The most amazing thing is that even though the majority of companies measure their downloads (76%), less than half measure other important metrics, such as recurrent users (46%), time spent using an app (41%), generated revenues or leads (40%), and conversion (38%).
The figure above shows that the way in which companies perceive the importance of mobile technology to great customer experiences has dramatically changed. Boosted by Google’s recent Mobilegeddon, the number of mobile-optimized websites has grown by 35%; in addition, the use of mobile apps (40%), adaptive design (92%), responsive design (26%), and mobile-friendly emails (15%) has grown. Mobile technology is no longer being ignored, and the industry has passed the point at which the majority of companies think it is just a nice idea. Now most companies spend some of their budgets on mobile activities, and they understand the value and revenue they obtain from mobile users.
Meanwhile, it’s not all rainbows and unicorns. As of 2015, only 34% of marketing specialists confirm that their company has a defined mobile strategy for this year. Agencies are even less prepared—only 20% of them know where they are heading in terms of mobile.
The regional differences are also noteworthy. Europe and Asia have approximately the same levels of mobile strategy development, with the United States coming in third and Australasia coming in first. Right now, Middle Eastern companies are the least interested in mobile strategy development, even though half of them are working on a mobile plan. The majority of companies are still planning rather than taking action, but these figures still reveal the relevancy of mobile technology to today’s businesses.
Particular attention should be given to tablet users’ experiences because they represent a significant portion of all mobile traffic. In addition, screen size makes a difference when comparing smartphones and tablets.
Marketers tend to think that the mobile device used makes a difference for the consumer; however, it doesn’t because clients expect the same level of customer care and support regardless of the device they use. Although the majority of ecommerce purchases are still made through desktop computers, smartphones can be used as virtual shopping assistants, allowing users to research and browse goods.
Many senior executives launch mobile strategies just to follow the hot trend everyone is talking about, but this approach makes it difficult to evaluate results in different departments. Although the majority of all companies (62%) confirmed their intent to increase mobile budgets for 2015, 33% of this money is still spent on experimentation and 42% is not. This indicates that companies are not ready to try new mobile techniques, which sufficiently decreases their competitive advantage and the overall rate of customer satisfaction. Are these companies truly ready to implement qualitative mobile customer experiences if they aren’t willing to experiment?
The most interesting finding relates to customer retention and engagement: only 51% of all companies measure these rates and ROI. Once again, without feedback from customers, it would be tough to launch an effective mobile strategy and provide excellent customer experience. Mobile messaging (44%), optimization (49%), and personalization (51%) are other valuable trends.
We can see that many companies still cannot track the type of device and the amount of mobile traffic they receive, so more advanced metrics are inaccessible to them. Offering a mass user experience to every client may be a mistake; understanding exactly how users move from one device to another and how their behavior differs in these cases is essential for capitalizing new opportunities provided by mobile technology.
Can you say that you are a mobile-oriented company? What indicators do you track for your mobile strategy?
