Australian marketers should embrace mobile marketing in order to pave the way for it in APAC, writes Rohit Dadwal.

It is no doubt that Australia is a leader in the contextual advertising space and many other markets – despite their cultural differences – look to the industry here for inspiration and direction. Australian brands and agencies consistently feature on award winners’ lists for advertising, mobile marketing, media, and creative efficacy in Asia Pacific. It is also ideally placed to help pave the way forward for mobile marketing in Asia Pacific. As with the rest of the region, mobile media consumption in Australia shows no signs of slowing. Australian publishers are seeing more than 50% of their traffic from mobile, making it a great channel for advertisers to reach their users.

Australia isn’t without challenges

One of the most pressing challenges for Australian marketers is the lack of a consistent strategic direction with mobile. Education and training, measurement, and creative effectiveness are also issues that need to be tackled. These challenges are, of course, not limited just to Australia. However, it would be great to see brands and agencies here tackle them and lead the way for other countries in Asia Pacific.

Overall, marketers in Australia clearly see the value in mobile advertising and are committed doing a better job on mobile. A global 2015 State of Marketing Report from Salesforce, found that 84% of marketers plan to increase or maintain spend this year, with social and mobile marketing topping the list of priorities.

Australian marketers too are being savvier about mobile marketing. 69% of the study’s respondents in Australia have integrated mobile marketing into their overall marketing strategy, and 56% saw mobile as core to their business. 54% have a dedicated mobile marketing team, up from 33% last year. However, there is still room for both brands and agencies to be more strategic their approach to mobile. For now brands are, in fact, still struggling to catch up.

Getting everyone on board and developing a clear understanding of the channel

One of the key priorities for brands is to educate everyone in the organization, whether consumer-facing or not, about the mobile shift and help them embrace mobile. In addition, getting the buy-in and support of other company leaders such as the CIO and chief talent officer is equally critical to an organization’s ability to build a mobile-centric product or service.

Even as marketers continue to pump more time and money into mobile, there still tends to be some confusion about how to go about achieving advertising targets using this medium. There is also a need to understand its capabilities and limitations, which is almost as important as understanding how it works. To ensure sustainable results for your mobile campaign, it’s really important to set yourself up for success right from the start. This includes having a clear goal in mind.

This might be an oft-repeated piece of advice, but is especially significant for mobile because it’s sometimes positioned as a panacea for all consumer engagement and targeting challenges. While using mobile can help get your brand message in front of the right audience, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution, something that many people still expect. As with any channel, you need to have a clear goal in mind, invest in skills development, and develop a robust measurement system in order to cultivate a true competitive advantage.

Being brave and embracing mobile

Mobile technology is constantly changing with both big and small developments impacting the mobile marketing industry. The Internet of Things (IoT) is an example of a trend that could revolutionize the way we market brands. Data generated by mobile devices in the IoT could give us further insights into consumer trends and behaviors and open the door to more targeted marketing, in real time. These developments should continuously challenge us and it’s time for marketers to embrace mobile fully – risks included!