Specifically, the comprehensive survey evaluated consumers on their personal holiday shopping habits and preferred mobile holiday experience. The survey also questioned global digital marketers, advertisers, and app developers on their 2017 mobile holiday preparation and campaign plans.

A gaping chasm between mobile marketers and mobile consumers

One would think that in this day and age, marketers would be aligning their activities to every whimsical wish of the modern day consumer. This is a direct quote from the findings – 'Marketers and advertisers approach mobile purchasing differently than their customers'.

This is already starting to sound a little off-kilter. How could consumers and the businesses that claim to respond to their every need and want be out of sync, especially as we head towards the annual December consumerism?

Apparently, some 60% of businesses prefer offering consumers in-app purchases for the upcoming holidays, while only five percent of consumers want to engage in in-app shopping. While 54% of consumers say they will watch rewarded video for added perks, only 20% of marketers are choosing to include it in their holiday campaigns.

South African mobile firms need to listen to their customers

Our flagging economy needs every boost it can get and, clearly, nothing boosts economic growth like actually offering consumers wanting to spend exactly what they want.

The South African takeaway from this overseas research is that local mobile marketers need to double-down on their investment in video and re-energise in-app purchases with better offerings that really do appeal to consumers.

There are plenty of other mobile marketing areas to consider investing in, with location-based marketing being another hot topic right now. But if investments in mobile video and re-looking at in-app purchases are the only two things your firm does this summer, it’ll be well worth it.

Holidays present huge potential for mobile and brands

Here’s a thought that should move you to get in touch with a mobile marketing specialist – consumer preference is driving mobile engagement, and its critical brands react with the holiday experiences users want most.

Finally, it’s worth remembering during this year’s buying season that personalisation is the key to effective mobile marketing. Indeed, the ability to personalise is what sets mobile apart from traditional media platforms. Key to personalisation is putting users in control.

The best way to put users in control and keep them sweet on your brand is to enable them to easily opt-in and opt-out of mobile campaigns, products, and services.

Not only do easy opt-ins and opt-outs say to users that your brand respects their privacy; the ECT Act, other legislative, and WASPA Code of Conduct stipulations in South Africa make attention to user preferences of paramount concern to any mobile marketer this holiday season, and beyond.

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