In late 2014, Forrester Research put together a report of mobile marketing trends that they think are going to feature prominently in 2015.
Here’s what we think are the 5 most pertinent predictions that they made. In 6 months, we’ll revisit this and see how our predictions are getting on.
1. Huge mobile spend
One of the most common complaints from marketers is that they know they’re supposed to be far more mobile than they are, but don’t have the money to do it. Forrester itself reported that only 35 percent of marketers have the money they need for
mobile marketing.
So they predict that spending on mobile is going to skyrocket in 2015, both consumer-facing spend, in particular marketing strategy, and back-end spend, to keep up to date with rising demand.
For example, Home Depot recently pledged $1.5 billion to improve their back-end supply chain to support mobile ordering. Basically, it’s expensive to keep a really excellent mobile presence up and running, but companies are embracing that cost because they know it’s what their consumers demand.
2. There’s going to be a lot more mobile phones out there
Like, a lot. 50% of Brazil, South Africa, and Russia will have smartphones, and we can assume the other BRICS countries aren’t far behind (India and China). By the end of the year, 42% of the world will own a smartphone.
If the population stays the same as it is right now, that’s
3,067,600,000 people.
What’s more, developing countries are skipping PCs and going straight to smartphones, in part due to the lower entry into the market. So not only will there be a lot more smartphones, but we might start seeing mobile-first countries (for example, 40% of Kenya’s GDP is mobile phones).
3. Mobile advertising is on the rise
This was maybe the most compelling point in the whole report. Not only is spending on mobile advertising set to increase, but the very nature is going to change in 2015. Gone are the days when a “mobile” ad was basically a desktop ad adapted for a phone. Like mobile-first design, advertising will be mobile-specific, crafted from the word go to be awesome on a small screen.
Plus, bigger devices and a 4G network will combine to provide a superb platform for short videos; and with video on the rise anyways, it makes sense that we’re going to be seeing the return of the commercial, but on a 4.7” screen.
4. Apps are done
Controversial? Absolutely. But also true. There were
1.3 million apps in the App Store in September 2014, but most people spend almost all their time (80%) on just 5 apps. What this means is that a select few apps are amazingly well-used, but the vast,
vast majority fall by the wayside. It means that for the most part, apps are an ineffective way to reach consumers.
So in the place of apps, brands are going to work to build larger, anticipatory mobile experiences (remember, they’re going to spend a
lot of money in 2015). Things like integrating with other apps that you might already have open, or creating a platform that helps anticipate your needs, but without having to open an app.
For example, Uber lets you book an Uber ride straight from Google Maps. That’s super useful, because if you’re at point A and you need to get to point B, you’re probably already looking at Google Maps. Working out what users want, and the easiest way your service can provide it is the name of the game for 2015.
5. Micro Moments will get bigger
In the same vein as micro-interactions with UX, the mobile marketing world is going to have to focus on the little details. The idea of a micro moment is delivering information with a just a glance (or a small haptic interaction, or an snippet of audio). Basically, to convey information in less than 1 second without breaking a user’s daily flow.
With wearables becoming more commonplace and mainstream, these micro moments are easier to deliver and increasingly expected (push notifications help this as well). This also relates to the previous point of apps not getting the job done – 2015 is going to be about predicting needs and acting on them in the least-intrusive way possible.
Wrap up
Those are the trends from Forrester that we think are going to stick in 2015 and are the most important to the industry. Check back in in 6 months to see if we got it right! (PS – you can read the full report
right here).
Think we missed a major 2015 trend? Get on the blower and let us know in the comments! 