In the last 12-months, there has been a 179% growth in video consumption on mobile devices.

One-third of time on the Web in the United States is spent on mobile devices.

Nearly $1 out of every $10 discretionary dollars is being spent online via mobile devices, according to Comscore & The US Department of Commerce, which equates to a 4x increase in the last two years (coinciding with a spike of tablet ownership).

The secret is out, marketing communications folks: People love their mobile devices, and they’ll use them to watch stuff, spend time online, and buy things. But how they use their different types of mobile devices is set to play havoc with mobile marketing campaigns.

According to a very insightful discussion I attended by Comscore’s Mark Donovan (@joygantic) at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), it is not enough for marketing communications pros to merely know that B2C/B consumers are tethered to their mobile devices and that a huge engagement opportunity exists. Marketing communications pros must also understand the type of mobile device their consumers are using to devour information.

With today’s evolving consumption habits, marketing communications pros cannot just think "mobile." They must understand the differences in how their targeted audience(s) use tablets (and even different sizes of tablets) vs. smart phones, and adjust their campaigns appropriately.

Consider the following:

• According to Flurry Analytics, smartphone users use more apps each week than tablet users, but tablet users spend more time per app engagement.
• Search is the top category for tablet usage. The bigger screen is the big difference here.
• Smartphone usage is evenly distributed throughout the day. Tablet usage spikes during key "downtime hours" in the evening, when consumers are home and are likely using their tablet as a diversion during commercial breaks, according to beta data from Comscore multi-platform metrics and information from Flurry Analytics.

A comprehensive mobile campaign must take search, apps, and device category usage into consideration.

Companies like Google are now selling marketers and advertisers ads that will be displayed on smartphones during some points of the days and on tablets during other times. Content and site optimization remains very important, due to 33% of time spent on the Web occurring via mobile devices. And a mix of apps and mobile-optimized Web content is key, thanks to differing smartphone and tablet usage habits.

With more and more metrics available about tablets (and, soon, 7" vs. 10" tablets) vs. smartphone usage, there cannot be a one-size–fits-all approach to mobile marketing.

Four-inch, seven-inch, 10-inch screens -- size matters when it comes to mobile marketing campaigns!

Jim Kohlenberger, President of JK Strategies, and most recently served as Chief of Staff for the White House Office of Science and Technology (OSTP), was my favorite panelist during an International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) session on The Future of Mobile-to-Mobile (M2M).

During the course of the discussion, Jim and the panel discussed how M2M can easily be defined as “connecting or communicating with anything that is wirelessly enabled in a variety of ways ” – in other words, we aren’t just talking phone calls – or even phones – here. Wireless traffic lights, proximity sensors, vehicle tracking services, infotainment systems, thermostats, in-store payment systems, etc. qualify in the M2M world. Mobile devices connected to mobile devices.

To help illustrate this, and to help show how marketers and communicators I turn to Carly Rae Jepsen for an assist.

I threw a wish in the well. Don’t ask me, I’ll never tell. I looked to you as it fell. And now you’re in my way.

One of Jim’s projects for the White House OSTP was working on advanced policies to spur a broadband revolution through spectrum reform. The biggest obstacle in path of continued advancement of M2M communications, benefits, marketing, and advertising is spectrum bandwidth.

According to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, “Moving forward, we won’t just be talking into our devices, they will increasingly be talking to each other. This isn’t science fiction. This is here and now.”

A lack of bandwidth could be in the way of appropriate application of M2M. This is being addressed.

Your stare was holdin’. Ripped jeans, skin was showin’. Hot night, wind was blowin’. Where you think you’re going, baby?

Two applications of M2M technology that were most interesting to me were in the retail and transportation sectors.

Imagine walking into a mall. A savvy marketing department for Jeans-R-Us (2nd Floor near the food court…) knows that you complained on Facebook about a hole in your jeans and you’re in the market for a new pair.Because of your location near Jeans-R-Us, an email, an ad on your Facebook page, a FourSquare alert, a text message, an ad played via your in-car entertainment system, and/or a Tweet can be crafted which promotes 25% off of a new pair of jeans. Right when you approach or enter the mall.

I’m glorifying this a bit of course but based on proximity sensors, social networks, always-on Smart Devices, and sophisticated options for markcomm and advertising professionals this could very well be one application of M2M.

Also, consider today’s roadways, particularly with rapidly growing urban environments. Intersection sensors, scattered wireless sensors & transmitters, and cameras can be used to communicate alternate routes to driver infotainment systems or mobile devices or emergency response professionals in case of congestion, accidents, or events. Such systems may decrease transportation times (saving companies time and money), improve emergency response, provide advertisers and marketers target people based on where they are and what their myriad of social networks say they like, and help our example from before sort out how to find that Jeans-R-Us.

Before you came into my life I missed you so bad. I missed you so bad. I missed you so, so bad.

Marcomm and advertising has never been a pinpoint practice. Sure, media can be bought around potential audiences, online consumers can be retargeted, e-mails can be sent, and so forth but all of these things are peanuts compared to the ability to engage with targeted audiences based on where they are, their current activities, intent based on online discussions and statements, and other creepy 1/2 stalking|1/2 targeting opportunities that haven’t been dreamed up yet.

5, 10, 15 years down the road marcomm/advertising pros will wonder how they managed to deliver their respective results before M2M technologies came into their lives and unlocked the mysteries of customer behavior and intent and location.

M2M technologies will be a constant for the rest of our lives. How we manage the technology, support it through bandwidth availability and investment, and understand how to apply it towards all facets of life is yet to be seen. I am excited to see what’s next.

Want to provide your input? Call me.

Maybe.

Here’s why.

Most companies invest a huge percentage of their budget in buying time and space – advertising, PR, and so forth – but much less on creating the actual message. Consider the Geico example that was shared in the Content Marketing World session:

• Geico has a $745mm marketing/advertising budget.
• Geico has 19 types of insurance. That’s $39mm (and change) for each insurance type if they were to divide the budget equally.
• $35mm goes to buying time and space -- blank pages, air, and so forth. Only $4mm for the messaging.

Now invert that budget allotment.

"Finding Nemo" had an $87 million budget. Eighty percent of the budget, according to Drew, was spent on making the film. The remaining 20% was spent on marketing the film. Again: 80% for creating the actual content, 20% on marketing it.

The results? Great content triggered significant action and created a demand. "Finding Nemo" is the No. 1 selling DVD of all time, and a term, “The Nemo Effect” – a rush to purchase clownfish that depleted clownfish counts worldwide (this really happened!) – was coined.

Geico has been wildly successful – you can’t swing a gecko without hitting some form of Geico outreach. Is this attributed to deft messaging or massive amounts of placement? But how much better could it be? What if Geico invested $35mm in ongoing content creation/messaging and $4mm in marketing/advertising? What if your company inverted this kind of messaging vs. marketing/advertising spend and invested in content creation for your audience(s) that creates demand?

Drew’s message to a CMO is this: If you want to increase awareness, buy ads. If you want to increase demand, create content.

I’d put my money on demand.

What do you think?