When it comes to mobile, many marketers consider themselves wizards. But when you pull back the curtain, it becomes clear that some strategies aren’t as great and powerful as once perceived.
Unless a house just fell on them, marketers know that consumers are constantly interacting with their mobile devices. About 20% of consumers spend up to 15 minutes per day searching on mobile, according to the 2013 “Netbiscuits People’s Web Report,” and 50% spend up to 30 minutes shopping per day. So if marketers want to engage customers—and their little dogs, too—they’ll have to make mobile an integrated part of their overall strategies.
Thankfully, many marketers are already heading down this road. About 71% of marketers currently use mobile as part of their multichannel brand experiences, according to the recent U.K. report “Getting Mobile Right” by Brand Republic and Netbiscuits, and nearly 52% use the channel to increase their overall website traffic. Mobile can also be a great way to reach customers’ hearts. According to the report, about 42% of marketers use the channel to enhance customer brand loyalty among mobile device users.
But a successful mobile marketing strategy needs more than just heart. It also requires marketers to use their brains and measure whether their initiatives are paying off. About half of the marketers surveyed use desktop Web analytic products to track mobile activities and about 11% rely on agencies or other third parties to monitor results. In addition, about 6% of marketers turn to marketing automation solutions to measure mobile marketing performance, according to the report.
Still, some marketers just don’t have the courage to give mobile a chance. When asked how they measure the success of their mobile efforts, nearly 12% of marketers admitted that they don’t focus on mobile as a channel. In addition, about 9% of marketers said a lack of tools makes accurately measuring mobile activities difficult, and approximately 4% said that they can’t measure mobile activity at all.
No matter “witch” way you look at it, mobile is becoming an integral part of the purchase process. And unless marketers want their channels to become so fragmented that it looks like a twister blew through, they’ll have to invest in mobile. According to the survey, about 31% of marketers say that they’ve covered their mobile strategy basics but could still benefit from more investment. In addition, about 20% of marketers say that they have mobile offerings, like a designated mobile site, and will continue to invest heavily in mobile marketing. Furthermore, another 20% admits that mobile hasn’t been a focus yet, but that it will be a priority this year.
In terms of development, 62% of marketers plan to incorporate responsive Web design within the next 12 months, according to the report. In addition, 18% plan to include adaptive websites, and another 18% plan to introduce dedicated mobile sites. However, 2% don’t plan on making any mobile improvements; certainly, they’ll have to do a lot more than click their heels if they hope to reach the end of the ROI rainbow.
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