Although non-desktop traffic is accelerating and the region has impressive mobile penetration levels, only around half (48%) of organisations use mobile marketing (up by only 3% since 2012).

Which of the following digital channels or disciplines do you use for marketing?

The second annual State of Digital Marketing in Asia report, published by Econsultancy in association with Campaign Asia-Pacific, looks in detail at the relative levels of spending across different traditional and online marketing channels across the Asian region.

Nearly 400 companies participated in this research, which also looks at how organisations are measuring marketing effectiveness, examines the barriers to digital marketing and ecommerce in the region, as well as assessing the existing levels of industry skills and knowledge.

Types of mobile marketing

The report also asked agencies which types of mobile technologies their clients use for marketing.

For the second year running, mobile apps were the most popular form of mobile marketing (67%), followed by SMS and mobile advertising (both 57%).

Which mobile channels or technologies do your clients use for marketing?

Interestingly, there are significant differences between client-side and agency results at this question. For example, mobile applications are used by two-thirds (67%) of agency clients, compared to 38% of client-side respondents.

Similarly, more than half (57%) of agencies say clients are using mobile advertising, compared to 42% of companies who mention this. More than a quarter (28%) of supply-side respondents indicate their clients are using location-based services, but only 13% of client-side respondents say the same.

This reflects the nature of the Asian digital landscape, where there is a significant divide between organisations and agencies in terms of understanding, skills and execution.