Some new numbers from the eMarketer folks caught my eye this morning. They released their projections for digital ad spending for the next few years and they show that in 2015, mobile ad spending in the US will increase 50.0%, reaching $28.72 billion and accounting for 49.0% of all digital ad spending. By 2019, mobile ad spending will rise to $65.87 billion, or 72.2% of total digital ad spend. 
As they put it:
Next year will be the tipping point where mobile ad spending surpasses desktop. And while desktop advertising will remain a significant portion of marketers’ budgets—approximately $25 billion in each year throughout eMarketer’s forecast period—mobile will continue growing in the double digits to gain more and more market share while desktop spending remains flat.
If you’re doing business outside of the US it’s pretty safe to say that mobile has already passed desktop since most populations outside of North America don’t really have desktops/laptops and rely almost solely on their mobile devices for internet connectivity. Why is any of the above important to you?
If your business model relies on selling audiences of your content and you haven’t optimized every touchpoint for your content, you are going to be missing the boat. If your mobile experience is inferior or if you’re depending on mobile web as opposed to investing in an app, you probably ought to revisit your thinking. Now!
Google has recently updated the search algorithm to rank pages by how mobile friendly they appear. If all you’re doing is porting your desktop experience to mobile, you’re not being smart. In mobile emphasis needs to be on performance and speed. Get rid of large header images and use minimalistic design with flatter images. OK, I won’t get too wonky but the point is you need to ask about this stuff if you’re not the technical expert.
When 3/4 of a market sits in one sector, I want to do everything I can to be participating in that segment. I’m one of a lot of people who have written before about the need for mobile-first thinking. Have you been paying attention? What have you done about it?
Consult Keith 