It’s YOUR Mobile Data! How to Take Control of It and Put it to Work ~ Part 1

The essence of good marketing is being customer-focused. Our field is all about understanding consumer needs and aligning products and communications to reflect and address them.

Today, many companies are working hard to collect and unite their customer behavioral data across channels into rich individual profiles – profiles that reveal insights into what people want. The “Data Management Platform” category has been created to provide platforms that can bring together information and make it actionable in future marketing programs.

First party data – whether collected on the PC web or on mobile devices in apps – is an incredibly valuable asset. Yet most brands squander it by not working to collect and control it themselves. Leaving others to do so – and garner the benefits.  While many brands aren’t working to control their data at all, a growing number have begun the process of asserting their ownership rights over PC data. But far, far fewer are doing so with mobile app data.

Years ago, US marketers might reasonably postpone addressing this challenge because in-app time represented only a small proportion of total connected consumer time. But time spent in apps has grown rapidly and now represents 52% of connected Americans’ time, according to comScore.

Pause for just a moment to consider that statistic. It means that without visibility into what your customers do in apps, you are blind to a majority – A MAJORITY – of their digital behavior.

In the US, mobile mcommerce is expected to represent about 10% of total ecommerce sales in 2014. While that might not sound like a huge number, a 2014 comScore study also reported that mcommerce is growing almost twice as fast as ecommerce as a whole, and 23 times as fast as all retail sales.

In addition, mobile INFLUENCES far more purchases than those that are made via a phone. According to a 2013 study from Google and IPSOS, two thirds of us begin purchase considerations on one device and complete purchases on another. Mobile accounts for the vast majority of those starts. In total, Deloitte estimates that more than $593B in purchases were influenced by mobile searches and utilities in 2013. Making reasonable growth assumptions, that figure now likely exceeds $1Trillion.

Net, if you aren’t collecting in-app behavior data and including it in your customer profiles, you’ll likely fall short of making your marketing customer-focused and –driven.

Another way this affects a brand is that most interest-based (behavioral or BT) and retargeting is based upon the amount of content a person consumes related to a particular topic. If more than half of a person’s connected time takes place in app environments, it’s clear that you need access to information about what you customers do during that time in order to truly understand and reflect consumer behavior in your marketing.

By saying that, we are not implying that PC web data isn’t important as well. Actually, collecting all of it – taking control of all of your data across devices – is essential to driving the best ROI for your marketing efforts.

But if apps account for more than half of connected time, doesn’t it make sense to START there?

TOMORROW: HOW YOU CAN TAKE CONTROL AND GET BETTER RESULTS

Forrester: mCommerce to Reach 10% of Total eCommerce in the US This Year

Over at MediaPost today, there’s a nice rundown of a new Forrester report outlining ecommerce and mcommerce trends in the US. According to the article, about $34B in mcommerce sales are expected this year. The article also identifies some interesting trend info about ecommerce in general. Purchasing via digital channels, for example, has reached 69% adult penetration, an impressive figure to be sure.

There’s also a healthy reminder in the piece – that online and mobile sales are by no means the total story with regard to purchase INFLUENCE. The article states that more than a trillion dollars in sales are influenced by online and mobile research.

One thing that US marketers should consider – given the far higher percent of connected time via mobile in the developing world, countries like India, China and Brazil are good places to look if you are trying to predict what will be true in the US in a short while. Overseas we see more and more big companies abandoning PC-web stores to focus on their apps only. Of course, most US sellers wouldn’t do that given current mcommerce development here. But it provides some great fodder for the need for great commerce apps along with a rich understanding of customer actions taken in the app.

It also points to the elephant in the living room with regard to data collection and customer profiles – far too many companies are profiling their customers without collecting and incorporating mobile app behavior data in their mix. With research demonstrating that more than half of US connected time takes place in apps, omitting in-app behavioral data from your customer insights and targeting models is short-sighted.

Android Dominates in Smartphones and Tablets in LATAM

For some time Android has been the dominant operating system in Latin America for smartphones, likely in part because of the lower price points for some Android phones. But eMarketer reports that a study from IMS and comScore shows similar Android dominance in tablets throughout the region.

The study, which encompassed six different markets in the region, showed Android tablet market share ranging from 59% in Mexico to 74% in Argentina, with a regional average of 68%.

According to the article, experts predict Android share will increase in Mexico in the coming months because “the country’s education bureau, Secretaría de Educación Pública (SEP), set out to distribute 700,000 Android tablets to students and teachers in five states and the Federal District (Mexico City). The decision not only impacts immediate market shares but may also contribute to long term platform growth by giving users experience with Android tablets first.

Get all the data and analysis here.

Millennials Relying on Phones for Auto Shopping

From Edmunds.com comes this fascinating infographic about how Millennials use their phones for shopping. A little factoid to whet your appetite:

• 80% of Millennials use their phones for an auto shopping task
• Just 46% of older people do

There’s lots of other data which we encourage you to check out. This is yet another sign of the increasing centrality of the smartphone in its users’ lives. While Millennials tend to adopt mobile behaviors earlier than older audience groups, if past patterns hold it won’t be long before pretty much everyone uses their phone as a critical auto selection and buying tool.

As auto makers continue to beef up their mobile offerings, it seems clear that understanding user behavior in those apps will be an absolutely critical element of deciphering (and influencing) the customer journey.

eMarketer’s Mobile Content and Activities Roundup Now Available

Periodically the eMarketer team publishes a “roundup” document summarizing a great deal of research on a particular topic, and this US mobile roundup is a great example.

Inside this great publication, which is presented by HP, you’ll find tons and tons of data relating to mobile usage, favored content types, app statistics, and more. Two of the most eye-popping stats are that by 2019 mobile ad spending will constitute 78% of total digital spend, and that in-app ad spending will run 160% higher than mobile web ad spend in 2015.

Another interesting section relates to the number of app buyers versus installers on both tablet and smartphone.

The data show a greater willingness to BUY apps among tablet users.

Docs like this are a great way to evangelize for mobile within your organization. Get this report free by clicking here (reg required.)

In-Store Mobile Shopping Data

We’ve all seen it and done it. Using our mobile phones at retail to compare models, prices, get product ratings, and the like. Over at Mobile Marketing Daily, this Shop Talk piece reviews a host of mobile in-store shopping metrics.

Here’s a tease to whet your appetite:

Of those who use their phones in a store, here’s what they do:

• 61% — Compare prices
• 52% — Maintain shopping lists
• 49% — Take/share product photos

Lots more thought provoking stats about in-store mobile shopping – all from a study by InReality.

Who’s Using App Data to Power All of Their Marketing?

Most of us know that time in apps now represents more than 50% of US connected time, and the figures for countries like India, Brazil and Japan are much higher. Given the high levels of marketer interest in powering marketing and customer experience with a 360 view of the customer, you’d think that many companies would be including app data in their DMPs and models.

The latest data from eMarketer show that while a small number are, most aren’t. According to the study, which was fielded by Econsultancy, just 9% view their app data collection capabilities as strong, while 68% say their capabilities are weak or nonexistent. In fact, the study showed that only small number of marketers rated ANY of their data collection capabilities as strong. From the eMarketer article:

In addition, Econsultancy’s polling demonstrates another angle from which data-related efforts could improve. When client-side marketers worldwide were asked to rate their capabilities in various data-related areas as “strong,” “average” or “weak,” no activity rated a “strong” from more than 18% of respondents. And the strongest areas both involved collecting data from online sources. When it came to integrating, modeling or otherwise using data, respondents were even more likely to say they were merely average—or worse.

There’s lots more interesting info in the piece. Find it here.

The landscape of mobile app attribution and measurement is changing rapidly as more mcommerce players enter the field. Once the near-exclusive province of gaming companies, mobile apps and event measurement have become mission-critical for businesses like retailers, etailers, travel, personal finance and on-demand services providers. Apsalar has been at the forefront of mcommerce data management and attribution since the space emerged. Every day our clients demonstrate that mobile app data can be an incredibly powerful ROI driver. Find out how to collect and measure your mobile app customer activity and put it to work powering 360 customer profiles and optimized marketing efforts.  To learn more about our offerings, visit this page or contact us now.

Generations and Mobile

Everybody loves an infographic…and Adweek published an interesting one this week, using data from a recent Millward Brown Digital survey of more than 1,000 consumers in three generations (Millennials, born after 1980; Generation X, born 1965-1980; and Boomers, born from 1946-1964.) The focus of the research was to understand device penetration and usage for the three groups. Not surprisingly, the data show higher mobile device penetration among younger demos than among Boomers, though you might be surprised at the small size of the gaps. The infographic is here and the full Millward Brown Digital study from which the data were taken is here.

There’s some similar data available over on MarketingCharts.com – related specifically to device access among teens. The chart, which highlights data from a recent Pew Research Center Internet and American Life Project study, shows that more than 7 out of 10 teens have access to a smartphone, and almost 60% have access to a tablet. The chart is here, and the Pew study from which the data are taken is here.

Mobile and Mobile App Research from Criteo and Millennia

We want to direct your attention to a couple of extensive pieces of research and analysis that you may find interesting.

Millennial Media: State of the Apps 2015 Snapshot

The data from this study are from a Q4 2014 survey of app developers and publishers. Millennial states that their findings revolve around four core ideas or conclusions. Specifically, publishers and developers are:

• Taking their apps to more than one platform with increasing frequency
• Making their growing ad inventory available programmatically
• Focusing attention on improving the discoverability and marketing of apps
• Spending more time developing tablet-specific apps

In addition to these observations, you can get good data about the state of the developer and publisher communities. Check it out here.

Criteo: State of Mobile Commerce – Q1 2015
Criteo has examined transaction data covering approximately $160 billion of annual sales across 3,000 online retailers and travel advertisers to uncover the latest trends in mobile shopping in the US and globally. This presentation provides some fascinating conclusions including:

• US Mobile transactions grew 10% in the last 3 months and will represent a third of total ecommerce by the end of 2015
• In most countries smartphones now represent more mobile transactions than tablets
•  Japan and South Korea now see over 50% of their eCommerce transactions via mobile
• Consumers in the US view the same number of products on smartphones and desktop

Great data for those interested in demonstrating the fast growth of mcommerce to their teams/orgs. Dig into this presentation here.

Brazil Mobile Ad Spending Continues to Climb Rapidly

Brazil is one of the fastest growing mobile and digital markets in the world, and this new article from eMarketer provides some great metrics to prove it.

From the article:

Brazil will boast the third-fastest-growing mobile internet ad market in the world this year, behind only Argentina and Indonesia and tied with India and Russia.

Data predict 120% growth in mobile spend this year, and 15% for digital overall.

The article also provides some interesting insights about why they expect continued fast growth from the market. Have a look by clicking here.