already use, and then set bids to adjust for mobile devices. To increase bids for mobile devices, users can set a positive bid adjustment, such as +20%, and vice versa - a bid adjustment of -10% reduces the bid by 10% for mobile devices.

Ad groups Settings Ads Keywords Ad extensions Dimensions All settings Locations Ad schedule Devices Filter Columns Clicks VS None * View Change Hist 20 10 Apr 10, 2013 May 10, 2013 0 Device Bid adj. 7 + Clicks 7 Impre 7 CTR 7 Avg. CPC 7 Cost 7 Avg. Pos. 7 Computers 265 Tablets with full browsers 46 Mobile devices with full browsers Decrease by Enter a number above to see an example. Total Save Cancel Show rows: 50 1 - 3 of 3Google Images Places Nows more flowers a Fresh Flowers Ad Flowers for special occasions. Same day delivery and free shipping www. Flowers-to-the-world.com Wedding Flowers Birthday Flowers Fresh Flowers, Plants and Gift Order flowers online for same day delivery. Shop for flowers and gifts by occasion, season or get beautiful flower bougets ... Same day delivery and free shipping.Google Images Places Nows more mobile banking a About 119 000,000 results. Free Mobile Banking App Ad Check your account balance and transfer money on the move. Download Android App Mobile Banking for Android Application v4 1.7 Mar 8, 2011..[Mobile Banking for Android] this app does work very well with many Download Android App\f