“Every moment is mobile. There is no other platform that is as personal, as pervasive, and provides the opportunity for proximity to connect with consumers in the right place and time,” Greg Stuart, CEO, MMA
Over the past 20 years the mobile phone has grown to become one of the most important influences in the average person’s life: not only does it allow us to keep in contact on the go, it lets us organise our time, purchase products and services, and most importantly, it’s the tool that entertains us during our downtime.
It’s unusual to get on a train, grab a coffee, or go to a pub without seeing someone tapping away on their screen. Mobile is the device that is changing social etiquette and culture. It is revolutionising the way people socially interact with each other, and with the brands that are looking to create a two-way dialogue with them.
The mobile phone is becoming increasingly important in the consumer’s life, and for many it is the device that wakes them up and the last screen they see before they go to sleep with 80% of smartphone users checking their phones within the first 15 minutes of waking up (IDC research, April 2013).
65% of the UK’s phones are now Smartphones (ComScore, 2013), and the average person looks at their screen 150 times a day to consume an array of entertainment content (Mary Meeker 2013 Internet Trends). Unlike the PC, it is unrestricted access – wherever they are, consumers are comfortable looking at their mobiles.
BEHAVIOURS ARE CHANGING
Usage trends from a range of respectable sources prove that consumers are becoming increasingly comfortable using their phones as the priority device for tasks they may have previously reserved for their PC or laptop. In particular, there is strikingly apparent growth in finance categories such as credit cards (+80.4% YOY, ComScore 2013) and m-payments (+61.7% YOY, ComScore 2013) proving that consumers are more at ease with the privacy issues that dogged the industry just a couple of years ago.
What is important for a number of brands is how consumers are using their devices to research products and services and then sharing these results with family and friends using SMS and social media. As over 44% of UK Smartphone owners have engaged with their phone while out shopping in a retail store (ComScore 2013), mobile phones evidently have a real impact on the decision making process, and for retail clients, having a presence in this space is vital.
As usage increases, brands must keep pace. If a brand does not offer a suitable experience on their mobile device, 61% of consumers openly admit to switching to a competitor site or application to find what they were looking for. However, if a site is mobile friendly, 74% of people say they are more likely to return again in the future, while 67% are much more likely to buy a site’s product or services there and then. (Google, September 2012)
THE OPPORTUNITY IS NOW
“If you don’t have a mobile strategy, you don’t have a future strategy” Eric Schmidt – Google Executive Chairman.
Despite around 10% of consumers’ time being spent on a mobile device, only 1% of marketing budgets are spent in this space – suggesting what we have known all along; that mobile represents a significant underexploited opportunity to engage with consumers. (Mary Meeker Report, 2012)
However, UK mobile market spend is now beginning to grow rapidly with IABUK trends showing that mobile is in fact growing at the same rate as digital 10 years before it.
There is one major difference though, the mobile audience is much savvier than the internet audience of 10 years ago, and is already comfortable engaging with digital advertising. If mobile continues to grow at a comparable rate to online it has the potential to explode within the next three to five years, with spends set to overtake online advertising and campaigns becoming ‘mobile first’.
Furthermore, mobile advertising is already proving to be effective. In January 2013, 27.6% of UK Smartphone owners recall seeing advertisements while browsing the mobile web or using applications on their phone. The traditionally tough to target audience of 18-24 year olds are the most receptive with over 40% recalling mobile advertising (ComScore 2013).
What is most exciting is the increasing number of opportunities generated by third party technology embedded into phones, which create a more native experience. These opportunities such as Shazam, Aurasma and QR codes will soon be the norm for advertisers. Whilst the hurdle of having the consumer download an application can sometimes hinder engagement of an integrated campaign, the increasing levels of interactivity prove there is a customer appetite to engage with interactive ads, taking consumers beyond the bus shelter poster, for example, and through to external content on their mobiles.
Brands need to be aware that now is the time to invest money, they must understand the ROI that a mobile strategy can bring to them, and be aware of the growth and potential in the market. Most importantly they must understand the marketing opportunities of using mobile as either an advertising channel or as a marketing platform.
No other device can claim such a loyal user base, or offer the range of formats, in-depth targeting or embedded technology that creates such a unique and engaging experience. Brands now face being left behind by more innovative competitors and risk losing customers in an increasingly competitive space of marketing unless they look to leverage the incomparable capabilities.
