Mobile

If everyone has a mobile device, why is mobile marketing so difficult for marketers?  Why are the companies tasked to deliver mobile marketing opportunities so challenged in the marketplace?  The answer is surprisingly simple, as was recently stated very clearly by a colleague of mine, Jeff Frantz.  Mobile is a “meta-channel,” as he puts it — exactly the right phrase and one I sincerely wish I had thought of first.

There’s no question that mobile is here to stay. Just look at smartphone penetration, which stands at 70 percent in the U.S. And the ramp-up has happened almost overnight, as the average American now spends seven more hours each month with their phones than they did in 2013.

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) in partnership with adidas announced the release of The Mobile Marketing Playbook. Created as a tool for brands and agencies, this resource aims to explain when, where and how companies can consistently use mobile around the globe as core to their marketing efforts. The playbook also provides insight on how marketers can understand the impact mobile has in the marketing mix.

When it comes to marketing campaigns, success or failure can be measured in a variety of ways. Performance metrics are vital to advertisers who need solid figures to prove the efficacy of their campaign — to demonstrate how their marketing spend is clearly translated into sales leads.

As data continues to demonstrate that the path to purchase increasingly runs through smartphones and tablets, how do we optimize visuals, message and conversion mechanics within mobile video to make the environment ultra-shoppable? 

eMarketer projects 19.0% of US retail ecommerce sales will stem from mobile devices this year. By 2016, the share will rise to 25.0%. Traditional retailers, ecommerce players and mobile-only businesses are all vying for the money consumers are increasingly spending through their smartphones and tablets, according to a new eMarketer report, “Mobile Commerce Deep Dive: The Products, Channels and Tactics Fueling Growth.”

Now that over 50% of the general population is regularly using tablets and smartphones, the shift from desktop to mobile is taking center stage. While we continue to gain a clearer picture of the impact of mobile tools on shopping behavior, we also strive to understand the complex interactions that take place within the multichannel, multi-device path to purchase.

The research found that among smartphone and tablet users worldwide whose devices had replaced other media, print newspapers saw the most abandonment, with 50% of tablet owners switching over to mobile news, and 41% of smartphone users doing the same.

Consumers are spending more time on their apps than ever before. Over the past half-decade, the proliferation of mobile devices has transformed us into an app-driven society, presenting marketers with new opportunities to connect with consumers by creating more interesting and sophisticated apps to command their attention.

Creative professionals still prefer to sit down with a pen and paper for most activities, but mobile devices are reshaping many parts of their jobs.

Digital technologies have considerable potential to transform how companies create revenue and results via innovative strategies, products, processes and experiences. But do companies recognize that potential, and are they mobilizing to capitalize on it?

These days, it feels like every company is using mobile marketing, but that doesn’t mean challenges don’t exist.

In keeping with the Mobile Marketing Association’s (MMA) new ‘marketer first’ mission and aligning with its commitment to help marketers around the world leverage the power of mobile, today the MMA announced the formation of MM25.

With mobile being the last thing we interact with at night and the first thing we wake up to in the morning, we bring you five essential thoughts for building mobile-ready brands.

Looking at app retention rates—the average number of times an app was used during the first six months of ownership—among mobile app users worldwide, the research found that the percentage of apps opened just once dropped from 26% to 20% between March 2011 and March 2014. Even more impressive, the percentage of users launching an app 11 times or more jumped from 26% to 39% during the same timeframe.

A new report released, “Hispanic Business Growth and the Mobile Future” details how mobile connectivity is fueling the thriving and dynamic Hispanic small business community. The report points to mobile technology’s fundamental role in the management, productivity and growth of Hispanic-owned firms. Hispanic entrepreneurs own more than 3.2 million businesses that together contributed over $468 billion to the American economy last year.

To reach a nationwide audience during this summer’s global soccer tournament, DISH collaborated with Google to develop a first of its kind presentation of “El Juego Bonito (the beautiful game)” across the web, including the first ever Spanish language masthead sponsorship in the U.S. on YouTube’s desktop and mobile sites.

Live entertainment seekers—defined in a recent study as mobile phone users who plan to see a live performance within the next three months—are turning to their phones to help plan for such events.

Don’t be surprised to see World Cup fever invading your newsfeed: Data released in June 2014 by Peel found that the social network tied with SMS for the top way US smartphone users following the FIFA World Cup planned to communicate with others about games while watching.

The MMA released an Interactive Creative Framework on how to build and execute the most effective mobile campaigns. The insights included are the result of an in-depth analysis of over 450 global mobile campaigns.