As mobile adoption continues to surge.the advertising industry struggles to catch up. One thing we do know is that users tend to have a higher expectation for advertising on their mobile devices, and rightfully so. For many of us, our phone or tablet is the first and last thing we engage with every day, making the connection to these gadgets increasingly personal. Because of this, unexpected experiences are not only unwelcome, but they can also seem exponentially more obtrusive and disruptive than they might otherwise. So how do marketers solve for the challenges we're continually bumping up against in the …

Many small business marketers dismiss content marketing as something they simply can't afford to do. It is viewed as a buzzword -- a marketing trend that only huge global brands like Red Bull, United Airlines and General Electric have the budgets to use. That perception is far from the truth. The beauty of content marketing is its scalability in our current digitally savvy, low-cost content-distribution era.

According to a recent Mintel report on marketing to Millennials, this group of digitally savvy and highly engaged consumers will have more than $1.4 trillion in spending power in the U.S. by 2020. Millennials, as the first generation of digital natives, navigate their busy digital lives with brains wired to consume content differently than older generations. Considering that they spend an average of 18 hours a day consuming media, coupled with their natural inclination to share content, makes content marketing an especially effective way to reach this coveted demographic. But that doesn't mean it's easy. Here are five basic principles …

You've certainly heard that content marketing is the coolest thing ever and that you have to jump on this bandwagon. But, wait. Stop. Why should you expend all this time and effort to create content? Is it because everyone else is doing it? Is it because you like to write? Is it because your tween daughter loves to watch videos on Youtube, so you think that you can appeal to the kids by creating a series of videos? If those are the reasons you're considering launching a content marketing effort, stop. Because the only reason to embrace content marketing is …