The Mobile Mindshift

It has been a busy September – the buying group’s combined EPIC conference followed up by ECI’s Connect conference kept many of you busy.   One of many common threads you can see looking around our industry is that we’re all in the midst of a total mind shift.  Check out the crowd around you and how many people are checking their phones?  What used to be a luxury is now a necessity.  Mobile is changing how business is done.  Consumers are less interested in your messaging and logos – they want instant access and gratification through their mobile devices.

One of the key topics of conversation with many businesses is this -- how important is mobile access to their customers and their customer’s businesses.  Forrester did some research into who mobile users are and how they’re using it today.  This research was conducted through on-line surveys of 30,000 US based consumers.

Forrester created an index by measuring three distinct drivers of engagement – Device ownership, frequency of access and diversity of locations where mobile is used.   The more devices, the more they are interacted with and the number of locations they access them at pushes the index higher.  Clearly, the higher the index, the more that consumer will demand instant mobile specific access. 

The report segments users into 6 distinct categories and 2 major classifications – shifted and unshifted.   The shifted group represents those customers that will demand the most of your company regarding how they interact via their devices.  This group expects information and service on any device in their moment of need.  They also rate companies based on the mobile services provided.   If you don’t address their mobile needs they most likely are not going to do business with you in the future.

 What was interesting to note is that the more engaged consumer segments (shifted) represent only 22% of the consumers surveyed.  But before anyone gets too comfortable, you can rest assured that this number is increasing on a daily basis as more consumers move into the shifted segments.

 The chart below depicts the research and identifies key aspects of each segment:

How urgently should your company be contemplating your mobile strategy?  Much depends on your customers.  Some of this research has some bias toward a B2C relationship as opposed to B2B which is where most focus is delivered.  However – the needs of our B2B customers is trending towards the same functionality that a typical B2C consumer is looking for – so the lines are getting fuzzier all the time.  If your typical customer is 35 or above on the index, you should be getting very serious about having mobile answers in your arsenal.  The key takeaway here is that you need to perform a deep dive in understanding your key customers.  If they’re in the shifted segments, you should be actively engaged in creating and deploying your strategy.

If your customers are 25 or below on the index, you have more time to create your strategy – but you know that this is just a reprieve – the mind shift is happening all around you.  Just look around you the next time you’re in a crowd.

Let me know how your business is addressing the mobile shift – I’d enjoy sharing any success stories you may be having.  If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me via email at tj@aopd.com, or by phone at 714-692-9570.

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