Research commissioned by mobile marketing firm 2ergo predicts a major shift towards mobile marketing, with 79 per cent of businesses currently incorporating it into their marketing strategies, and 70 per cent of those saying they intend to increase their mobile marketing budgets next year.
Research firm Vanson Bourne surveyed more than 100 marketing decision-makers from medium-sized and large businesses across the UK in June. 56 per cent of respondents said their marketing budget would increase next year, and more than 50 per cent said they believed that mobile marketing will become more important than other traditional marketing techniques within the next two years.
“Businesses have woken up to the potential value of mobile marketing and doing business on mobile,” says Colin McCaffery, director of products at 2ergo. “With consumers now spending an average of 6.5 hours a week on the mobile web, those who don’t leverage this opportunity now are likely to get crowded out by brands with first-mover advantage.”
Those who have engaged a mobile marketing campaign are experiencing significant returns on their investment, with a quarter of people using mobile marketing experiencing significantly reduced costs of sale and half believing they are delivering significantly improved customer service. 
Commenting on the research, Rob Bamforth principal analyst at Quocirca says: “The mobile phone is ideal for squeezing the most value from marketing budgets. It is always in reach and has the immediate connectivity and capacity to support sophisticated marketing applications. Those that can quickly and sympathetically exploit the mobile marketing potential will find it an invaluable tool for influencing and retaining customers.”
Key findings from the research include:
- More than 60% of businesses believe that customers will increasingly look to engage with brands through their mobile phone.
- Even respondents who do not expect their marketing budget to increase expect their mobile marketing budget to increase.
- The most popular aims of mobile marketing are customer retention and brand-building. 52 per cent of respondents measure success of their mobile marketing campaigns by these two factors.
- Four out of five companies are currently using mobile marketing, with the proportion rising to almost 90 per cent amongst high turnover and financial services companies.
- One in four businesses using mobile marketing are benefitting from reduced cost of sale.
