At ABM Executive Forum: Study finds publishers cautious about mobile
October 23, 2012, 12:46 pm EDT
By Matthew Schwartz
Chicago—Despite the overall growth in mobile marketing, business publishers are still taking a cautious approach in developing mobile strategies, according to a study conducted by American Business Media and media and market research company Outsell Inc.
Highlights of the study, “Anytime, Anywhere: Mobile Benchmarks and Directions for B-to-B,” were presented Monday at the ABM Executive Forum here. The study was based on an online survey conducted last summer with 104 C-level and operational executives at ABM member companies.
The study found only 20% of C-level executives have deployed a formal mobile strategy; 56% toggle between a formal strategy and ad hoc efforts; and 24% do their mobile business on a project or case-by-case basis. Only 8% of C-level respondents reported that they plan to hire new employees for mobile development, while 28% plan to outsource.
Mobile does not “come cheap,” said Chuck Richard, VP-lead analyst at Outsell, referring to mobile opportunities for b2b publishers. “If you go chasing after everything in mobile, and the revenue is slow, you can get exposed.”
C-level executives reported that 5% of their digital revenue is generated through mobile. However, 19% of their total audiences access content via mobile devices.
“The big money is not there,” Richard said. “ "Mobility' is different from the mobile business. Are people going to pay a lot for mobile content? You have to give them something that they can't get through another marketing channel.”
The top mobile priorities among b2b media companies are to enhance the brand as a forward thinker (64%) and deliver b2b information to mobile users (60%), the study found. New revenue from mobile users (29%) and enhancing mobile e-commerce (24%) were comparatively low priorities.
The study found 33% of ABM companies offer a mobile-optimized site, and 28% use a mobile site or subdomain. Just 7% offer e-newsletters specifically optimized for mobile devices.