Whether it involves e-mail marketing, social media marketing or online marketing via websites or blogs: mobile internet is becoming an increasingly prominent factor to take into account.

Where 2009 and - up to now - 2010 was especially characterized by the impact of social media on marketing and communication, it seems that next year and probably the rest of this year 'mobile' will become one of the fastest growing priorities for many marketers and publishers.

Mobile marketing – think of mobile websites, SMS and mobile applications – is not new but on the level of marketing opportunities as well as the reach and penetration of mobile media there are many changes happening right now.

Earlier on in this blog we discussed mobile e-mail, including the necessary tips. But new data from Nielsen Wire and The Cambridge Group indicate that mobile media will grow much more rapidly than “traditional” internet.

Learning from "emerging markets"

While Internet use will globally continue in more predictable and slower growth patterns the quickly increasing use of mobile media and wireless internet form challenges for classic economic models, Nielsen Wire found.

The growth of “connectivity” is not so much linked to the growth of the number of computers and the evolutions on the level of broadband technology as it used to but will depend more and more on the sales of mobile telephones.

The strongest growing markets in the ‘mobile’ area will be the so-called BRIC-countries: Brazil, Russia, India and China. These are all countries with an increasing middle class and growing financial means.

This also has consequences on an economic level apart from the structural consequences that Nielsen Wire sees for marketers and advertisers.

Since the growth of the mobile market will be strongest in the BRIC countries, marketers in more “mature” markets, will have to follow the innovations in the mobile market and adjust them to their situation in these ‘emerging markets’.

The reason why the growth is greatest in the ‘emerging markets’, apart from the rapid economic growth, is the fact that the most important increase on the level of mobile devices and online services, happens especially in families with a lower income.

The mobile revolution will in other words also decrease the digital gap of access to internet between “poor” and “rich”.

This obviously does not mean that only marketers who focus on these markets or target groups should keep an eye on the mobile revolution to adjust their marketing to the media evolutions.

Despite the fact that the growth is strongest in the BRIC countries the increase of mobile internet will also grow more rapidly in more wealthy countries than traditional Internet access.

Have you asked your recipients about their mobile communication needs yet?

In short: it is time to prepare your communication channels like e-mail, websites and social media, for the ongoing breakthrough of mobile appliances.

If you would like to know how many of your email subscribers or site visitors already make use of mobile devices you can easily find it out via web analytics and e-mail campaign data.

But why not start asking the communication preferences of your target groups now? Especially if you don’t offer communication channels that are optimized for mobile devices now?

Since the growth will not take place gradually it is best to revise your mobile strategy as soon as possible.

J-P De Clerck is a content, conversion and social media consultant. You can connect with him on Twitter or via his site.