Whenever a new platform is introduced in the marketplace, businesses experience the “deer in the headlight” moment before they start reacting to what is taking place. Some adapt quicker than others and grab the market share early in the game. By now, even the most cautious business person has figured out mobile commerce is not a trend, and if your business doesn’t have a mobile presence you will be losing in the long run. While 2012 was the year in which mobile platforms were being test driven, 2013 is the year in which trends will be established with proven tools to make mobile an accepted part of commerce.

Mobile marketing will have new tools it can use to make it more efficient across many different platforms, operating systems and devices. HTML5 will be the go-to platform for developers because it gives them the tools to develop universal apps that can be used across all operating systems. This will save large amounts of money associated with the development of platform specific applications.

While most developers like many features about HTML5, social sites like Facebook created their own native iOS and Android (News – Alert) apps for their mobile platform. To overcome this obstacle, hybrid apps, which combine native and HTML5 platforms, are being created for applications so they can take advantage of both technologies.

Hybrid platforms are cost-effective because developers can use HTML5 code once and adapt it so it can be deployed for Android, iOS, Windows Phone (News – Alert), Blackberry or any other platforms. It can be used for enterprise and business customers to create applications from consumers to employees.

Mobile marketing in the coming year will use data and analytics to get a better understanding of the mobile arena. Marketing campaigns and products will be tied in with social media with bigger commitments from agencies in the mobile space.

According to Facebook (News – Alert), 543 million of its users connect to the site using a mobile device. This type of access gives brands the means to reach their customers anytime and anywhere. This engagement will create metrics to determine the success of any campaign. Open graph integration, social TV and social shopping will also be trends used by mobile marketing in 2013.

Cross-platform marketing will see better integration and the unifying tool will be the mobile device. Consumers can be guided to view a TV program, a website, viral-mobile ready content or go to a location for a promotion when the event takes place. Real-time branding will also play a bigger role in the upcoming year.

Successful mobile campaign platforms will have to create original content designed specifically for the mobile platform. Reusing marketing campaigns designed for the desktop, laptop or any other platform will not be successful. It has to be an integrated marketing campaign designed specifically for each medium to keep engaging the consumer and creating a buzz. Other trends for the coming year include:

• App creation by marketers to keep engaging their brands with the consumer.
• New coupon redeeming apps will simplify how it can be offered by the manufacturer, used by the consumer and accepted by the retailer
• Location-based marketing will see a big increase as brands start offering targeted promotions for a specific city, demographic or item. Along with push notifications, they can be used to notify consumers to achieve higher success rate of targeted marketing which results in higher ROI.

Mobile development can be used with native, HTML5 and hybrid platforms, the key is finding one that will suit your needs and has the right app features, device access, gestures and connectivity that is suited to the development skills available to you.

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