Commentary

Why Marketers Can't Envision Their Mobile Future

By now, you’d think most marketers would have a clearly defined long-term mobile strategy. However, you’d be wrong.

For reasons that escape me, just one in five companies around the globe have a defined mobile strategy that goes back at least 12 months. That’s according to new research from Adobe, which included feedback from 4,000 marketers and digital professionals.

That’s despite the fact that an increasing share of e-commerce revenues are transacted on mobile devices -- 28%, this year, versus 21% in 2015 and 16% in 2014.

That’s despite the fact that mobile is now responsible for 37% of all digital traffic -- up from 31% in the last 2 years.

That’s despite the fact that brands expect mobile to make up more than half of their digital traffic in the next 12 months, which would represent an increase of 32% year-over-year.

That’s despite the fact 63% of brands believe the quality of their mobile experience is more important than that on desktop.

That’s despite the fact that the number of brands that see themselves as “mobile first” has increased 200% since 2014!

“The finding is worrisome, but not surprising,” Ray Pun, head of product marketing for mobile at Adobe Marketing Cloud, tells me.

“As big a cultural shift as mobile has been, many brands are still behind the maturity curve in how they execute against it,” Pun explains. “This a broader organizational and systemic issue.”

To wit, “Management hasn’t defined a clear vision that connects the dots and breaks down silos,” Pun continues. “At the same time, there is a knowledge gap where digital teams are lacking expertise with mobile Web and app-centric experiences.” 

On the bright side, such challenges don’t seem to be souring marketers on mobile.

On the contrary, nearly all of those surveyed (98%) plan on increasing mobile spending -- or at least maintaining their current level of spending -- moving forward.

“The investment level is not the issue, because we know that’s continuing to increase,” Pun assures us.

1 comment about "Why Marketers Can't Envision Their Mobile Future".
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  1. Jim Clouse from ClikitySplit.com, July 30, 2016 at 1:20 p.m.

    The main reason that most marketers don't have a clearly defined mobile marketing is fear of its complexity.  They think it is a whole lot harder than it really is.  And typically that is true.  However, ClikitySplit, has made it so simple that even the most time-starved SMB can build their “dynamic billboards” in 20-25 minutes with our wizard and then uniquely, change that content in 3-4 minutes thereafter, showcasing their business with video, audio, slideshow and other decision-influencing information.  How is that for simplicity?

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