You don't have to know the numbers to know mobile advertising is exploding. Then again, a little context never hurts: advertisers spent about $72 billion on digital ads in 2016 and this number is expected to balloon to $82 billion by the end of this year and more than $113 billion by 2020.

Marketers have long considered what they do to be an art, but how they do it has morphed into a science.

This seismic shift requires merging marketing's best practices with data science and predictive analytics. And this merger might require the addition of new team members who excel at their respective specialty.

Data runs the world. It drives the decisions we make, the people meet and the things we do. To ignore it would be ignoring potential income streams; to misunderstand it could lead to expensive mistakes and missed opportunities.

Today's marketing world isn't fixed on the creative outlet it once was. Rather, it's a data-driven field where numbers and behaviors come together, telling a story of the whole brand's journey, telling customers' tales from the initial introduction to the point they become loyal buyers.

If video killed the radio star, then the internet is killing the television star. According to her 2017 report on Internet Trends, Mary Meeker found internet ad spend will exceed television ads for the first time this year. If you consider the speed at which internet has overtaken TV--less than 25 years--it's time to take a look at where advertisers are spending money online and what the future of digital advertising will look like.

You could say that consumers are becoming needier; give them what they want and they simply want more of it.

Marketing is changing everyday. Companies which have the ability to quickly incorporate these new ideas into their marketing plans are earning more; while businesses which fail to adapt to the shifting marketing environment, are failing. 

You already know mobile technology has irrevocably altered consumers' buying journey. An astounding 77% of Americans now own a smart phone on which they do everything from stream videos, locate stores and research products. Marketers, ad agencies and entrepreneurs cannot risk shying away from this new mobile reality. Instead, successful, leading marketers are tackling this new challenge head-on and are implementing new measurement practices so that they not only survive this cultural shift, but thrive in it.

5 of the Most Intriguing Digital Marketing Blogs

Marketing.

It's a seemingly vague, all-encompassing word that takes on multiple meanings, depending on who you ask. In fact, unless you work in or directly with the marketing department, it's highly possible everything this team does is as elusive as the Loch Ness Monster.

Of course, each department in a company has a specific, important function. Ironically, the marketing folks have one of the most important functions in any business; yet, most people have no idea what they actually do.

While people were still pecking away at typewriters, cramming every square inch of the page with type and reading newspapers, which were equally crammed with type, a soon-to-be-famous German typographer, Jan Tschichold,  pleaded for some breathing room.