In July, independent research firm Vanson Bourne surveyed more than 100 marketing decision makers from mid to large enterprises across the UK.
The research found that mobile marketing budgets are growing faster than traditional marketing budgets. With 56% of respondents saying their marketing budget would increase next year, over 50 % of respondents believe that mobile marketing will be more important than other traditional marketing techniques within the next two years.
“Businesses have woken up to the potential value of mobile marketing and doing business on mobile and realise that whilst reaching customers through traditional channels has become increasingly difficult, consumers are now spending an average of 6.5 hours a week on the mobile web,” said Colin McCaffery, director of products at 2ergo. “Those who don’t leverage this opportunity now are likely to get crowded out by brands with first mover advantage.”
Those who have engaged a mobile marketing campaign are experiencing significant returns on their investment, with a quarter of people using mobile marketing experiencing significantly reduced costs of sale and half believing they are delivering significantly improved customer service.
Commenting on the research, Rob Bamforth, principal analyst, communication, collaboration and convergence from analyst firm, Quocirca, said: “The mobile phone is ideal for squeezing the most value from marketing budgets. It is always in reach and has the immediate connectivity and capacity to support sophisticated marketing applications. Those that can quickly and sympathetically exploit the mobile marketing potential, will find it an invaluable tool for influencing and retaining customers.”
The trend towards businesses seeing mobile marketing as an essential component of the marketing mix can be seen in the study results: More than 60% of businesses believe that customers will increasingly look to engage with brands through their mobile; Even respondents who do not expect their marketing budget to increase expect their mobile marketing budget to increase; The most popular aims of mobile marketing are customer retention and brand building, with 52% of respondents measuring success of their mobile marketing campaigns by these two factors; Four out of five companies are currently using mobile marketing, with the proportion rising to almost 90% amongst high turnover and financial services companies; One in four businesses using mobile marketing are benefitting from reduced costs of sale.
Business decision makers see iPhone and smartphone apps (53%) and mobile tickets and coupons (38 %) as the key uses for mobile marketing. A further 53% also recognise interactive messaging as a strategy for mobile marketing. The response indicates that many businesses need to develop an understanding of the full breadth of what a business can do through mobile and its corresponding potential.
The survey also highlights that the most popular types of mobile marketing are presently mobile publishing, websites and outbound SMS. However the development of smartphone apps is the channel that most companies are looking to activate over the next 12 months.
When asked what factors prevent their organisations from using mobile marketing, survey respondents cited a lack of their own research into its benefits (52%) as the main factor.