Numbers were flying, some conflicting, some not, an indicator of the lightning fast pace of mobile marketing.
Geoff Ramsey, chief executive office of eMarketer, sorted it all out during his presentation for the crowd last week at the ANA Mobile Marketing Conference.
One of the things his company does is analyze the massive amount of research around mobile phone use and marketing pumped out from dozens of companies to come up with a singular determination of the findings.
Here’s a run down of his findings (crunched with eMarketer data along with more than a dozen other company’s research) about trends, stats and best practices for mobile marketing:
Consumer Stats
1. Between 2008 and 2010, share time spent per day among major media by U.S adults broke out as follows: TV (4 hours/24 minutes); Internet (2 hours/35 minutes); mobile (50 minutes); newspapers (30 minutes) and magazines (20 minutes).
2. Even at the conference two speakers came up with widely different numbers of smart phone users: 63 million and 82 million. Ramsey discounted both arriving at 90 million users or 76% of the population. That calculates to 50% growth this year that is expected continue for the next few years, Ramsey said.
3. While only 1/5 of mobile users conduct searches on their phones, 60% of smartphone users do.
4. 40% of smartphone users are social versus 21% of mobile users.
Marketer View
1. 50% of marketers have mobile in their upcoming advertising plans
2. More than 1/3 plan to increase spending by 50% or more
3. The amount spent on mobile marketing also varied widely depending on the source. Ramsey analyzed the various sources and determined that $1.1 billion would be spent this year, making mobile the fastest growing digital channel. But when compared to the $31 billion spent on online ad dollars in 2011, it’s just a drop in the digital bucket.
“That’s still only 3.4% of the total digital U.S. market,” he said.
4. One of the biggest obstacles for mobile marketers—that phones are personal—also presents the biggest opportunities for marketers, he said. But there is work to be done. On the obstacle side: only 13% of consumers surveyed during Q1 2011 by eMarketer, said they “trust completely or somewhat” ads on mobile devices, 15% for ads on social networks. On the opportunity side: 76% “trust completely or somewhat” recommendations from people they know, 49% consumer opinions posted online and 40% emails the respondent signed up for.
Magnetic Content
“It’s the idea that spreads that wins,” Ramsey said. “Mobile should be about engagement, community and utility.”
He used the example of the North Face app for ski enthusiasts that provides weather forecasts at ski areas, Clorox’s app to find quick stain removal tips and the endearing Evian “roller babies” YouTube video that captured 35 million views. He referred to this content as “magnetic.”
Five Mobile Marketing Strategies
1. Identify and Understand your Mobile Audience Citing the Chief Marketer “2011 Mobile Marketing Survey,” only 41% of U.S. marketers have studied the mobile usage habits of their target customers or used outside research to form assumptions about those customers mobile use. Some 56% are “clueless,” Ramsey said, only making assumptions or don’t even know about their customers usage, the survey found.
2. Precise Targeting 68% of marketers plan to use more personalization in their marketing plans. Adhere to strict opt-in practices. Work with top mobile ad networks that have access to rich subscriber data from carriers. Store the information in a database to create real-time campaigns segmented by interests, intentions and location.
3. Consider Geo-Location Technology “Judiciously,” Ramsey said. Less than 10% of mobile/online adults use location services to check in. Mobile coupon redemption rates can often reach 20%, which creates rich opportunities to reach consumers just when they are at the point of making a decision.
4. Use Mobile as an Additive, Integrated Channel to track, measure and enhance other media efforts and to alert consumers to your “magnetic” content. Ramsey used the example of a Jiffy Lube radio spot that promoted a mobile coupon for $7 off an oil change. 50% of the people who redeemed the coupons were new customers.
“Mobile works best in a supportive role,” Ramsey said.
5. Think Before You App Think about the customers needs. Think Fun. Think utility.
“Remember, you’re not just competing with other marketers, you’re competing with thousands of app developers for the consumers’ time and attention,” Ramsey said.
Mobile Measurement
1. 63% of US marketers either a) hadn’t measured the ROI of their mobile campaigns or b) simply had no idea what it was, according to a King Fish Media survey.
2. 51% of mobile marketers are relying on clicks to measure campaign success, the Chief Marketer mobile marketing survey found.
3. A number of reasons were cited in a Google and Mobile Marketing Association survey as to why advertisers worldwide have not invested in mobile: 55% reported having a limited advertising budget; 48% did not have mobile optimized websites; 46% were unsure of how mobile ads could work for their businesses and 41% were unsure about ROI.
4. Only 37% of marketers are integrating mobile with their cross-platform media strategies, according to Chief Marketer.
5. Start with a measurement framework that links together:
A. Exposure Metrics Qualified reach
B. Strategic Metrics An end action rate like some kind of conversation, registration, coupon redemption, trial, email signup or purchase.
C. Financial Metrics ROI
“Mobile is more about attraction, rather than distraction,” Ramsey said.
Editor’s Note: The following companies were cited as part of Ramsey’s presentation: eMarketer, Chief Marketer, comScore, InsightExpress, Beyond, Pew, SNL Kagan, IAB, Deloitte, The Nielsen Co., Arbitron/Edison, Ipsos, Edmiston Group, Econsultancy, IAB, JiWire, King Fish Media, Google, Mobile Marketing Association.
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