This sponsored post is produced by Webtrends.
Marketers are spending more and more on mobile advertising with no signs of slowing down. In 2013, advertising revenue in mobile almost doubled to $19.3 billion from the previous year, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, IAB Europe and research firm IHS.
Unfortunately, some of that money isn’t being well spent.
While most marketers clearly see the vast revenue opportunities in mobile – after all, 58 percent of all U.S. adults have a smartphone – many aren’t putting in place the right mix of strategies. They’re incorrectly treating mobile as a silo rather than in relation to other marketing channels. But if marketers use a cross-channel approach, they can better understand consumer behavior across all platforms to provide the right experience leading to purchase – regardless of which device is ultimately used to make that purchase.
Take the results from a recent PhoCusWright survey: It found that while 41 percent of travel shoppers will browse for flights and hotels on a mobile platform, only 23 percent will book that travel using the same device. When looked at in a silo, the data suggest that nearly 44 percent of shoppers use mobile to do research but then abandon the transaction before booking.
However, when viewed in context with other channels, that’s not the case at all. Some 53 percent of those same shoppers simply preferred to book on their desktop computers rather than on their mobile devices, and 30 percent indicated they just weren’t yet ready to book their travel. If marketers aren’t connecting the dots between mobile and other touch points, they’re not only getting a small snapshot of that traveler’s journey, they’re likely getting the wrong one.
With this in mind, here are five tips to get on the right mobile track:
- Collect the right data. It’s key for mobile marketers to rely on first-party data so they can see visitor activity on an individual level. This view should ideally be a combination of past behavior and real-time data to get a pulse on intent. When marketers treat visitors as individuals, serving personalized, contextual content based on a one-to-one experience with the brand, the visitor is more likely to buy.
- Implement a mobile measurement strategy. It’s standard for brands to implement a measurement strategy to evaluate performance when rolling out a new advertising campaign. But marketers often use mobile as a “test channel”; they know they should be leveraging it, but don’t have in place the proper strategic initiatives and goals. Just as you measure the effectiveness of other online channels, you have to do the same with mobile.
- View mobile in context with other channels. What matters is how the customer uses mobile in conjunction with other channels. Many marketers continue to use isolated approaches that just further break down mobile into seemingly unrelated buckets: Mobile applications, mobile websites, SMS and QR codes are treated as unrelated delivery and measurement silos. If marketers are measuring mobile separately, they’ll never make the connection between channels, and may well view that customer as a missed opportunity only because he didn’t complete the purchase within the mobile channel. The smart route is to identify and understand customers across all channels, and use that data to guide future marketing decisions.
- Adjust rapidly. Initiatives such as responsive design and hybrid application development are key to the agility required in the current marketing environment. Successful marketers must retain maximum flexibility when it comes to adjusting and refining their content and practices across all devices and all channels.
- Partner with savvy vendors. Hook up with others who understand the current mobile marketing ecosystem and where it’s headed. We all know that marketing technology is always changing and improving, and marketers should connect with others who, for example, have a firm grasp on current measurement tactics and integration, as well as a forward-thinking strategy to keep mobile efforts on the right track.
Clearly, the dollars flowing into mobile advertising will continue. By using the right tools and technology, as well as partnering with savvy players, marketers can eliminate unwise mobile practices and make sure the money is spent wisely.
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