Salesforce Marketing Cloud released their 2015 State of Marketing Report that polled more than 5,000 global marketers across all digital channels about their budgets, priorities, channels, strategies, and metrics for 2015. Our gaze is drawn to mobile statistics –– it’s no secret that consumers are pushing digital transformation with heightened usage of mobile devices and demand for mobile experiences.

It seems as if the past three years have all claimed to be “The Year of Mobile.” Instead of us saying “No, for real this time,” let’s just say 2015 is the “last call” to start integrating mobile into your marketing plan. Smartphones will soon be the number one web access device and every touchpoint along the customer journey must be planned with a mobile-first mindset.

Take a look at some of these stats and graphs below that we pulled from the Marketing Cloud’s Report. This should help you understand why companies need to re-evaluate their current investments and deviate from what they know (desktop and Web marketing) toward the world of mobile marketing. You might also be curious to know how your mobile efforts stack up against other companies.

You Better Start Mobilizing with Mobile

All signs point to mobile integration becoming a big benefit for business. Both B2B and B2C marketers report higher levels of effectiveness in other marketing channels and technologies when mobile is integrated.

Notice (in the image below) that B2C marketers who have not integrated mobile are facing the challenge of creating a personalized cross-channel experience (one-to-one customer journey). For those have integrated mobile, they’re already reaping rewards as this challenge isn’t even listed in their top three.

Mobile loyalty campaigns are the most widely used and the most effective type of mobile campaign. Nonetheless, it’s obvious that all campaign types are highly effective, as evidenced by marketers’ rankings.

“46% of marketers surveyed are using some form of mobile marketing — either SMS, push notifications, mobile apps, or location-based functionality — compared to only 23% in the 2014 report.”

“Marketers are shifting their focus to deliver more tailored, one-to-one mobile interactions. 58% of marketers have a dedicated team to manage their company’s mobile marketing program, up from 35% in 2014.”

Social and Mobile, A Natural Partnership

Social media channels are among the most popular applications for smartphone users. Much of this growth has been fueled by the increasing importance of mobile devices in peoples’ everyday lives, and this trend will likely accelerate in 2015. Like Sprout Social said, “Whether you choose to focus them on marketing, sales, customer support, or other operations, social and mobile are poised to have more and more influence on each other in the months to come.”

Marketers plan to spend more money on these five key areas in 2015 (percentages represent marketers who plan to increase spend on that activity).

"64% of marketers see social media marketing as a critical enabler of products and services, and 70% see mobile marketing as a critical enabler of products and services."

Mobile Email Is Now the Rule

According to the 2015 State of Marketing Report, only 24% of marketers rarely or never use responsive email design. Which means many marketers are aware that their emails work just as well on mobile as they do on desktop. There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to read an email that does not render properly on mobile. If you want to provide the optimal experience for your customers, don’t just appreciate the importance of responsive design, become highly effective at implementing it.

Note: If you’re having a hard time understanding the principles of responsive design check out these 9 GIFs that brilliantly explain everything you ever wanted to know about responsive design, or read this Pardot article about responsive email design.

“68% of marketers view responsive design as absolutely critical/very important to building email marketing campaigns — a sign that marketers are listening to the analytics and understanding that the mobile inbox is mission-critical.”

“This year, 33% of marketers said their emails are read on a mobile device at least 50% of the time; last year, it was 24%.”

The 2015 Mobile Landscape

You Better Start Mobilizing with Mobile

“46% of marketers surveyed are using some form of mobile marketing — either SMS, push notifications, mobile apps, or location-based functionality — compared to only 23% in the 2014 report.”

“Marketers are shifting their focus to deliver more tailored, one-to-one mobile interactions. 58% of marketers have a dedicated team to manage their company’s mobile marketing program, up from 35% in 2014.”

Social and Mobile, A Natural Partnership

"64% of marketers see social media marketing as a critical enabler of products and services, and 70% see mobile marketing as a critical enabler of products and services."

Mobile Email Is Now the Rule

“68% of marketers view responsive design as absolutely critical/very important to building email marketing campaigns — a sign that marketers are listening to the analytics and understanding that the mobile inbox is mission-critical.”

“This year, 33% of marketers said their emails are read on a mobile device at least 50% of the time; last year, it was 24%.”

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