WARC shares insights on the current state of mobile marketing.
The accelerative impact of COVID-19 on digital transformation has led to improvements in mobile marketing capabilities for advertisers. Growth in m-commerce and use of social media have provided brands with new opportunities to reach consumers, driving up mobile marketing budgets set to be worth $230bn globally in 2021. International marketing intelligence service, WARC's latest report examines mobile capabilities, budgets, privacy concerns and new technologies and trends in mobile, to assess how marketers in EMEA are using mobile in their marketing strategies. Communicate covers the key pointers from the report.
In the 2020 survey, two in five (39%) were expecting an increase in the mobile marketing budget. This year, two in three (66%) say the same, indicating more confidence in both market conditions and in mobile as a channel. As more and more consumers pivoted to online last year, behaviors changed and accordingly marketers had to adapt. Increased focus on agility and effectiveness became front and center as marketers worked to improve mobile marketing capabilities in order to reach consumers at the right place and at the right time.
The Key Objectives
2020 was one big lecture on the importance of brand value. During trying times, it was the power of brand that helped a company survive and persevere through. Which is why 54% of marketing professionals focus on brand awareness as a key objective when marketing via mobile. Promoting specific products or services (41%) comes in at second place but respondents made sure to hightlight the importance of this objective as well. For marketers, it's not only important to build brand awareness but it's vital they build it on a deep level with consumers. Awareness tend to be shallow or fleeting in today's day and age where we're always consuming 24/7. Ensuring that marketers communicate a deeper and more abiding awareness can have more benefits for the brand.
Distribution Channels
Social is by far the most used marketing channel with mobile. 87% of respondents are using social in their mobile marketing strategy and, on average, a third of the mobile budget goes toward social. YouTube and Facebook are the most used platforms for display marketing.
Challenges
When asked about the biggest barriers to the growth of mobile marketing, one in three marketing professionals state consumers' concerns about privacy. Privacy requirements, a new option that arrived in 2021, enters the list as the second biggest barrier (34%). It is clear the increased focus around privacy is being felt by marketers.
Read Appsflyer's Paul Wright's thoughts on why Apple's User Consent Policy might not be the end for marketers here
When asked the same question in 2020, metrics and measurement were the biggest barriers to growth, but this has dropped to third in the last year, suggesting that privacy is clearly front of mind for marketers. Marketing professionals are facing more pressure as the third-party cookie apocalypse looms near. Three in five predict to be affected by the ‘death’ of the cookie.
