A July survey of brand marketing executives showed that mobile marketing still doesn’t get much in the way of respect. Yes, marketers have been spending more on mobile in the past couple of years – with the expectation of further increases – but it started with a minuscule percentage of the overall budget. Spending could only go up.
And, since this survey was commissioned by the IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, it would have been far more shocking if a decrease in spending were predicted.
What’s strikes me as less than comforting, if I’m looking for that respect factor, is that less than half of these marketers use an agency to create their mobile campaigns. (On the optimistic side, however, a full 95% of those who do use a creative agency are either reasonably or completely satisfied with their agency’s ability to support their campaign’s objectives.)
Why would half of all marketers decide against using an agency for mobile work? Does mobile seem to require less marketing finesse? It is, after all, a small space. Is creative for mobile considered good enough if it just mimics the rest of the creative work? Do marketers see no need for, say, a testing component in mobile?
If your mobile campaign is just “TEXT YES to XXXXX,” then you don’t need a creative team. But mobile campaigns can and often should be more.
Mobile marketing can be an integral part of almost any marketing strategy. It’s where many of your customers are. It deserves more thought.