A new study finds mobile search is gaining and B2B marketers are falling behind in strategies for smartphone and tablet users.

B2B brands are slow to leave the gate when it comes to mobile optimization, according to the 2014 Content Marketing Institute Trends reports. According to its latest reports about current and planned adoption rates, 38 percent of B2B marketers create mobile content, compared with 46 percent of their B2C counterparts. In the past, a noncommittal mobile optimization strategy might have sufficed, but it won’t hold water moving forward given the rapid uptick of smartphone and tablet queries.

A separate study from Inventis IQ Research found that around 20 percent all corporate website visits come from users on mobile devices (iPhone and iPad users represent the lion’s share of mobile searches). This was a 400 percent increase over the course of two years, during which data was culled from 60 small to large corporate websites that receive an aggregate average of 2 million unique visits per month.

Mobile search is rapidly increasing and brands must keep up with content marketing strategies for smartphone search.

The study found that search engines continue to drive the majority of traffic to B2Bs’ digital content. Approximately 54 percent of all visitors navigate to corporate brand content and landing pages after performing a search engine query.

Combined, these results point to the same conclusion: For B2B marketing to be successful, brands must plan for a (friendly) mobile takeover. At this year’s SES San Francisco Conference, Google’s Head of Webspam said it’s unwise for publishers to turn a blind eye to growing mobile device use and how it will impact their search engine optimization strategies.

While the mobile search storm is still on the horizon, it’s best for companies to put plans in motion in anticipation of customers looking for information on smartphones and tablets. Some things to consider when optimizing: Speed and convenience. (Read Brafton’s blog post about auditing site speed for actionable tips). On-the-go consumers are generally looking for answers to inform an immediate decision. Sites that anticipate those questions and provide quick responses will win clicks and drive conversions.

Lauren Kaye is a Marketing Editor at Brafton Inc. She studied creative and technical writing at Virginia Tech before pursuing the digital frontier and finding content marketing was the best place to put her passions to work. Lauren also writes creative short fiction, hikes in New England and appreciates a good book recommendation.