The mobile web is exploding, but according to a new survey, many brands are still unsure of how to capitalize on the growth of this new media platform.
Last week, mobile analytics company dotMobi released the findings of a study on the growth of the mobile web over the last two years, as determined by the increase in mobile-aware websites, which now total over 3 million. Over the two-year period, the calculated growth rate was about 2,000%. At this incredible pace, the adoption and progression of mobile technology surpasses even the lightning-paced growth of desktop sites during the heyday of Internet growth.
But despite this astonishing growth rate, many brands still lack any form of mobile presence. With respect to the Alexa rankings, the study found that only 40% of the top 1,000 websites redirect users to a separate, mobile-optimized site. And when that test group was expanded to incorporate the top 500,000 sites, a mere 19% had any mobile technology in place. In part, this discovery indicates a continuation of the current growth trends on the mobile web, but findings like these also raise an obvious question: why are even the top brands and businesses failing to capitalize on the growth of this platform?
New research indicates that this hesitancy is due to the fact that many marketers and brand managers don’t fully understand how the mobile web can be used to drive revenue and connect with a market that is increasingly mobile. According to the results of a survey released by Forrester last week, the majority of marketers are still unsure of just how to implement a mobile strategy, and what their brand can accomplish with this booming new technology. In fact, as analyst Thomas Husson reports, response to the survey made it clear that marketers do not yet recognize mobile as a channel that can be monetized.
On the contrary, the results showed that the majority of brands are deploying mobile marketing strategies merely to improve customer satisfaction and engagement with their
brand. This betrays a lack of understanding of how the mobile web can be integrated into a cross-channel sales path, particularly one that drives sales in stores. This hesitancy is strange, considering that businesses that have taken advantage of the natural relationship between mobile marketing and in-store sales have been very successful. A study by InsightExpress revealed that 10% of consumers have redeemed a mobile coupon, and of those consumers between the ages of 18 and 34 that figure is actually 20%.
Moreover, brands that have incorporated mobile technology into broader, overarching marketing campaigns have had huge success with the platform. In the case of Ashley Furniture HomeStore, for example, mobile marketing was used very successfully to drive in-store sales during a four-day “private event.” 
Prior to this “event,” the home furnishing retailer sent a mobile (SMS) coupon to customers that had opted-into a mobile subscription, notifying them of the “privateevent.” Mobile users’ overwhelming response to this marketing incentivegenerated over $85,000 in revenue after discounts in just four days. This case illustrates how effectively mobile marketing can drive sales across channels when applied as a component of a broader marketing campaign.
The case of Ashley Furniture also speaks to an issue that Husson cites in his summary of the Forrester survey results, that mobile development is too “siloed” within organizations at this point in time. According to the report, marketers perceive the mobile web as a separate or distinct department or a subdivision of marketing, and not as a holistic enterprise or an expansion that spans multiple branches of business operations within an organization, beyond just marketing.
This issue was a matter of interest at the 2010 National Retail Federation’s Shop.org conference, which took place last month. During the keynote address, speaker Mitch Joel insightfully told marketers “we have to expand our definition of what digital means and what social means, as people expect commerce to be social and they expect mobile connectivity.” Consumers want a fluid, cross-channel brand experience, and as Joel pointed out, “the consumer isn’t thinking ‘I have to go home to the fixed Internet because they have a Web strategy that’s different than their mobile strategy.” Businesses need to start implementing mobile technology as an integrated part of a broader effort—to drive sales, increase customer satisfaction and engagement, and generally enhance the public representation of their brand.
As more brands start integrating mobile into their marketing strategy, it will become imperative for marketers to better understand how the technology can (and should) be applied to yield the best results. Furthermore, as the mobile web continues to grow, brands and businesses that have not invested in mobile marketing will start to feel the pain, as consumers pass over them in favor of their mobile competitors. Truly, the rapid growth of the mobile platform validates the urgency to get mobile—and now is the time for marketers to get on board.
