3Cinteractive.com — a provider of mobile  marketing services — has unveiled its 2017 Mobile Marketing & Planning Report, which identifies key trends where brand marketers are placing their focus on mobile initiatives in 2017.

The report is based largely on an online survey 3C commissioned during July, 2016, which was presented to roughly 3,000 brand marketers across a variety of industries. Survey participants represent retail (29%), restaurants (21%), hospitality/tourism/travel (17%), financial services (14%), and a host of other industries as well.

Among the primary objectives in 2017, brand marketers cite “increase coupon redemption” (19%), and “customer loyalty acquisition” (19%). What’s more, “coupon delivery” (36%) “represent the largest share of tactics marketers plan to deploy to grow their mobile marketing impact.

Mobile coupons have become a focal point for many coupon-friendly industries, such as grocery and retail, because of the ability to drive foot traffic; amplify redemption rates; and increase customer lifetime value. In fact, separate 3C research pointed out that one brand in particular saw a 4X lift in redemptions and 40% increase in basket size through the use of mobile wallet coupons.

Mobile wallet marketing (22%) ranked higher than mobile wallet payments (16%) as a 2017 initiative. Wallet marketing allows for a perpetual presence on the customer’s device and can also enable location detection in order to send relevant messages at the exact moment of need.
IT skillset and integration resources remain the biggest hurdle preventing brands from implementing new mobile marketing strategies. 26% of those polled said available IT resources will most prevent them from making more investments in mobile in 2017, compared to 17% who cited budget constraints.