B2C Mobile Tactics Favor Advertising Over Marketing

November 28, 2012

This article is included in these additional categories:

Analytics, Automated & MarTech | Brand Metrics | Data-driven | Digital | Mobile Phone | Social Media

The majority of US business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers rely on mobile advertising rather than mobile marketing tactics, according to [download page] a November 2012 report by Forrester compiled on behalf of Velti and sponsored by the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). The most popular mobile advertising methods are social media advertising (66%) and mobile display ads (44%), while the most commonly-used marketing tactic is mobile messaging to support customer dialogue (36%).

Overall, among the 10 advertising tactics and 4 marketing tactics identified, 6 of the former – compared to just 1 of the latter – saw a utilization rate over 33%.

Interestingly, though, spending on mobile is fairly evenly split between advertising and marketing. Asked how they allocate their total marketing and advertising budgets, respondents said that 48% goes to the marketing functions of customer support (14%), engagement (17%) and retention (17%), and 49% to the advertising functions of discovery (23%), influence (15%) and conversion (11%).

Customer Care Trails Among Mobile Priorities

Less experienced marketers (who have had a mobile marketing strategy for less than 2 years) comprised two-thirds of the survey respondents. These marketers are generally less likely to pursue lower-funnel marketing objectives. For example, 83% of experienced mobile marketers use mobile to increase customer loyalty and retention, compared to 74% of their less-experienced counterparts. The gap widens when it comes to other marketing objectives, such as increasing customer satisfaction (76% vs. 56%) and improving customer service (71% vs. 52%), but narrows in offering convenience to customers (63% vs. 61%) and offering customers anytime/anywhere access (56% vs. 51%).

It’s interesting to note that new customer acquisition ranks as the top objective for mobile initiatives among both experienced and less-experienced marketers, ahead of customer-centric outcomes such as increasing customer loyalty, retention, and satisfaction. That result supports earlier findings from The CMO Council, which found in an October report that marketers are focusing on mobile as another messaging channel, rather than looking at its potential as a medium through which to build deeper customer relationships.

About The Study: Forrester surveyed 157 US-based B2C marketers and agencies in retail, automotive, CPG, travel, and financial services. All 150 companies surveyed represent more than $100 million in annual revenues, and the 7 agencies represent $10+ million in revenues. All respondents were key influencers for the digital or mobile strategies within their company.

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