Rise of mobile hit by skills shortage

The exponential growth of mobile marketing is creating a new headache for companies wanting to exploit the technology, with a major skills shortage – triggered in part by low salaries – affecting the industry.
According to the Rise of the Mobile Strategist study by Antenna Software, 74% of UK and US businesses have mobile roles to fill; yet almost a quarter (24%) say that they have found it hard to find suitable candidates. The research quizzed 600 HR directors on both sides of the Atlantic.
Only 40% of those surveyed said they were finding it “easy” to fill the roles and, as a result, 23% of businesses are currently handing mobile jobs to those with no specific expertise in the area.
One clue to the dearth of suitable applicants could be the lack of financial incentive. According to the study, the vast majority of mobile jobs attract a salary of less than £35,000 a year, while only a handful offer more than £50,000.
But the growth in the market is not in doubt; on average, eight mobile projects are currently being planned, built, implemented or managed by each company, with an average amount of £600,000 being set aside for mobile marketing initiatives.
Late last year, the IAB revealed that digital advertising spend had soared 12.6% to a record six-month high of £2.59bn in the first half of 2012 – up by over £294m from £2.3bn in the first half of 2011.
Within that, mobile marketing saw the highest increase; up 132% to £181.5m. This rise was fuelled by smartphone ownership hitting 58% of the UK population, with mobile now accounting for 7% of all digital ad spend.
Within this sector, display, video, SMS and MMS advertising on mobiles increased by 91% to £49.9m while mobile search grew like-for-like by 152% to £131.6m – accounting for 72% of mobile ad spend.