In the ad:tech  MobileMix keynote session "Surveying the Mobile Landscape in 2009," Mike Wehrs, president and CEO of the Mobile Marketing Association, offered his views on the mobile industry.

Coverage of the ad:tech San Francisco conference continues at WebProNews Videos. Stay with WebProNews for more notes and videos from the event this week.

Mike Wehrs

Wehrs said the mobile landscape has seen exceptional global growth. There are currently 4.1 billion mobile users worldwide and that number will increase to 5.6 billion mobile users in 2013.

Mobile is not a platform, it’s a channel that is interactive and allows users to engage, query and communicate with the advertiser.

"The unique value of the mobile channel for marketing purposes is becoming clear," said Wehrs.

Mobile is individual and one-to-one marketing (direct targeting). It provides a higher level of engagement and interaction controlled by the consumer.

The average U.S. mobile subscriber now sends or receives more text messages than phone calls. "Mobile is essential, rather than experimental," Wehrs said.

The device capability is there. Most people have web capabilities on their mobile device and they are using it. Marketers should take advantage of that.

Trends such as mobile banking, alerts, mobile vouchers and coupons, and customer service applications are developing key areas to watch.

Looking ahead in mobile, marketers are trying to:

• Achieve measurable ROI
• Translate the brand experience across different touch points
• Create integrated budgets without cutting performance
• Cutting budgets without cutting performance
• Measuring brand effectiveness
• Evolving a brand

WebProNews Reporter/Anchor Abby Johnson contributed to this report.