MOBILE REPORT 2012 HOW THE NATION S TOP COMPANIES ARE POSITIONING THEIR WEBSITES FOR THE FUTURE OR NOT.

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1 MOBILE REPORT 2012 HOW THE NATION S TOP COMPANIES ARE POSITIONING THEIR WEBSITES FOR THE FUTURE OR NOT. NOVEMBER 2012

2 A GLOBAL TAKEOVER There are 7 billion people on Earth. Out of those 7 billion, 6 billion have a cell phone subscription billion more than own a toothbrush 2. Clearly, mobile technology has taken over our world and is here to stay. This new, faster-paced world has forced us to evolve to a new kind of cell phone: the smartphone. In addition to making phone calls, smartphones help us text, entertain ourselves, surf the Web and, more and more, make purchase decisions. Nearly half of all adults in America own a smartphone today 3 ; and an impressive 70% of smartphone owners use their devices while shopping in-store 4. Most have a strong affinity for the mobile experience, preferring to use their smartphone for price research (81%), product reviews (79%) and purchasing (63%) 5. With numbers like these, companies ignore the growth of mobile marketing at their own peril. Mobile marketing is evolving every day, and has already become an essential channel for businesses to use to connect with consumers. To stay competitive with the competition, smart brands are leveraging mobile-optimized and responsive Web design to cater to customers who use all types of devices, including smartphones, tablets and desktop computers. Websites are often the place where customers first interact with a brand. You could think of your website as the OPEN sign in the front window of your storefront. With this in mind, our research team conducted a study to investigate how the top companies in the country are positioning their websites to engage with consumers in the mobile space. The results were surprising. MOBILE DESIGN VS. RESPONSIVE DESIGN Before diving into the results, we need to differentiate between mobile-optimized design and responsive design. Mobile-optimized refers to a website that has been designed specifically to fit the viewing area of a mobile device. This mobile-optimized site is served up instead of a company s usual (desktop monitor-size) website when viewed on a mobile device. In other words, the company must maintain two separate websites. A responsive website refers to a single website that adapts automatically to fit the viewing area of whatever device is being used, the design shrinking or expanding to comfortably fill the available space. This approach allows for optimal viewing on desktop, tablet, smartphone and even new types of devices as they come to market. 1 The UN Telecom Agency, Mobile Marketing Association Asia, Mobile Health, Pew Internet & American Life Project, The Mobile Movement, Google and Ipsos OTX, Adobe Mobile Experience Survey & emarketer,

3 Traditional Web and mobile site development are targeted to specific screen sizes. However, as new types of devices and new screen resolutions come to market, responsive design becomes a more cost-effective solution to support both existing and unreleased future hardware. It is important to note that mobile-optimized and responsive websites are different from mobile apps, which are small, self-contained programs that reside on a mobile device. The new trend of consumers using their smartphones to aid them in purchase decisions can be beneficial for a company, but it can also be harmful to them if they are unprepared: 61% of people surveyed said that if they tried to access a website on their mobile device but couldn t because it wasn t optimized for mobile, they would visit the website of a competitor 6. Today s world is focused on mobility of information and instant access to anything. Because of this, 74% of consumers will wait only five seconds for a Web page to load on their mobile device before abandoning the site 7. This means that your site has to be more than just mobileoptimized, it also has to be fast. HOW THE BIG GUYS FARED To discover how top companies are using mobile optimization, our research team compared the websites of 199 companies from a variety of sectors including insurance, advertising, retail, financial services and the software industry. Research was gathered from the top 50 in each of the following Top Companies lists for 2012: Top 500 Domestic Companies, Fortune Magazine Fastest-Growing Companies, Inc. Magazine Top Private Companies, Crain s Cleveland Business Top Public Companies, Crain s Cleveland Business WHY 199 COMPANIES? The website of one organization failed to load throughout our testing period, leaving us with 199 rather than 200 companies to review. 6 Business Insider, Smart Media Tips, Equation Research,

4 The results were surprising, to say the least. Our statistics show that an extremely small percentage of these companies websites were optimized for mobile devices. WHAT THE EXPERTS SAY The total results, combined from all four lists, reflect that of the 199 company websites reviewed, only 47 (24%) were mobile-optimized; even fewer employed responsive design, just seven out of 199 (4%). Next, we broke up these results by individual lists. Fortune Magazine s top 500 domestic companies were ranked based on their gross revenue. Out of the top 50 on this list, 23, or 46%, were mobile-optimized. This means that less than half of the top-ranked corporations in our country according to this list have mobile-optimized websites. Additionally, only one of 50, or 2%, of these company websites was responsive-designed. Standouts on this list include State Farm Insurance Co., Target Corp. and The Home Depot, each of which created an optimized site that allow customers easy in-store shopping comparisons and easy-toaccess general information. Inc. Magazine s well-known list of the top 500 fastest-growing privately held businesses in the U.S. ranks companies according to their percentage of growth of annual revenue over a period of three years. This list contained the website which failed to connect, resulting in a review of 49 company websites. The results show that very few company websites in this list are mobile-optimized. Mobile-optimized sites only accounted for 12%, or six of 49, of these company websites. The last two lists we reviewed were Crain s Cleveland Business top 50 public and top 50 private companies. Of the top 50 public companies in Cleveland, only 20%, or 10 companies, had mobile-optimized websites. Furthermore, not one was responsivedesigned. The list of the top 50 private companies was not significantly different. Of these private companies, only 16%, eight out of 50, were mobile-optimized and just three were responsive-designed. Responsive Web design is relatively new to the mainstream, so while 4% is low, it is not all too surprising. That number will rise dramatically over the next couple of years, considering that building a responsive website is more cost effective than creating and supporting multiple sites. Justin Smith Interactive Developer thunder::tech The combined results from the last two lists reveal that 82% of top company websites in Cleveland are not optimized for mobile viewing. These companies may be unaware of the power mobile-optimization could have in advancing their companies and engaging with their customers. While the percentage of websites that are mobile-optimized varies by list, looking at the overall numbers shows that a startling 76% of top companies reviewed have not yet noticed the importance of and need for mobile optimization in today s world. Also important, though not as surprising, is the small number of these companies who have taken the extra step past mobile optimization and made their websites responsive. A total of 96% of these 199 companies do not have responsive-designed websites. Not everyone sees the value and the user experience importance of [responsive design]. However, when I propose a responsive website to a client, I often find that it is less expensive than a desktop and mobile website separately. Clients would be saving money moving forward with a responsive website. Andrea Aber Account Services Team Manager thunder::tech 4

5 HOW SHOULD YOU RESPOND? So, if the majority of the top companies in the country aren t currently embracing mobile-optimized and/or responsive designed websites, why should you? The real question is this: Do you want to be ahead of the curve or behind the eight ball? Your customers are adopting new technology and new devices every day, and with the purchase of these products come new expectations and demands. Customers take it for granted that they can use their device to compare prices, gather information, shop and complete a hundred other tasks. The research proves that consumers expect today s businesses to cater to their need of simplified and easy-to-access information on all their devices. Considering this, you may want to re-evaluate how your company uses mobile optimization and responsive design in your marketing strategy before your competition beats you to it. It s not a matter of IF your customers will demand the ability interact with your online presence through their mobile device it s a matter of WHEN. And when that time comes, make sure your front door is open, inviting and ready for business. EXAMPLES OF RESPONSIVE WEBSITES Want to see some examples of responsive web design? Check out the links below or scan the QR codes with your smartphone to see them now. The Residences at Hanna residencesathanna.com National Senior Games nsga.com COSE, Small Business Conference smallbizconvention.com 5