As more consumers adopt mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, small businesses now have another opportunity to target potential customers through these devices.

According to a recent study conducted by Borrell, 83 percent of U.S. small- and medium-sized businesses plan to or already have allocated part of their 2011 marketing budget to at least one mobile channel. On average, respondents plan to spend 20 percent of their budgets on mobile marketing campaigns.

“Historically the small guys wait until the technology gets cheaper and the roadmap is a little more clear – that’s how it was with online,” Borrell principal author Kip Cassino told ClickZ. “These guys aren’t waiting. They’re plunging in, and for the most part they’re doing so without many metrics.”

While traditional marketing may have worked in the past, the new consumer is a mobile one and devices are literally flying off shelves.

According to research firm Gartner, global sales of mobile devices reached nearly 429 million units in the second quarter of 2011, while smartphone sales reached nearly 108 million.