Mxit's Trend Report 2014

Marketers migrating to a higher level of digital sophistication need to focus on broadening budget allocation across mobile and social and channels.

Did you know that M&C Saatchi Mobile report that mobile advertising is the fastest growing and most widely adopted media channel of all time and that world-leading IT research company Gartner expects global mobile advertising spending to reach US$18.0bn in 2014, up from the estimated US$13.1bn in 2013? Clearly mobile advertising is adding value in the path to purchase and is becoming a fundamental facet in marketing and media planning strategies.

The question is: Is it part of yours?

Mobile Trends 2014

Mobile proliferation

Mobile traffic is growing exponentially. 83% of SA consumers have access to a mobile phone, SMS text messaging is used by three times more people than email, with 68% of emails being sent and received from a cellphone. Consumers thinking of their phones for more than talk, text and basic browsing - the market is exploding and is willing to do more with their mobile phones than ever before.
Looking at the Mxit statistics it's clear to see that mobile is now reaching the critical mass. The mobile social network has 7.4 million active monthly, 6.5 million of those being in South Africa.

Advertisers get active on mobile

According to AdAge's Mobile Fact Pack, with over 75% growth in mobile advertising during 2013, mobile is no longer just an emerging channel.

With more and more advertisers successfully leveraging the mobile media platform, 2014 will see a significant share of digital ad spend shifting toward the medium. Mxit has seen a dramatic rise in acceptance of mobile advertising alongside a healthy consumer appetite for mobile media, expected to proliferate throughout 2014. Nielsen reports that in 2012 alone, total adspend in South Africa reached R33b.

The burgeoning Mxit app ecosystem has caught the attention of blue chip brands including Samsung, FNB, Castle Lite, Woolworths, Coca-Cola, KFC, Vodacom and L'Oreal, to name a few. More advertisers will plunge into mobile media in 2014 thanks the platform's ability to instantly engage en masse, and as a result, drive campaigns, competitions and online community growth with the ability for advertisers to move into the realm of redemption through instant vouchers and coupons.

If you're still on the fence, weary of declining budgets and ROI measure - research stats, review case studies, identify mobile media market leaders and get entrenched in the brand leverage options. From this vantage point is where mobile will take the lead, where it will support ATL and where it can work in isolation.

Always on, always connected

A trend which will continue attracting brands and advertisers to the mobile space is that increasingly, consumer's mobiles are in hand, always on, and for multiple hours a day consumers are online via their phones.

Our users for example are active in the Mxit environment for an average of 95 minutes a day and have as many as six sessions per day. 700 million app page views are generated each month from Mxit alone. Now that's a captive audience!

The power of mobile

Mobile is gaining advertising budget because its foundation is built on the intrinsic human behaviour of connecting and communicating. Mobile media offers engagement; it's not simply a reactive one-way channel. You're part of the conversation. That's the power of mobile.

Mobile media works quickly, engages in real-time with consumers and delivers instant responses and campaign tracking. No waiting 30 days for a report, up to the minute data is the way forward.

Time is money. Traditional media takes immense planning; however marketers can create and publish a brand app and campaign to millions of targeted consumers in just a couple of days. Mobile ad campaigns offer guaranteed page views while messaging can be highly targeted right down to age, gender, location, device, operating system and network.

Less is more

Give consumers meaningful content and value less frequently vs spamming meaningless communication several times a day.

What's in your content for consumers? Why communicate weekly/monthly? Does the content resonate with consumer lifestyle? Defining these answers will ensure that engagement is smart, unobtrusive, relevant and delivered at the right time.

Make your brand's mobile experience is as simple and effortless as possible. The ease of use of the Mxit environment means that consumers are in and out of the various touch points and brand platforms as quickly and easily as possible. Because of this principle, Mxit response numbers are massive and thanks to smart navigation and design, the mobile experience is not cumbersome for consumers to engage with.

One zone engagement

We're an instant gratification generation. We want instant responses with no hassle. Mxit's ease of use and the fact that all campaign touch points are within one environment means that users aren't re-routed to sites outside the Mxit space. There is no need to fill in forms or wait for lengthy downloads. Everything consumers may wish to do - play, connect, chat, enter competitions, engage or share is available in one place. Easy peazy.

2014 and beyond

In 2014, advertisers, media agencies and clients need to invest time in working closely with mobile media partners to evaluate trending consumer behaviour to create smart campaigns which are relevant, contextual, engaging and most importantly, connect with consumers where they are.

Delivering something spectacular is the name of the game, you have to go above and beyond. That doesn't simply take more and incrementally better content, it takes something truly amazing that resonates with your fans.

It's no longer a question of 'when' to use mobile but 'how'.

For more, go to www.get.mxit.com and follow @MxitMedia on Twitter.

For more:

• Bizcommunity Special Section: Biz Trends 2014
  
• Bizcommunity Search: 2014 trends
  
• Twitter Search: #biztrends2014