Return Path, a consumer intelligence company, just released insights into mobile marketing trends. Their cool Infographic is titled Mobile: Five Trends to Watch.
In a nutshell…
Trend #1: Don’t Ignore the Email Incumbent
Instead of opening more marketing messages on mobile devices as they did last year, consumers actually read slightly less email on phones and tablets after the 2013 holiday season. That means brands need to continue to create email marketing experiences for a spectrum of platforms, email clients, and devices.
Mobile opens surged on the Sunday after Thanksgiving AND desktop opens surged the next morning as people opened their inboxes at the office and started shopping on Cyber Monday. Increasingly “mobile” doesn’t mean “on-the-go”; it means “not-at-work” – challenging marketers to develop unique timing and tone for mobile email campaigns more likely to reach people at home.
Trend #3: iPads Still Demand Attention
iPads make up more than 20% of the share of opens on iOS devices, showing no signs of flagging. The iPad remains a powerful email marketing experience, even if consumers aren’t replacing them as readily as they do smartphones.
Trend #4: Navigating the Complicated International Landscape
The UK is far more mobile-inclined than the US. Australians are heavy iPad users, and Android enjoys its biggest share in the Brazilian and German markets. Overall, international marketers face an even more complex landscape when crafting messaging and holiday marketing strategy.
Trend #5 Know Your Audience
Consumers opened 60% of apparel retailers’ messages on mobile devices, but only 30% of travel-related email was read on mobile. It’s critical for brands to understand the preferences and dynamics of their audiences, because people appear to change their behavior depending on whom they interact with. For example, the tone and messaging that gets mall shoppers to click may be entirely ineffective at promoting lunch specials – even when it reaches the same consumers in the same place at the same time.
Check out Return Path’s website for more Mobile: Five Trends to Watch.