85% of Marketers Will Increase Their Mobile Budgets in the Near Future, but Concerns Remain

A joint study from the ANA and MediaVest finds that 96 percent of marketers are currently using or planning to use mobile marketing in their marketing mix, while 85 percent of marketers say they plan to boost their mobile budgets in the near future. However, 42 percent of marketers are concerned about properly measuring results, while another 42 percent say they are worried about their inability to show ROI.

Meanwhile, just 21 percent of marketers say they have been “solidly successful” with their mobile efforts, a decline from a similar result in a 2012 study.

“Brands are clearly excited about the possibilities, but at the same time, perceived success rates have not increased significantly,” said Bob Liodice, president and CEO of the ANA. “The industry as a whole must move quickly to standardize measurement practices and address privacy issues.”

According to the study, brand building/management (83 percent), awareness (78 percent) and customer loyalty/retention (74 percent) are the three most common objectives in mobile.

Meanwhile, the top three appeals of mobile are reach with unique audiences (85 percent), ability to deliver content on the go (80 percent) and location awareness (78 percent).

While mobile websites, search, apps and display are the most used mobile tools, 28 percent of marketers plan to start utilizing location-based services in the future, more than any other mobile tactic.

According to Gartner, global mobile ad revenue will hit $11.4 billion this year.