2. 2013 Mobile Sophistication and Stratgey Study | 2
Rush Into Mobile at Your Own Peril
In early 2013, marketing executives across a wide range of
industries were asked about their approach to mobile, their
performance so far and future plans. The findings from more than
1,300 respondents have been put together in a comprehensive
Mobile Sophistication and Strategy Study, produced by
Econsultancy in association with Kontagent.
The full report examines the capabilities, trends and priorities of
“mobile mainstream” companies, as well as businesses defined
as “mobile-first” due to their primary business focus on the mobile
platform. Here are the findings.
3. 2013 Mobile Sophistication and Stratgey Study | 3
Companies Are Too Quick to Pull the
Mobile Trigger
The report shows that mobile is a top concern for all enterprises. While this is good news, the
enthusiasm is forcing many to launch their mobile programs without key pieces of strategy
and technology in place. Most companies have responded to the growth in mobile with ad-
hoc development in a rush to go live, instead of taking the time to think through a complete
mobile strategy and clearly define objectives.
Not surprisingly, mobile-first organizations are more advanced than their mobile mainstream
counterparts. While only 25 percent of mobile mainstream organizations report having a “well-
defined mobile strategy,” almost two-thirds (64 percent) of mobile-first organizations reported
the same (Fig. 1). This disparity is largely due to the fact that mobile-first companies rely so
heavily on mobile visitors, as opposed to other channels, for continued success. Indeed,
mobile-first businesses report that “acquiring new customers” and “building new revenue
Figure 1: Which of the following apply to your mobile programs?
0% 40% 60% 80%
45%
45%
70%
64%
64%
0%
Only 25% of mobile mainstream companies report having a well-defined mobile
strategy. Less than a third track or report mobile KPIs.
4. 2013 Mobile Sophistication and Stratgey Study | 4
streams” are their top goals for mobile. Mobile mainstream organizations on the other hand,
which aren’t as focused on the top-line impact of mobile, report “brand engagement/loyalty”
and “needing to stay competitive” as their primary goals.
Agency respondents are quick to suggest that most of their clients are far behind where they
need to be with their mobile programs (Fig. 2). For example, less than 25 percent of agency
respondents believe, that companies grasp the impact of their customers’ transition to
mobile devices. Agencies were particularly critical of the lack of measurement and analytics
capabilities, such as collecting data on user behavior by platform, the application of business
intelligence to mobile programs and channel attribution analysis.
Figure 2: Thinking about the industry in general, do you agree or disagree with the
following statements?
Only 15 percent of mobile mainstream respondents say that they’re looking at how mobile
sites fit into the attribution equation in both directions, compared to 46 percent of mobile-first
respondents. For example, in retail mobile is often considered a tool that feeds interested
consumers into stores and desktop sites. But without reliable attribution data, a company
cannot accurately track how many of those purchases came as a result of mobile.
100%
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
Most marketing
organizations have a
strategy around their
mobile programs
Companies have generally
invested in measurement
and analysis for their
mobile apps
Companies have generally
invested in measurement
and analysis for their
mobile sites
Most organizations grasp
the impact of their
customers’ transition to
mobile devices
27%
15% 19% 15%
54%
19%
54%63%
60%
25%28%22%
NeutralDisagreeAgree
Most companies have responded to the growth in mobile with ad-hoc
development in a rush to go live, instead of taking the time to think
through a complete mobile strategy and clearly define objectives.
5. 2013 Mobile Sophistication and Stratgey Study | 5
Figure 3: How would you rate the customer experience of your mobile programs?
Mobile Customer Experiences Are Far
from Optimal
Companies that miss strategic pieces to a mobile strategy will find it impossible to provide an
optimized mobile experience for their customers. When asked how they’d rate the customer
experience of their mobile programs, more than half (56 percent) of respondents rated their mobile
sites average or below, 37 percent said the same for their tablet apps and 36 percent echoed the
sentiment about their smartphone apps. Only 11 percent (tablet apps), 9 percent (smartphone
apps) and 6 percent (mobile sites) of respondents called their programs “state-of-the-art.” (Fig. 3)
60%
45%
30%
15%
0%
Awful
Mobile website Smartphone appTablet app
2 3 4 Average 6 7 8 9 State of
the art
3%
2% 2%
1% 1%
4% 4%
3%
5% 4% 4%
44%
26%
27%
11%
8% 7%
13% 13%
20%
11%
18%
24%
2%
8%
10%
6%
9%
11%
0%
Part of the problem is that many companies that move into mobile development too quickly
end up with experiences modelled on their existing desktop sites (Fig. 4). Only 42 percent of
mobile mainstream respondents say that their mobile apps offer experiences that are “quite
different” or “completely different” from their desktop experience. This trend is particularly
alarming given the difference in screen size, native device and OS capabilities combined with
the difference in how consumers interact across screens.
More than half of respondents rated their mobile sites below average
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Of greater concern is that most organizations aren’t adapting their mobile apps to the needs
of their customers and prospects. Only 32 percent of mobile mainstream respondents are
making changes more often than quarterly, in stark comparison with nearly 70 percent of
mobile-first companies.
Figure 4: To what extent is your mobile app experience similar to the desktop
website experience?
45%
30%
15%
0%
33%
15%
3%
30%
27%
14% 14%
20%
42%
3%
Exactly the same
experience
Almost the same
experiences
Experiences have
some differences
Experiences are
quite different
Experiences are
completely different
Mobile mainstream
Given the difference in screen size, this trend is an interesting topic on responsive design.
7. 2013 Mobile Sophistication and Stratgey Study | 7
Mobile Readiness and Data Savviness
Are Keys to Success
While mobile-first companies tend to be significantly more data driven than their mobile
mainstream peers, this study reveals that even they have room for improvement.
Highlighting answers from 15 selected questions, Kontagent developed a Mobile Customer
Intelligence Quadrant (MCIQ). MCIQ measures an organization’s mobile readiness (X-axis)
and data collection and usage sophistication (Y-axis). Most mobile mainstream companies
are below average in each category. And most mobile-first companies are falling short when it
comes to data handling.
Mobile Readiness
DataSavviness
Mobile Readiness
DataSavviness
Figure 9: Mobile Sophistication – Mobile Mainstream
Figure 10: Mobile Sophistication – Mobile First
8. 2013 Mobile Sophistication and Stratgey Study | 8
Mobile Sophistication by Industry
Games
The clear leaders in mobile, gaming companies are currently receiving traffic
and revenue from mobile that represents where most companies will be in
the not-too-distant future.
Financial Services
With a few exceptions, financial services companies lag behind other
sectors. Those that provide a poor experience or an insufficient set of tools
are losing customers to the fast movers.
Retail
Larger retailers are benefiting from top-tier data handling and rapid
development cycles, while smaller companies often lack the functionality
and targeting to rapidly increase sales.
Travel
Travel services companies are good at collecting and working with data.
However, development cycles tend to be slow and mobile experiences tend
to be too similar to the desktop.
9. 2013 Mobile Sophistication and Stratgey Study | 9
Conclusion
Mobile is a commercial platform that’s outpacing any historical
adoption curve, so it’s vital that organizations take more than a
shotgun approach to it. Customer data is key. Companies must
learn to integrate data into every business decision and use it to
build deep, engaging mobile experiences that maximize customer
lifetime value and loyalty. As mobile traffic builds, understanding
each customer’s unique mobile journey will be essential to
capturing success in the domain.
To learn more about how to succeed at mobile, request a copy of
the complete 2013 Mobile Sophisitication and Strategy Study by
emailing ksuiteinfo@kontagent.com
10. 2013 Mobile Sophistication and Stratgey Study | 10
Kontagent can help you avoid the
mobile trap.
Remember when consumers first began
moving to the Web and businesses
rushed in to capture that online market?
So many of them didn’t have a solid
plan--and failed miserably. Now, we’re
seeing the same blind rush into mobile.
Are you falling into this trap?
As you read in our 2013 Mobile
Sophistication and Strategy Study,
two-thirds of brands are investing more
heavily in mobile but admit they don’t
know how to meet mobile consumer
needs. Furthermore, less than one-third
even know the appropriate metrics they
need to track and measure in order to
grow their mobile business channels.
In response to these trends, Kontagent has developed a mobile customer intelligence
solution that hundreds of businesses depend on to create some of the most successful
mobile experiences. In fact, many of our customers are consistently top-ranked in the Apple
App Store and Google Play because of their dedication to making their data work harder for
them.
Mobile has significantly shifted consumer expectations. We’re excited to partner with you to
meet them.
To request a demo, email ksuiteinfo@kontagent.com.
