“It doesn’t do any good to sit up and take notice, if all you do is keep on sitting.”

“The very best marketing comes from observing consumer behavior and inserting your message into their behavior.” 

eMarketer released a report today – “USMobile Ad Dollars Shift to Search Apps” – that shows that several marketers are certainly taking this to heart – at Google’s expense. 

It is no secret that Google has owned the Search category on desktops “forever” with a share of voice in the mid-60’s.  And as the consumer moved over to mobile devices, Google was at the forefront of mobile search.  In 2012 it was estimated that Google had a +82% share of the mobile search market.  eMarketer is reporting that Google’s mobile share has dropped to 68% in 2013 and much of this decline has occurred because of a shift in the behavior of mobile consumers. 

Part of this shift is occurring because of the increased use of mobile apps for search.  They are projecting that apps like Yelp are taking a bite out of Google’s dominance.

“App-based searching is a new phenomenon that pales in comparison with the longstanding practice of querying a search engine, and the degree to which mobile users rely on both methods for finding information is unclear,” Boyle added. “Still, in light of the growing popularity and time spent with apps, search marketers that recognize this behavior and focus on increasing visibility within apps aligned to their industry and business objectives will be best positioned to connect with the largest number of mobile users.”

The desktop versus mobile web site debate is dead.  While it is not time to abandon the desktop web site, as mobile traffic grows, it is time for businesses to quick “thinking” and “start doing” something about web sites that are not mobile friendly.  Personally, I can’t imagine designing a web site that fails to support the soon to be largest segment of web traffic (mobile) and segment that is growing (mobile).  It is the equivalent of building a web site that doesn’t support English.

“But I have all this money sunk into my legacy web site and it will cost a large/medium/small fortune to convert it to mobile responsive.”  And I have a closet full of double breasted suits and wide/skinny ties.  It doesn’t matter… 

Last month I analyzed the web sites of 20 clients/prospects.  17 of them do not have a mobile enabled web site. 

·       Overall 30% of web traffic now comes from a mobile device.  For many businesses the amount of mobile traffic is already more than 50% (ask someone in the news media).

·       56% of American adults are now smartphone owners.  

·       By 2015, 81% of U.S. cell users will have smartphones

·       Smartphones outsell desktop computers and have since the 4^th quarter of 2011.

·       By the end of 2013, there will be more mobile devices on Earth than people.

·       48% use or would like to use a smartphone to shop while in-store or on the go.

·       Time spent with mobile apps starting to challenge television: consumers are spending 127 minutes per day in mobile apps–up 35 percent from 94 minutes a day in the same time last year–and spend 168 minutes watching television per day.

·       Mobile searches related to restaurants have a conversion rate of 90% with 64% converting within the hour

 

Need +100 more reasons to stop thinking and start acting, click here - Mobile Industry Statistics

 “It doesn’t do any good to sit up and take notice, if all you do is keep on sitting.”

“It doesn’t do any good to sit up and take notice if all you do is keep on sitting.”

As we all know, the mobile revolution has arrived.  For the previous three months in a row, the mobile traffic to KSAT properties exceeds the traffic generated on the “mother ship” – the desktop version of KSAT.com.  Life has changed and we embrace it.  “It doesn’t do any good to sit up and take notice if all you do is keep on sitting.”

It is no longer a case of whether or not your web site should support mobile devices.  Mobile support is what the consumer expects. 

The most compelling reason to focus on mobile is that consumers are moving their digital engagement away from desktops and onto mobile devices – Smartphones and Tablets.  Fourth Quarter 2011 was a watershed moment – it was the first quarter that mobile devices outsold desktop/laptops.  “Total worldwide PC sales fell 14 percent to 76.3 million units in the first quarter, IDC said on Wednesday, exceeding its forecast of a 7.7 percent drop. It was the fourth consecutive quarter of year-on-year declines…”   

33%Of Paid-Search Clicks Coming From Mobile Devices

·       “U.S. advertisers have already spent nearly 50% more on paid-search ads in 2013 compared with the previous year, with click-through rates rising 14.1%.”

·       Consumer behavior drove brand marketers and retailers to make search marketing investments early in the season -- in particular, the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. By getting a jump on the holidays, brands managed to connect with those consumers starting their shopping earlier, due to the reduced number of post-Cyber Monday shopping days this year. So far among Kenshoo clients, the 2013 shopping season generated record-high online revenue for U. S. paid-search retailers with a 30 7% YoY increase compared with 2012. 

Reaching the Mobile Holiday Shopper

Consumers are so increasingly connected that some argue we never actually go shopping -- we are always shopping. Consider the following:

• 44% of all email opens currently occur on mobile devices
• More than 1 billion smartphones were in consumers' pockets at the beginning of 2013
• 4 out of 5 minutes on a smartphone are spent engaging with an app
• 1 in 3 minutes spent online is now spent on devices other than PCs. Marketers must have both, a mobile app and a mobile Web site, or they run the risk of alienating their customer base
• Smartphone ownership tipped the scales to comprise 58% of all mobile phones in the U.S. in 2012 and is expected to reach 83% of all mobile ownership by 2017
• 62% of marketers will increase their budgets for mobile in 2013

Here is a link to download the eMarketer 2014 Snapshot of Digital Media Usage.  Some of the highlights:

·       Growth in Facebook usage has slowed to a crawl, with a 3% increase expected for 2014.

·       Mobile is hot.  Double digit growth against all social media sites.

·       98.2% if smartphone users are mobile internet users.

·       Video consumption continues to grow on mobile devices.

·       51.8% of tablet users will buy online this year.

Peter Townshend of The Who said it best in Going Mobile.

“I'm goin' home
And when I wanna go home
I'm goin' mobile”

He was only 42 years ahead of his time…