As much as 83% of marketers in EMEA will increase their budget over the next 12 months, and in five years’ time, 40% expect more than a quarter of their budget to be dedicated to mobile, according to new research from WARC and the Mobile Marketing Association.

Based on a survey of 548 marketing professionals in EMEA, The State of the Industry: Mobile Marketing in EMEA report found that 62% of marketers find the channel ‘quite effective’, and almost a third view it as ‘very important’ for their business over the next year.

The data in the report is designed to be a snapshot of the current state of mobile marketing in EMEA, and finds that although many companies have executive support for using mobile, talent and a clear learning agenda are lacking.

Only 11% are ‘ready’ in terms of having adequate talent and resources for mobile marketing, and only 16% have a clear learning agenda in place.

As a result, the majority (62%) of client-side marketers do not have a formal mobile marketing strategy for their brand, and for those that do, 61% have closely integrated mobile into other marketing activities.

A bigger problem for marketers than integration is in metrics and measurement: 32% class this as the biggest barrier to the growth of mobile. Despite this, marketers will meet the mobile disruption over the next five years with investment in new mobile technologies. Growth is expected in the use of mobile wallets, virtual reality, and augmented reality, and the use of IoT and smart home technologies is expected to increase from 32% this year to 61% in 2022.

Respondents ranked the financial services sector to be the most innovative in its mobile marketing, followed by the retail sector, and Coca-Cola is viewed as the most innovative brand.

“These findings reveal a market that sees the potential of mobile and is investing in it accordingly,” added Amy Rodgers, Research Editor at WARC. “This is the second year we have surveyed mobile marketers in the EMEA region, and these results show some interesting developments in the progress in use of the channel. The significance of mobile payments and mCommerce to the region is evident in the results, and it will be interesting to see whether intended investment in mobile technologies results in increased maturity in mobile strategies and integration over the coming year.”