As the new year unfolds, many people will publish their annual “three words” posts. We decided to partake in the trend but give it a mobile marketing twist. Our three words for the year are:

When it comes to mobile marketing trends, it can be hard to pinpoint which ones are most poised to deliver in 2014. Mobile ad spending certainly will increase; new mobile ad formats, such as ones including more video, probably will be created; and consumers will continue to “showroom."

Wearable technology will gain share in terms of profit and the public eye. Businesses will focus on creating immersive experiences rather than attempting to create Oreo moment after Oreo moment, and may employ mobile/virtual queueing as part of their online to offline strategy.

2013 was a great year for mobile, perhaps more so than any other in recent memory. The media form became more visual, profitable and viable. Celebrities embraced mobile, as did many brands with responsive web site designs.

Here is a look at nine top mobile trends that dominated headlines this year.

Mobile marketing is a lot like Justin Bieber: they both have a lot of growing up to do.

The two have potential, but they’re plagued by problems. Bieber struggles to control his mouth and temper; mobile marketing struggles to make sense of the available data and to use it in a way that produces relevant, contextual ads and apps.

Everyone talks about contextually aware mobile computing. It's supposed to be the holy grail of marketing, allowing brands to engage one-on-one with their customers. But brands are struggling to make the context vision a reality.

Mobile is the pivot point in context because it offers access to local behavioral data through GPS and other sensors. In reality, tying corporate customer databases to local mobile media has become an extremely difficult process.

When it comes to context theory is frequently discussed but the success stories are rare. And for every case study there are 100 failures. Brands are struggling to make local marketing work for them.

Since Oreo’s big moment at the last Super Bowl, almost every marketer has sought similar real-time successes in channels ranging from blog posts to video and from social to mobile. The result has been a preponderance of messages that relate to real events but are not relevant to the brand or to the people who follow that brand.

If you had to invest in a mobile marketing campaign or a social media campaign, which would you choose? Let's use return on investment (ROI) as the primary decision point. We think mobile is the right answer.

Comparing social media to mobile marketing investments is a bit like comparing apples to oranges. This is true even though much of today's social media runs on mobile phones and tablets (The two are rarely mentioned independently).

However, both require investment from the marketing budget, and are accountable to questions about ROI

With the advent of the shortened holiday shopping season, most businesses have already initiated their holiday campaigns. A number of those businesses are turning to mobile, and some of the work with that medium rises above the rest. It does so because it accomplishes two things: first, it attends to the informed customer. Second, it develops new content for a new medium.

There are as many articles to develop a strong call-to-action as there are commentaries about plaids versus stripes. Yet, mobile marketers often face a unique challenge, that of bringing someone into the storefront. How can you make it worth someone's while to come into the store and buy?

Let's consider the most common scenarios mobile marketers face: Someone is searching locally while they shop or entertain themselves. Or your marketing program gets triggered when someone checks-in on their mobile app. Now you need to get them to visit your store.

This is different than traditional calls-to-action for general mobile commerce. Mobile commerce, while good, is a different outcome than getting people to come to your stores. Here are some formulas that work to drive that in-store traffic:

Consumers expect a seamless shopping experience. At least they desire it, and perhaps want it even more during the hubbub of the holiday shopping season. Consumers prefer to purchase the gifts on their lists and be done with making those lists well in advance of the day they exchange gifts.

Consumers’ entire shopping experience has to be easy, and it has to occur on their schedules. They don’t want to be tied to store hours; they want to be tied to their family’s and friends’. Their wish lists include “convenience” and “expedience.”