Issue 58 • JAN 2015
Greater investment in mobile marketing a top priority for 2015
News
THIS MONTH...
• Mobile an essential part of travel says study as Virgin launches Lucy as proof 3 • Mobile casino gaming boomed in 2014 – and the future is apps 4 • There are now more than 1bn tablet users worldwide 5 • Christmas 2014 a boom for mobile in e-commerce, studies show 6
Analysis EDITORIAL Charge to mobile’s year 2015 is going to be the year that mobile payments takes off – and carrier billing, or charge to mobile as we are now calling it, is going to lead the way, says Paul Skeldon 7
MORE THAN HALF of senior decision makers within retailers and brands feel that their investment in digital marketing is not sufficient, with 87% of respondents planning to increase their investments in mobile marketing. So finds an international study carried out by WBR Research in the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands on behalf of RetailMeNot, marketplace for digital offers and operator of VoucherCodes.co.uk. In response to marketers’ most important expressed objectives to drive sales (74%), acquire new customers (72%) and increase website traffic (37%), marketers are continuing to increase their investment in digital marketing. Of the businesses surveyed, 92% plan to increase digital spend in the next 3 – 5 years. The study found that the majority of brands are now investing in some form of digital marketing activity, with 66% of marketers currently investing more than 50% of their budget on digital. While marketers surveyed use on average eight different marketing channels, there is a clearly a shift from traditional advertising strategies to more targeted, digital marketing tactics to attract consumers. The most popular digital channel for marketers is email, which is touted as the killer outbound channel for marketers in the digital age. The popularity of email as a digital marketing tactic is closely followed by social media and paid search. The study reveals that 8 out of 10 marketers are seeing much higher ROI for digital marketing channels, compared to traditional channels. Just 25% of the surveyed companies are investing in radio and only 30% in billboard advertising. The study also confirms the growing importance of mobile, with 87% of respondents
OPINION Can regulation save you money? Alex Saunders. marketing specialist at Slap-up Marketing takes a look at how being aware of regulations and acting proactively can save your bacon 8
OPINION VATs Entertainment Paul Skeldon takes a look at how changes to EU VAT rules for digital cross border services may affect telemeedia businesses 9
ANALYSIS Six m-comm predictions for 2015 Well, it is January... so let’s get out our crystal balls. Here experts at NN4M take a look at the six key trends in m-commerce in 2015 10
DIRECTORY
The leading industry directory of services 12
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