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Mobile users have evolved, and mobile advertisers need to catch up.

If 2012 taught the industry anything, it’s that sitting in front of a computer isn’t necessarily a consumer’s preferred means of consuming content.  While the mobile uptick was already apparent prior to this passing year, the numbers for 2012 solidify that things are indeed changing.  With end-of-the-year mobile analyst reports coming out every day, there appears to be no shortage of data, and all of it points to double-digit increases in smartphone and tablet penetration.

The rise in the popularity of these devices has been married to a fundamental change in the way that people think about, consume and share digital content.  The increased acceptance and use of mobile devices has also been accompanied by a change in the mental models of users.  Priorities and interaction habits of mobile consumers are changing with the ability to be on the go and with smaller hardware.  Bottom line: people’s mobile behavior has evolved and mobile advertisers need to catch up.

From the perspective of cost savings and reduced technical implementation, it may seem like a good idea to just dish up the same experiences to mobile devices that were originally created specifically for the Web.  After all, mobile browsers can generally render most of the content out there.  While that is the case, just relying on legacy digital display ads or linking people to a bloated Web site with a design that isn’t optimized at all for mobile viewing is out of sync with the expectations of mobile users.  Mobile should no longer be an afterthought.  While I wouldn’t go so far as to argue that “Mobile First” makes complete strategic sense when thinking about marketing, it is fair to say that mobile should be treated with at least the same priority as Web and in certain scenarios mobile should take precedence.

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