James Temple says, “Many of us celebrated our Christmas Day bounties in that time-honored way — by buying still more stuff. Online sales on Dec. 25 rose 8.3 percent from the prior year, as consumers rushed to cash in their gift cards and take advantage of holiday deals, according to IBM’s Digital Analytics Benchmark. But the real surge this season was in mobile. Smartphones and tablets accounted for more than a third of online sales on Christmas Day and 57 percent of all online traffic. Those figures were both up around 20 percent from the prior year. While more people browsed on... [...]

Bill Ready says, “Mobile is on the rise and has helped disrupt many traditional industries, including transportation, accommodations, services and retail. As a result, mobile commerce is on a tear, and is expected to account for global revenues of $204 billion by year end. As consumers shift to mobile, they’re demanding simple and straightforward buying experiences like those of Airbnb, Trunk Club, Uber and YPlan. The simpler mobile buying becomes, the more mobile commerce will grow. Yet there’s still a steep gap between browsing and buying on mobile. Too many obstacles still stand... [...]

Amanda Durepos says, “Optimizing your marketing campaigns for mobile users isn’t just about having your landing pages render nicely on all smartphones and tablets. It’s also about considering the user behind the device; what they’re doing and thinking about while they’re using it. And while the same people tend to use both mobile and desktop, their behavior and goals at a given time differ depending on the device they’re using. But differ how, exactly? I spoke to nine digital marketers to ask what they’ve learned about their mobile audience and how they’ve... [...]

Soo Jin Oh says, “For marketers and agencies alike, 2014 was considered the year of mobile. There were countless articles, predictions and reports this year about how mobile advertising spend would increase across industries. According to eMarketer, total media ad spend in the U.S. saw its largest increase in a decade, and mobile was set to lead this year’s rise in total media ad spending in the U.S. with advertisers spending 83% more on tablets and smartphones than they did in 2013″. Mobile’s Promise For 2015 Marketing Land  [...]

David Moth says, “Mobile seems to have been one of the most important trends in digital marketing and ecommerce for the past five years now. The technology evolves and improves every year bringing with it new challenges and opportunities for brands. As we’re reaching the end of 2014 it’s a good time to look back on the past 12 months and discuss which were the most important mobile trends. And while we’re at it I’ve also asked these experts to predict what we can expect to see from mobile in 2015”. Mobile marketing & commerce trends from 2014 & into 2015 ‘Econsultancy’... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “In a survey by Marin Software, just a third of the more than 300 digital marketers polled in the U.S. and UK said they make creating seamless customer experiences across devices a priority. Despite the shift in consumer usage of mobile devices, the majority of the marketerssurveyed said they still don’t make mobile a priority. Over half (57 percent) said they optimize for mobile when they can but don’t put great focus on it and 10 percent said it’s not a significant part of their strategy. Part of the challenge in adopting mobile strategies maybe a function of overload.... [...]

Bala Awoniyi says, “We all know the commercial opportunities that reside in mobile are massive. For organisations in Asia Pacific, where half of the 3.4 billion global mobile subscribers are based according to GSMA’s Mobile Economy Asia Pacific 2014 report, those opportunities are even more lucrative, promising and… crucial to future success. The State of Mobile Marketing in Asia Pacific report published this week by Econsultancy and the Mobile Marketing Association Asia Pacific (MMA) takes a close look at how APAC organisations and agencies are responding to the ever-expanding reach and... [...]

Daniel Weisbeck says, “Despite the effort and investment that has been made in improving mobile websites, they are still falling far short of visitor expectations. According to internal research, the top issue for people is still speed, as 96 percent of people said they encountered sites that are too slow. Due to speed as well as other issues, 91 percent have said that they have used a competitor’s website instead. With these expectations in mind, marketers are under real pressure to deliver. In this article, we look at five key marketing considerations when developing for mobile: 1. HOW... [...]

Patricia Chui says, “Content is everywhere on the web – and there’s a lot of it. What we consume each day is just the tiniest fraction of what’s out there. So how are we to find great articles and videos that we often don’t know exist? Adam Singolda founded Taboola in 2007 with the goal of bringing content to readers, rather than making them go out and search for it. Advertisers and publishers (including Business Insider) now use Taboola’s discovery widgets to distribute articles, videos, and slideshows across the web, to the tune of 150 billion overall recommendations... [...]

Peter Sheldon says, “This week Google started promoting mobile optimized websites in their searchresults. Frankly I’m amazed it’s taken Google this long to implement, however for mobile users it’s a welcome addition to the search experience that alleviates the pain of clicking on a link only to find a desktop site at the other end. Now the consumer is in control and armed upfront with a Google endorsement of mobile readiness. This strategy is part of an evolution of preemptive warnings for mobile search users. Earlier this year Google started warning mobile users of destinations... [...]