• 87% of businesses surveyed are planning to increase their investment in mobile
• 56% of companies surveyed in UK feel behind the curve on mobile websites compared to Germany and France where they’re only 36% and 32% respectively
• Almost two thirds (63%) of respondents feel they could be taking more advantage of digital marketing
• 52% of retailers surveyed are willing to invest in new technologies before being tested for their ROI

LONDON, Jan 15^th 2015,: Today, RetailMeNot, Inc., the world’s largest marketplace for digital offers and operator of VoucherCodes.co.uk, reveals that more than half of senior decision makers feel that their investment in digital marketing is not sufficient, with 87% of respondents planning to increase their investments in mobile marketing. This is the result of an international study carried out by WBR Research in the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands on behalf of RetailMeNot, Inc.

Digital investment poised to grow

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 8 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 (88%) 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 reveales 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.

Marketers are getting mobile, but question their own performance

The study also confirms the growing importance of mobile, with 87% of respondents planning to increase their spent in this area. While the vast majority of the respondents (71%) aims to drive ecommerce sales directly on these devices, they also acknowledge that the final conversion may happen on a different channel (63%). Nevertheless, it is also noteworthy that nearly 1 out of 10 surveyed retailers (9%) still don’t have a mobile strategy at all.

Despite this general excitement about mobile marketing, many surveyed retailers appear little confident about their mobile own offering. While most businesses are satisfied with their desktop service and 2 out of 3 even feel that they’re ahead of their competitors, they are doubting their mobile apps and websites. This is particulary true in the UK^[2] , where more than half of respondents (56%) feel that they’re behind the curve with regards to their mobile website and 7 out of 10 (70%) feel that their mobile app is not as competitive those from other businesses in their industry.
 

Competition is the driving force

In a competitive market, many of the marketers surveyed admitted to having concerns over their use of digital marketing channels compared to competitors, and 63% of respondents feel they could be taking more advantage of digital marketing. As a result, these marketers are looking to harness new technologies in order to fight for market space. When asked, 52% of respondents said they were willing to invest in new technologies before they had been tested for ROI in an attempt to maintain a position ahead of their competitors on the mobile channel.

Giulio Montemagno, SVP of Intertational RetailMeNot comments: “European retail has been characterised by strong growth in online and mobile shopping in recent years. As a result, marketers are racing to discover the most efficient means to attract and satisfy new customers in the digital environment, all the while enriching and personalizing the customer experience across all channels.

“The survey results confirm the marketers’ enthusiasm for the potential of current and future digital marketing opportunities, despite the fact that almost two thirds of the respondents feel that they’re not yet using these technique to their full potenial. Targeting consumers with offers on their mobile device, which can be redeemed in store or online, can help marketers effectively drive sales and differentiate themselves from their competitors in a way that is highly relevant for their target audience. The retailers who deliver a consistent and compelling shopping experience across the customer journey will win the hearts and minds of consumers.”