Note: This article is based on an excerpt from "A Complete Guide to Mobile Marketing for 2014."

With over 75% growth in mobile advertising in 2013 (AdAge Mobile Fact Pack) mobile is no longer an emerging channel. Along with social media, it's become an essential part of every digital marketer's strategy: 2013 was, finally, the year of mobile.

The long predicted shift in the industry occurred as category leadership shifted from pure-play mobile companies to digital media leaders such as Facebook and Google. The launch and huge success of Facebook's mobile advertising, which scaled from zero to a multibillion-dollar run rate was unprecedented. It was clearly the single most important event in mobile advertising during 2013, and it reshaped the mobile ecosystem.

Envisioning the future of the ever-changing mobile marketing industry is certainly challenging. Nevertheless, to guide marketing executives through the 2014 mobile planning process, we at TapSense have outlined what we believe will be the important trends and innovations that marketers will face.

1. Mobile RTB will makes up 45% of all mobile ad buys

Mobile Real Time Bidding (RTB) went mainstream in 2013 with Twitter's acquisition of MoPub, an early leader in mobile RTB technology. In AdExchanger's third quarter 2013 mobile roundup, Mobile RTB was projected to hit 30% by the end of the year. We expect this trend to continue, with RTB comprising 45% of all mobile ad buys at year's end in 2014.

The RTB trend has been around for some time in desktop advertising and promised to deliver more transparency to buyers and better monetization (higher CPMs) for publishers than non-RTB buying. PC ad buyers, however, were slow to adopt RTB, and the results were mixed. In mobile, it's grown rapidly as buyers have embraced this model as the best way to get scale.

Now with desktops and laptop shipments decreasing 14% year over year from 2012, consumers are entering mobile faster than ever before, and it will be up to marketers to adapt their digital strategies accordingly. The primary challenge of this method of buying has been fragmentation, with too many exchanges representing too little inventory. The Twitter acquisition of MoPub, however, promises to bring significant scale to this buying process.

2. Consolidation will continue in the ad network space

The 2013 Millennial Media acquisition of Jumptap signaled a turning point for mobile ad networks. The explosion in mobile ad networks that followed Google's $750 million acquisition of Admob in 2009 has finally come to an end.

The widespread adoption of transparent buying methods like RTB and the growth of large mobile publishers' direct sales teams have greatly reduced the amount of inventory available to ad networks.

The proliferation of options now available to buyers means that more consolidation will happen. Small niche players, particularly in the gaming space, will continue to build their businesses independently. But buyers will quickly find the offerings of large and medium-sized mobile ad networks redundant against the combination of RTB platforms and direct ad sales by big publishers.

3. Email will become a mobile-first channel

Over half of all email is now opened on a mobile device. We expect email will flip from a desktop PC-focused channel to a mobile-first channel in 2014. The amount of email opened on mobile is projected to continue increasing, and the decline in PC sales should accelerate the trend (Gartner: Worldwide PC Shipments in the Third Quarter of 2013 Declined 8.6 Percent).

Some smart marketers are already experimenting with responsive designs for email marketing, optimizing design for the small screens of mobile devices. Expect a big shift in email marketing, where optimization for mobile phones will be prioritized. Driven by the success metrics of email opened on the phone, the PC experience will become a secondary consideration.

4. New mobile ad formats will emerge, including five-second mobile video spots

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Six Trends for 2014 in Mobile Marketing and Advertising

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

image of Gregory Kennedy

Gregory Kennedy is VP of marketing at mobile marketing solution TapSense, a leading independent mobile advertising exchange.

Twitter: @IAmGKennedy

LinkedIn: Gregory Kennedy