Marketing is in a constant state of evolution and the development of technology is the driving force behind it. Mobile marketing, obviously, is no different in that regard. Every year a new piece of technology emerges that impacts mobile marketing in a different way.

Like anything else, trends come and go in mobile marketing. Some trends have a short life span, some stick around for the long haul. Every year there are different trends that become popular and thus take priority for marketers.

Considering the pace at which smartphones develop—becoming more and more complete with each new release—mobile marketing consequently adapts with the changing times, trying to incorporate more tools as they become.

With new technologies coming in full force, mobile marketers have new opportunities to look out for. The rollout of 5G, which is expected to elevate marketing capabilities through much improved network speed on mobile devices, as well as the growing use of video and AR (augmented reality) have given birth to new trends in the sphere of mobile marketing.

In this article, we will discuss what the current trends are in mobile marketing in 2019.

Mobile Video Marketing

Online video advertising has long been in rise but it has been gaining a lot more traction lately thanks to mobile platforms. Smartphones are now the top channel for online videos, with mobile phones claiming over 50% of the total online video starts.

Major brands are continuously pouring investments into mobile video marketing, which is slowly replacing traditional content with an audiovisual one. Social networks—the likes of which include Facebook, Twitter and Instagram—are especially filled with audiovisual content due to the changing preferences of the users, who are now much more likely to watch a short video than read a post/article about the same thing.

As a result, a lot of marketers are following suit by slowly abandoning traditional content creation in favor of video marketing

Influencer Marketing

Internet celebrities are now a huge and profitable channel for advertising. Major brands realize this and allocate their marketing budgets accordingly. Influencer marketing exceeded expectations and brought in vastly effective results in 2018.

So, it is only logical that this trend will continue in 2019, with more companies looking to invest in this marketing channel. Influencer marketing serves to act as a bridge for marketers to reach a brand new batch of people who can potentially become customers.

In-App Advertisements

Mobile apps and messengers are insanely popular, hence have become another source for ad placements. The number of apps engaged in mobile advertising is expected to grow by 60% in 2019.

Subsequently mobile ad spending is also expected to grow relative to the increase in conversion rates. In-app advertisements are viewed to be less evasive and distracting on mobile devices by majority of users, basically suggesting that ads are more effective on mobile platforms than on desktop devices.

Social E-Commerce

E-commerce taking over traditional commerce was a long time coming but now it has taken a new step forward: social e-commerce. Marketers no longer use social network solely for brand promotion and building brand awareness. It is now also a channel through which they conduct commerce.

It helps that said social networks have provided the necessary tools for such undertaking by designing their platforms to be able to handle e-commerce. The process of commerce has been greatly simplified, making social network pages a one-stop shop for customers, thus eliminating the need of an off-site lengthy checkout.

5G Internet to Amplify Mobile Platforms

5G is over ten times faster than 4G Internet. Consequently, this creates more opportunities for marketers to fully explore the capabilities of marketing on mobile platforms. The increased speed means faster downloads, better performance on interactive ads and a richer overall experience for mobile users. 5G additionally is capable of processing data much faster, meaning it will facilitate personalized content and real-time marketing a lot better and will result in better customer engagement.

SMS Marketing

For multiple decades, SMS Marketing has been the king in the mobile marketing sphere. It is expected to keep its top spot in 2019, as more and more companies invest in SMS marketing campaigns. With over half of the global population having access to mobile phones, SMS marketing provides companies with unlimited reach and accessibility across the world.

Moreover, it boasts 98% open rate and ~30% percent conversion rate which are much higher than any other channel of communication. SMS marketing’s unparalleled efficiency coupled with the affordability factor continue keeping it in trend and guaranteeing its mainstream presence in the mobile world.