7 Baby Steps to Bridge the Mobility Gap

Smartphone adoption and use are growing with hockey stick proportions. The adoption rates are predicted to grow from a base of 162 million in 2008 by 35 percent year over year through 2013. Smartphone penetration, according to The Nielsen Company, is expected to overtake feature phone penetration by the end of 2011 when they predict half of all wireless devices will be smartphones; not that much of a stretch when you realize that twenty-one percent of wireless subscribers were using smartphones in Q4 2009, double the rate in Q4 2008. 

Unfortunately the user experience lags behind expectations. With each new phone and each new app, users expect smooth sailing when reading e-mail, accessing the web or conducting eCommerce. The reality is that often they are frustrated because content and functionality haven’t kept pace. We have a mobility-marketing gap. 

Everyone has had the experience of reading an e-mail on a smart phone where the frames and images appear in silhouette or are broken. Many of us are frustrated not only by the time it takes to access the Web but also by the half-rendered image at the other end. And increasingly just when we are ready to buy something on the go, the site isn’t ready, willing or able to accept our information or process the order. 

Litmus, an e-mail delivery service, reports that people are more likely to spend time reading e-mails on a mobile device than on a desktop. They understand that mobile devices serve as default boredom killers. People waiting, in-transit and hanging out are more apt to read e-mail to fill the time.  Even so, among the 124 million e-mails they studied, over 50 percent delete e-mails within 2 seconds of opening. A lot of those are  messages not optimized for the platform. 

Azuki Systems found that 52 percent of mobile users access the Web from their phones and 25% access video. Eighty percent say they wish it was easier to access the Internet from their phones. The leading barriers and frustrations are long download times and hard-to use navigation. Two-thirds would share content from their mobile devices if it were easier. 

A survey of 2255 adults by YouGov Pic found that e-mail use from smart phones ranges from 14% to 40%, depending on age and that 35 percent plan to read e-mails on mobile phones in the future. Forrester’s North American Technographics Benchmark Survey found that mobile e-mail users are more professionally oriented with incomes 14 percent higher than the national average. They are more likely to be employed fulltime, are interested in owning the top brands, are less price sensitive and less hostile to advertising delivered by phone. 

My friend and former colleague, Graeme Hutton, conducted a smartphone survey that yielded 1800 respondents for Universal McCann, that documented the growing use and importance of the mobile web for consumers. 

The most compelling findings are … 

• 95% use mobile media to fill downtime
• 53% of smartphone users click on ads
• 54% said their mobile use increased by more than 25 percent over two years
• 35% are requesting more information or downloading coupons
• 24% are making purchases using their phones
• 82% use their phones at work
• 81% use them when out shopping
• 80% use smartphones at home
• 65% use them while commuting
• 73% search for maps or directions
• 55% use social networks via smartphones
• 50% looked for restaurant and movie locations or reviews
• 44% accessed national news or sports information
• Almost 1 of every 7 minutes of media consumption is done by phone
• 6 in 10 expect the range of mobile Internet services to expand by 2012
• 56% said they were driven to mobile from other media
• 42% said they were driven by mobile to other media
• 38% took action based on mobile ads
• 30% shared information on the basis of mobile ads
• 22% said mobile ads influenced a purchase decision 

According to the Acuity Group, it’s not much better for dedicated e-tailers. Only 12% of the Internet Retailer 500 have sites optimized for mobile phones and only 7 percent have downloadable apps.  As you might imagine the Amazon, Best Buy, eBay, 1-800 Flowers, Barnes & Noble, QVC, Sears and Target are among the industry leaders. 

If adoption and innovation are driving mobile use and expectations anxiety about direction and cost are the factors holding back added mobile development of content and functionality. Consumers are finding more new uses everyday so marketers aren’t sure what will last and what will flame out. Similarly uncertainty about 3G capabilities coupled with the slow introduction and roll-out of 4G technology and the imitations of wireless networks (think AT&T and iPhones) make it difficult to determine where and when to double down on technology investments. 

So in the short run, consider these simple baby steps to better align your communications with an increasingly smartphone-enabled customer base. 

1. Create and use a .mobi level domain for e-mail campaigns and promotions.
2. Create and use a .mobi landing page for campaigns
3. Use either mobile detection devices in creating assets or explicitly use directions e.g. “If you are viewing this on your phone” in your messaging
4. Build in WAP optimization into your digital assets
5. User test digital content and assets in mobile-friendly formats
6. Learn about micro-browsers Like IE Mobile and opera
7. Watch or ask your customers about smartphone use and preferences

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