Investment in mobile marketing is set to grow throughout 2011 to unprecedented levels. Amazon reported more than $1 billion in mobile orders in 2010 (Mobile Marketer 2010). eBay made $2billion in mobile commerce in 2010 (Experian Hitwise January 2010), while Dominos has earned £1m in sales via mobile since Sept 2010; an increase of 70%. Gartner also predicts that more people will be accessing the web via their mobile than by desktop PCs within the next 24 months.
Consumers are now truly mobile in their browsing and shopping habits. They increasingly expect companies and brands to deliver mobile-enabled services that meet their needs regardless of whether they are connecting via a smartphone, tablet or generic mobile phone handset.
All customer-focused businesses need to be aware of the many challenges that come with the development of mobile strategies. These can include mixed and confusing messages, a lack of technological understanding and the added complication of where to turn for expert guidance.
The starting point for all businesses is to understand that the rush to engage with customers using mobile technology involves more than the development of an iPhone app. Taking the following points into consideration will help to develop a fully considered mobile strategy before starting any technical development. Companies that take this type of considered long-term approach tend to outperform in the increasingly important mobile space.
1. Understand your customers’ behaviour
Until you know how your customers want to interact with your company or brand in the mobile space, you won’t be in a position to develop a strategy that meets your business objectives. A common mistake made by businesses is to start with the technology first and then wrestle it into something that resembles a solution to a business need. Although a shiny new mobile application might feel like a good idea for your business, you need to look beyond the technology. By investigating and understanding your customers’ mobile behaviours, you will generally find that you can only really engage with them if you have a mix of propositions across different platforms
2. Think about your commercial objectives
Do you want more potential customers to visit your website or stores? Are you keen to improve customer loyalty? Do you want to create an effective cross-selling model to increase average spend? Are you interested in acquiring more customers or incentivising your existing customers to transact more? These are typical questions that businesses should ask themselves, to set firm objectives before embarking on a mobile strategy.
3. Think about the future
Once you’ve thought about your business strategy, objectives, challenges and goals and perhaps even how mobile marketing can help you deliver these today, you need to consider the future.
Mobile marketing is one of the fastest growing and developing channels because it is consumer driven. With its endless and relentless appetite for content relevant to the individual at a time to suit, the challenge is to adapt and develop with your customers’ demands.
4. Think about your existing communication and sales channels
No channel operates in isolation and a good mobile strategy is no different. Your customers want to engage with you seamlessly whether they are looking at your website, talking to you on the phone or meeting you face to face. They will generally want to engage with you on their terms at times to suit them, regardless of whether they are using mobile, social media, web, email and so on. All of these channels can be effective in isolation but, when combined and used in a single campaign, offer incredibly powerful opportunities to interact with your customers.
5. Do you really understand mobile marketing?
The majority of organisations don’t fully understand mobile so you’re not alone if you’re unsure about the level of knowledge in your business. Mobile marketing is still relatively new and even the organisations that are delivering great returns from adopting mobile will admit it’s merely the start of a journey. Mobile marketing uses a wide range of technologies, from mobilising your website and smartphone apps to multi-channel messaging and voucher redemption – all with many different technology permutations. Some vendors specialise in single channels whereas others offer a more holistic approach and can provide advice on all aspects of mobile technology. You should also avoid simply replicating what a competitor has done or assume that expertise exists internally – the likelihood is it may not.
Mobile marketing doesn’t come in a box; it’s an enabler and comes in many shapes and sizes. Carefully considering how it will work for your business will help you to develop relevant solutions, which should deliver a good ROI and increase customer interaction.
