The vast majority of businesses may have embraced mobile apps, but around half remain in the tactical stage, and while execs believe mobile can do the job in driving awareness, engagement, revenue and loyalty, just half of them have the metrics which can prove it, according to the Mobile Maturity Benchmarks Report from Urban Airship. Only 56% of survey respondents use sales/conversions as a metric for measuring mobile success, followed closely by those who measure engagement and reach/frequency. Those measuring app success primarily consider downloads and frequency of use. Uninstall rate, arguably the most important app metric as it indicates loyalty, was least often considered, says the report.
Urban Airship believes there are leadership issues, too.
“We found it odd that such a significant portion of respondents told us that they have a dedicated mobile product team or digital/e-commerce team, yet mobile decisions are most often made on a case-by-case basis,” the outfit says. “This suggests that mobile efforts are led in a piecemeal approach rather than through a central authority to maximise collaboration and strategic outcomes. We predict the Chief Mobile Officer position will spread rapidly in the coming years as mobile’s influence becomes critical across channels and lines of business.”