Mobile marketing mainly used for customer acquisition: report

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Posted 27 November 2012 11:38am by David Moth with 0 comments

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Mobile marketing is predominantly used for customer acquisition and brand awareness, according to new research from Forrester and Velti.

The survey of 150 US mobile marketing professionals found that 86% of respondents use the channel for customer acquisition, while 79% use it for awareness.

A further 78% said they use mobile for loyalty and retention and 66% for customer satisfaction.

The report suggests that by focusing on upper-funnel branding and promotions marketers are missing out on the personalised engagement opportunities offered by mobile marketing.

However, as search is second only to email as the most popular smartphone task, there is certainly value in using mobile for customer acquisition and awareness.

The survey also asked respondents which mobile marketing tactics they use.

Reflecting the fact that social media is a hugely popular activity on smartphone, 66% of marketers said they invest in social mobile advertising.

Display was the second most popular activity (44%) followed by mobile web landing pages with promotions and location-targeted advertising (both 37%).

Interestingly, only 22% said they invest in mobile paid search, which suggests advertisers are missing the opportunity presented by this channel. We've seen numerous surveys which show that although mobile search spend is increasing rapidly, it's still a relatively untapped area for marketers.

For example, data from Marin Software revealed that mobile devices accounted for 13% of search spend in June 2012, yet took a 20% share of clicks.

This is despite the fact that separate surveys shows that search spend increased 250% in Q1 and 333% in Q2 2012 compared with the same periods in 2011.

KPIs

Forrester also asked respondents what KPIs they use to assess their mobile marketing initiatives.

The most common answer was web traffic and visitors (63%), followed by CTR (58%), brand awareness (54%) and revenue (44%). 

The report takes this as further evidence that too many mobile advertisers are using desktop marketing tactics and haven't yet adapted to the opportunities presented by mobile.

It recommends that marketers use mobile to deliver highly contextual, relevant information that directly engage individual consumers.

For further information on this topic check out our blog posts on whether your mobile strategy is fit for purpose and seven best practice tips for mobile marketers.