Marketers Say Mobile Strategies Not Yet Well Defined

March 8, 2013

This article is included in these additional categories:

Analytics, Automated & MarTech | Data-driven | Digital | Financial Services | Mobile Phone | Uncategorized

Econsultancy-Mobile-Marketing-Strategies-Mar2013Just 1 in 4 “mainstream mobile” companies report having a well defined mobile strategy, according to [download page] a study from Econsultancy in association with Kontagent. The survey divided the 823 respondents with an active mobile program into a group defined as “mobile first” (who have a majority of customers/audience access their site via mobile devices, or have a primary revenue stream from mobile), comparing them with the remainder, the “mobile mainstream.”

Predictably, the “mobile first” group were much more likely to report having a well defined mobile strategy. Still, strategies are not ubiquitous at those companies either: despite having mobile be a key business influence, only 64% said they have a well-defined mobile strategy. Agency respondents to the survey tended to share the overall sentiment: 19% agreed with the statement that “most marketing organizations have a strategy around their mobile programs,” while 54% disagreed.

While strategies may remain underdeveloped, that may change in the near future, with 45% of the “mobile mainstream” and 71% of the “mobile first” groups saying that senior management, marketing, and technology work together to define mobile strategy.

Also encouraging are results suggesting that on the whole, respondents are satisfied with how their mobile efforts are faring. 70% of the “mobile first” companies, and 61% of the “mobile mainstream” said their mobile offerings are either meeting or exceeding expectations, although the researchers caution that a significant proportion (14% and 21%, respectively) either did not have well-defined expectations or have don’t have sufficient data to know.

The study finds that although most marketers simply “rushed to bring their mobile programs online” without much consideration of an overarching strategy, that won’t hold them back from increasing their investments this year. Roughly 7 in 10 respondents from each group said they’ll increase spending on mobile this year. That supports recent survey findings from Forrester Consulting, which indicated that mobile marketing budgets will rise this year despite concerns about ROI.

About the Data: The Mobile Sophistication and Strategy Study is largely based on the findings from a survey deployed on January 15, 2013, and closed on February 12, 2013. The study was initially fielded to the wider industry via Econsultancy and Kontagent lists through email and social media. To ensure a diverse and representative population, Econsultancy also used an external sample made up of a cross-section of companies with mobile programs across a range of industries.

The study closed with a total of 1,301 respondents. Of those, 232 were separated from the main sample because they did not meet the standard for having a mobile program. Agency respondents (n=246) were also given a different question set.

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