Marketers and advertisers agree, 2010 will be the year of the mobile web. In a few short months mobile will have more audience reach than television, radio, or the internet. Two thirds of the world’s population, roughly 4 billion people currently have a mobile device of which 20% are currently web enabled smart phones. In 2010, mobile advertising is forecast to grow 45 percent to $3.8 billion, which will be spent on SMS, mobile display, and mobile search.

Carriers opening up data plans to flat rates rather than per kb consumption (between December 2008 and December 2009, the percentage of US mobile phone subscribers with unlimited data plans increased from 16% to 21%), new more powerful devices, and a publisher surge in generating mobile wap and app content have created the perfect storm for marketers and consumers to meet on the mobile web. Consumer media consumption patterns are changing. There is a significant rise in both production and consumption of “snackable content” which is consumed during the commute, at a stoplight, or in the waiting room. This opens up the new mobile venue over which advertisers can broadcast and target. Facebook and Twitter for example saw a 112% and 347% uptick in users consuming and creating content via the mobile web from January 2009 to January 2010. Not only are there more users on the mobile web, they are more engaged. According to facebook, mobile users currently average two times the pageviews, production, interaction, and consumption events that they do on the traditional display web.

Mobile advertising added to your marketing mix will connect you to consumers who are closer to the point of purchase. Think targeting a consumer who is in the mall parking lot walking in to buy a pair of jeans rather than one on the traditional web browsing jeans styles on their couch. Mobile ad placements offer a commanding presence of the consumer experience, think one banner per page rather than the traditional 4 plus average that we are seeing today in traditional display. As an advertiser is makes sense to employ the tactics below to target your consumers via mobile:

• SMS / MMS – Communications protocol that allow exchange of short text messages between mobile devices. Reach over 2.4 billion active users, 74% of all global mobile phone subscribers.
• Mobile Display – Banner inventory within smartphone application and mobile Wireless Access Protocol (WAP) versions of html publisher pages. Reach over 405 million global users according to emarketer .
• Mobile Applications – Banner inventory on applications for specific mobile devices like iphone, blackberry, and android. According to GetJar mobile application inventory will jump from 7 billion apps downloaded in 2009 to almost 50 billion in 2012.
• Mobile Search – Search traffic through mobile search engines, directories, navigation, or discovery services., about 15% of the total mobile advertising market.

Mobile is a force multiplier to any of your current campaigns. Get on the small screen, take advantage of the big opportunity in 2010. Want to learn more? Contact Nalu Media to learn more about how to harness the power of the mobile web.

The PGA of America is not immune to the effects of the economic downturn. This weekend at Hazeltine for the 2009 PGA Championships there will be less corporate fanfare and less revenue coming in from sponsorships and corporate chalets. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune “financial considerations are forcing some companies to downsize their presence. A handful of companies went from 100 person chalets to 50 person chalets. Some companies are partnering wiht other companies. Corporate participation is down from 140 companies in 2002 to about 110 this year”. This means one thing for those looking at the bottom line, less revenue.

Enter new media monetizaton oppurtunities. Turner Sports and the PGA are bringing in social media with things like twittter and user generated content. PGA Championship weekend tweeters like Ian Baker-Finch and Ernie Johnson will offer real time updates from the course. They also launched an iPhone application sponsored by ING which is going for $1.99 in the app store. This is the first major where they are charging for coverage, Augusta, the British and US Open were all free. Judging from the success of top PGA twitter star Sewart Cink who is currently at 705,000 followers, the 140th ranked personality on twitter this new media should bring in quite a crowd.

Will social media bring the boost in advertising revenue to make up for the loss of corporate sponsorship? Keep your eye on the ball and follow the #pga twitter tag this weekend and find out!