Abdul Muhammad|Feb 24, 2015

Mobile has been at the center of digital programs for a while now, but 2015 may be the year it finally comes of age and fulfills its disruptive potential across a wider range of industries.

That said, too many digital programs are still considering mobile as just one more channel, rather than an entirely new platform requiring significant shifts in planning and execution.

We think there are three key areas that could be pitfalls for most organizations in the coming year.

1. Underinvestment

We agree with Forrester’s prediction that most brands will underinvest in mobile. The research company notes that “marketing leaders who have embraced the mobile mind shift will accelerate spending to create an insurmountable gap between themselves — the industry leaders — and the laggards.”

Part of the investment challenge is the fact that consumers are in the midst of a massive shift to a mobile mindset as well. Budgets based on the mobile engagement of today will miss that shift. Instead, brands should consider where the engaged consumer will be and plan for that opportunity now.

2. Marketing-Only Mindset

Mobile programs led by digital-only teams or marketing professionals alone are at risk of missing key strategies necessary to meet customer expectations around privacy and transparency.

This is the year that mobile teams must expand to include legal, security and analytics experts. Evolved privacy policies and strategic response plans addressing possible security breaches are now an integral part of any responsible mobile initiative. Forrester calls this a “business technology agenda, a shared to-do list across roles for applying technology, systems, and processes to win, serve, and retain customers.”

3. Organizational Status Quo

As mobile fulfills its disruptive promise in the consumer space, the disruption will extend to changes in organizational structure for brands that embrace mobile.

For example, as noted in Forrester’s report, The Home Depot will spend $1.5 billion to improve its supply chain and other back-end systems related to mobile ordering. Companies must be willing to make the enterprise-wide changes necessary to fulfill dynamic mobile programming, but to this point very few have embraced this approach.

What steps do you think companies must take to truly succeed with mobile in 2015? Sound off in the comments below!

 

Receive our rbb blogs straight to your inbox. Subscribe below: