Mobile is powering ahead as a marketing channel: report

A publication in the UK has highlighted that mobile is powering ahead as a marketing channel.

An article, which has appeared in Raconteur Media’s special on mobile marketing, has mentioned that in May, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers reported that the UK mobile advertising market was worth £28.6m in 2008, a 99.2 percent increase on the previous year. 

The number of people using their phone to access content online is also increasing. In the UK, the Mobile Data Association reports that 17.38m people used their phone to access the Internet in December 08 compared to 16.7m a year earlier, while in the US, comScore reported in March that the number of people using their mobile device to access news and information on the Internet more than doubled between January 2008 and January 2009. And according to the mobile marketing firm, Netsize, the percentage of companies’ digital marketing budget allocated to mobile is set to rise from 18 percent in 2008, to 30 percent in 2010.

It is being acknowledged that mobile apps have piqued marketers’ attention and made brands think differently about mobile’s role in the marketing mix.

Jonathan Bass, managing director of mobile marketing agency Incentivated, which counts British Airways among its clients, feels the industry is simply not good enough at marketing itself. “There is a lack of understanding of the marketing bit of mobile marketing in the industry,” he says. “There are a lot of small, tech companies who know a lot about the technology, but not why it would be deployed, or what constitutes a good result. When we hire people, we look for marketing knowledge and experience; the mobile bit we can teach.”

Travel industry

The continuous and stable growth in the penetration of mobile web usage in many travel markets is a clear indicator that mobile browsing is becoming more mainstream. It is by no means a dominant activity amongst mobile users yet but certainly indicative of the fast changing use of mobile phones. ComScore data reveals that across the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain, there were almost 7 million mobile browsers that accessed remote services or information related to travel, a significant shift given that only a few years ago this number would have been very close to zero. However EyeforTravel Research clearly shows that is not just mobile web browsing that is impacting the travel industry. Mobile has started to impact across all the consumer touch points. 

To be successful in mobile, as with any digital strategy, it is necessary to match and indeed exceed customer expectations. Amy Scarth, Head of Research at EyeforTravel explains that much of EyeforTravel’s School of Mobile going forward will be about working out exactly what those expectations are, the values, needs and desires, and how they are formed particularly in light of different social and cultural contexts and taking account of demographics, traveller typologies and geographies. They’re currently working on building global consumer intelligence for the travel industry ready to launch at World Travel Market in November and are keeping a close eye on the mobile solutions out there. 

To learn about how travel or tourism companies can build a business case for mobile, look through 16 exclusive case studies with leading travel and tourism companies from around the world and benefit from aggregated insight from leaders in the mobile space, you can register free today as an EyeforTravel Research Advanced Member. EyeforTravel Research Advanced Membership is a free resource for the travel industry and you can sign up here http://www.eyefortravelresearch.com/user/registration to gain immediate access to Advanced Member reports.