Well, since we are in the official year of mobile (it is really the actual year of mobile right?) it only makes sense to start to truly predict just how much will now be spent in the future of mobile. One of the most obvious uses of mobile marketing is for couponing. Being able to provide a coupon at the literal point of purchase at the time of purchase has implications for sales that could be significant.

MediaPost reports on a study done by Borrell Associates that shows some projections that if they are believed indicate growth that is makes a “hockey stick” growth pattern look like the new flat.

Borrell goes on to say

Text-based coupons are the fastest-growing and most obvious mobile marketing application, and the easiest to implement, says the report. Redemption rates for mobile coupons are 10x that of mail or newspaper distributed coupons. The report summarizes the future by noting that a restaurant in Texas pays $37 to send out 500 text messages for a “buy-one/get-one-free burger” offer and gets 60 people to walk in the door, for incremental revenue of $1,000 per day.

There are many reasons for this type of anticipated growth with the biggest being the fact that the “install” base of mobile phones is already significant (80%) and the rise of smartphone usage (now at 31% of mobile phone users) doesn’t appear to be waning either. As a result, customers already have the delivery vehicle for these offers. Many just need to get used to the idea that their phone, and even their smart phone, is a mobile Sunday paper coupon section of sorts.

This is intriguing because the report also points out that in the mid 1990’s when the commercial Internet was truly getting traction only 8% of households had a modem enabled computer. Not having the technology slowed the adoption of the medium but in 15 short years it is poised to take over many traditional media in its level of importance. Mobile marketing doesn’t have to wait for people to purchase the means for getting their messages. They already have it. Now it’s a matter of behavioral adjustments which seem to be taking less and less time as people adjust to the new media world we live in.

So maybe this year is the year of mobile. Your take?