Mobile marketers know value of mobile but lack confidence in its ability to help them find new profitable customers.
With the rise of mobile and its revenue potential, two-thirds of marketers still struggle with identifying the signals of engagement in their customers' journey. While 61% of marketers surveyed see untapped opportunities in mobile advertising, they agree that they lack the information to find new, profitable customers.
While 80% of those surveyed by Radium One and the Mobile Marketing Association agree that consumers use of mobile devices enables them to access more data, the survey suggests that 58% are not fully confident in their re-engagement efforts to alleviate customer churn while over 50% aren't confident in their ability to acquire new customers and re-engage lost ones.
"The industry talks constantly about the flood of new data generated by digital engagement, and this is especially the case with mobile, given how indispensable smartphones are today," said Bill Lonergan, chief executive of RadiumOne. "But the plain truth is that most marketers simply aren't confident in their ability to capture and utilize data effectively. As a result, we must help them in three key areas: identifying the right consumer signals of interest and intent, building accurate insights and predictions and activating these to maximize return on marketing investment."
Indeed, when it comes to using data to improve branding, marketers cite "knowing where consumers are on their journey" as their biggest challenge (cited by 38%). For driving sales, it's "knowing what the most important customer interaction points are" (also 38%).
Marketers cited content sharing from apps (29% of those surveyed), mobile site visits (28%) and app installs (27%) as the most valuable signals for improving mobile branding. For mobile direct response (DR), the most valuable signals are found in purchase data (38%), geo-location and bookmarked content (both 35%).
Lonergan acknowledges that driving purchases on mobile has "historically been a challenge compared to desktop," so brands that want to increase mobile transactions should "focus on the in-app experience – from having a simple UI, easy-to-access content and sharing features, and an easy way to buy."