The Mobile Juggernaut

In Case You Had Any Doubts

Recent business headlines include one that is worth paying attention to:

80% OF FACEBOOK’S AD DOLLARS COME FROM MOBILE

FACEBOOK’S MOBILE PUSH CONTINUES TO PAY OFF: THE COMPANY REPORTED $4.5 BILLION IN MOBILE AD REVENUE DURING ITS QUARTERLY EARNINGS CALL.

How quickly things have changed for Facebook! As this write-up mentions, just a couple of years ago, this was a company that was struggling to transition its mobile presence.

Welcome to this pace of technological change – where change has been the fastest that we have ever witnessed.  So far.  Technological change itself is increasing at an astronomical pace. We have no concept yet what will be invented and what will be brand new in a very short time horizon of the future.

The Emergence of Mobile

But back to “mobile” – a word that is fraught with so many meanings and connotations today.  A truly mobile world is not inconceivable anymore. That vision has turned into reality.  It doesn’t matter what the industry is.  If leaders and managers are not thinking “mobile first”, they very well could be last. They could conceivably even be extinct before long. That’s how fast things are happening.

In today’s world, mobile devices outnumber people, and smartphones are spreading like wildfire. So, for any type or size of business, they better be asking themselves these questions – what is the impact of mobile usage to us? And how do we use this incredible adoption rate to our benefit?

Mobile Advertising

Let’s have a look at one avenue for businesses to evaluate, namely mobile advertising and connecting with your customers on their mobile devices.

A little history lesson from not so far back, this picture to the right shows you what used to be known as “mobile advertising”.

Joking aside, advertising expenditures, once driven by TV and print, are being funneled increasingly into our digital and our handhelds. And why not?

After all, mobile web traffic now surpasses that of all desktops globally and as a matter of fact, it did not even take that long to happen.
According to eMarketer, the mobile tipping point will occur this year when mobile ad spending exceeds desktop ad spending for the first time ever.

[You can and should read the full article here: Mobile Will Account for 72% of US Digital Ad Spend by 2019].

Then, when you see the kind of results that a company like Facebook reported, you know that this trend is very real.

Meanwhile, at Banks and Credit Unions

Financial institutions have been going through their own transformative times, just as technology has.  But wait, technology has something to do with this transformation!  Among the trends we are seeing:

• A continued shift and priority to all things digital
• More digital = more cybersecurity awareness and measures
• Acknowledging that a digital omni-channel presence is key to customer connection and retention, and doing something about it
• Using data analytics, cut and sliced in many ways, in order to personalize customer experiences while increasing customer loyalty, banking income and competitiveness.
• Mobility!

Since the focus of this write-up is mobile, here’s a great statistic that shows the sheer opportunity available for financial institutions of all sizes to leverage:

> 42% of all US adults who own a mobile device have never used it for mobile banking. <

[Note that this statistic is dynamic and a fast-moving target; it may very well be out of date soon].

Not only is there a great opportunity for financial institutions to increase penetration of mobile banking with existing customers, but there is significant untapped potential for “native” advertising (like Facebook does) where a financial institution can use personalized and targeted advertising to really connect with customers wherever they are banking – at a branch, online, or mobile when they are on the go.

According to one industry analyst, financial institutions have already seen the peak of spending occur on compliance and regulatory matters. Now, they see a refocus on winning back customers and increasing their business footprint with them by making investments in digital channels, mobile and branch transformation.  So, in case you had any doubts, it’s still not too late to think mobile, think mobility first!

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