2012 will be remembered in the marketing world as the year that digital marketers finally got around to writing the rule book on mobile.  Whilst the move was visibly in an effort to better adapt to the huge shift in con­sumer behaviour, it’s clear that there is still room for improvement.

At the start of the year in Adobe’s Q2 2012 Global Digital Advertising Update, we predicted  that one in five paid search clicks would come from a mobile device and whilst this seemed ambitious, we have surpassed that mark. However on the other side of the coin – many brands still don’t have fully optimised websites or apps for mobile.

So what should digital marketers look out for next year?

Gartner predicts the sale of smart devices to rise by as much as 1.2 billion in 2013 and we think mobile search will continue to grow as a significant portion of SEM campaigns. By the end of 2013, we think one in three paid clicks will come from a tablet or smartphone, with consumers increasingly making purchasing decisions solely with their mobile devices. With this shift marketers need to recognise that a mobile strategy is not optional. Finding ways to monetise and personalise mobile traffic through apps, publishing and optimised web experiences are critical to success.

As well as mobile, we are expecting to see a combination of trends and new technology innovations cause 2013 to be an eventful year for digital marketing. See more on the following 2013 predictions from Adobe on ad exchanger:

-          Cross-channel and cross-device measurement will become paramount

-          Marketing will become even more granular

-          Marketers will understand the true value of Social

Jonathan Beeston, director, new product innovation at Adobe
@searchbeest