Through advanced analytics, marketers are learning that customer behavior is not evenly distributed across the customer journey.

Insights from a 2013 xAd study found that mobile use by consumers is influenced by a number of factors, including device type, e.g. smartphone vs. tablet, by industry and by the stage the consumer is within their journey. The xAd study found that 53% of smartphone users will use mobile at the start of their journey process, e.g. when researching a product, yet only 11% will use it at the end, e.g. purchasing. These numbers vary by industry, e.g. in the gas and convenience sector 63% of customers use mobile at the start of their journey. The xAd study also found that 72% will use their smartphone to purchase clothing but only 20% will use it for pet food.

Also, new insights from Lithient, a solution from Somo Group offering, sheds light on in-app consumer engagement. Lithient helps marketers understand and optimize their in-app advertising from first impression to last. Data generated by Lithient, for example, shows that when using a last click attribution method for mobile advertising both premium display and network display buys are under-represented by over 25% when it comes to driving an app install. What this data suggests is that marketers may want to consider changing up their mobile advertising tactics, e.g. the spending across different network types by targeted customer, to optimize consumer engagement throughout each stage of the customer journey.

Understanding the full click path, through solutions like Lithient, will help marketers grow sales volumes and better optimize the ROI of their mobile application advertising efforts. These and other insights will help marketers personalize engagements, predict and prescribe the next best offer and action, and adjust tactics and optimize spending to align with customer behavior and expectations at every stage of the customer journey.

While data and analytics will increasingly drive better results for marketers, markets must also listen to the consumer’s digital signals and actions. Privacy considerations will drive the marketing conversation for the foreseeable future, although in potentially unexpected and contradictory ways. For example, studies report that young people 18~25 year olds are increasingly sharing personal information through social and digital media channels. However, it is this same group has the greatest propensity to take action to protect their digital footprint, to anatomize their behavior. This suggests that people are interested in the benefits that data sharing yields - personalized offers and engagement, convenience, and social recognition, yet also want a sense of control over their digital footprint. In the digitally led economy, marketers must learn to listen to and make sense of these seemingly contradictory signals.

Its time the the majority of marketer learn to put mobile at the heart of their marketing, which will help them better connect, engage,  influence and provide value to customers. Listening to the customer and the their digital signals, adopting mobile marketing best practices, and following the trends above, are no longer a “nice to have” but is a strategic imperative for future commercial success.