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Mobile Marketing Still Challenging for Marketers(Marketwire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 09/30/14 -- A recent survey conducted by Waterfall found that most marketers measure mobile campaign success by lead conversion rates but call out brand awareness as their number one mobile marketing priority. With the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) expecting the mobile marketing ecosystem to surge from driving $48 billion in net U.S. sales in 2010 to $400 billion within the next five years, it is not surprising that almost half (47 percent) of marketers surveyed are planning to increase their mobile marketing budget before the end of the year according to the "Waterfall Mobile Marketing Trends 2014 Report." The same MMA report predicts that mobile marketing investment will reach $19.8 billion in 2014. However, marketers are still at the mercy of budget and team/resource constraints -- tying as the biggest challenges for cross-channel marketing campaigns (27 percent each). When asked about mobile marketing priorities, respondents were clear: Driving mobile purchases is not the most important (30 percent), whereas building brand awareness and increasing customer retention are very/most important (70 percent and 68 percent respectively). Interestingly, respondents were divided about the importance of mobile to drive in-store traffic/sales -- 28 percent cited it as not important, while 24 percent thought it was one of the most important mobile marketing priorities. Nevertheless, when it comes to measuring mobile marketing effectiveness, marketers still seem unsure. While a whopping 42 percent rely on lead conversions as the telltale sign of success, one third (33 percent) do not measure mobile marketing campaign effectiveness at all. In contrast, approximately 30 percent have invested in measurement system software, but only 13 percent use unsubscribe rates as the main measure of mobile effectiveness. In addition, more than half (52 percent) of respondents integrate mobile messaging campaigns with third-party software or database/CRM systems -- a critical step to ensure multi-channel campaign success. Respondents ranked mobile as the third most effective channel -- following email and social -- to get customers to take action, and an impressive 57 percent claimed a typical unsubscribe rate for mobile messaging (SMS/MMS) campaigns as low as 0-10 percent. "Mobile has become an important marketing component across industries, but many marketers are still struggling to figure out where it fits into their overall campaign efforts," said Michael Weaver, SVP of Business Development for Waterfall. "Mobile can't be a standalone initiative -- it needs to be implemented and measured as part of the whole. And to be truly effective, the mobile messages need to be extremely personalized and relevant to engage the target audience." Waterfall, a mobile and social marketing platform provider, conducted the survey to gather insight into current marketing trends and challenges -- with a focus on the mobile marketing movement. MethodologyWaterfall conducted this online survey in July and August 2014 through a variety of online channels. More than 155 marketing, CRM and data analytics from a cross-section of industries participated in the survey. About WaterfallWaterfall enables brands, agencies and technology providers to personally engage customers across SMS, MMS, Passbook, Facebook, Twitter, 2D Codes, IVR, mobile wallets, mobile coupons and push notifications. The company's mobile and social marketing platform allows clients to acquire more customers and drive repeat visits with higher purchase values using intuitive tools for interactive customer dialogues, progressive profiling and targeting, cross platform integrations and precise ROI measurement. Clients include 7-Eleven, Anheuser-Busch, Constant Contact, Electronic Arts, Merkle, NASA, Southwest Airlines, the U.S. Army and Yum! Brands. Founded in 2005 and backed by Vista Equity Partners, Waterfall is headquartered in SOMA, San Francisco, with regional offices in Downtown Austin. For more information, please visit waterfall.com. Media Contact: Erica Camilo Senior PR Consultant Email Contact 610.639.5644 Source: Waterfall |