Marketers Still View Mobile As Campaign, Not Strategy, CMO Council Says

Marketers are far from being prepared when it comes to mobile campaign strategies. Only 17% participating in a Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council study say their mobile strategies are fully integrated and aligned with their overall marketing strategies. Some 31% admit they either have no strategy or simply view mobile as a campaign and not a business strategy.

As the Internet of things makes everything accessible through smartphones, a study released Thursday from the CMO Council, in partnership with SAS, reveals 61% of marketers surveyed have deployed some form of mobile engagement, and 54% of respondents say the mobile channel has become critical to customer interaction, retention and brand differentiation.

Marketers still don't know where mobile fits into their overall marketing strategy.

Of the marketers that do not see mobile as critical to their business strategy, 48% say mobile is not central to their marketing and engagement strategies, 28% believe it's a campaign and not a strategy, and 24% admit mobile is too confusing.

When it comes to marketers who say mobile is critical to their business strategy, 10% believe mobile is just a campaign, 7% find mobile is too confusing, and 57% believe it is a valued channel to engage customers.

Liz Miller, senior vice president of marketing for the CMO Council, believes few marketers have figured out mobile is a channel customers define as critical.

eMarketer estimates 4.5 billion mobile phone users globally, with some 1.7 billion of them representing smartphone users. Mobile commerce accounts for 15% of total U.S. mobile commerce revenue, as of 2013 In the U.S., mobile media consumption contributes 12% of a typical consumer's media consumption time.

Of the companies that have fully adopted and integrated a mobile strategy, 24% say mobile comes first when their organizations plan customer experiences. Of those, 17% of marketers who believe their respective company has fully integrated mobile into their marketing strategies, 45% say their organizations have adopted a mobile-first mindset.

The 19-page white paper, Getting in Sync With Mobile Customers, summarizes data and findings from an online survey of more than 200 marketers fielded during Q2 and Q3 of 2014.

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