2011 truly has been the year of mobile and, with Christmas approaching and Smartphones and tablets ranking highly within the top 10 top must have presents, 2012 will only see this growth continue. The IDC quote that in the UK 1.8 million Media Tablets and 7 million Smartphones are to be shipped in 4Q11 (source SMARTPHONE & TABLETS TRENDS – Q4 2011 & Q1 2012 report).
More than ever, Mobile is a channel that requires investment, focus and key positioning within all marketing strategies.
Looking to launch mobile plan of your own? Here are a few tips to get you started.
Mobile Site V Mobile App
There are pros and cons to both and the route will depend on the vertical and the appropriateness for your business model.
Mobile sites offer the quickest route to market as they are cheaper, available to all and easier to update.
However, Apps can offer greater innovation and customer engagement possibilities.
In approaching your mobile strategy you need to consider:
- What are your objectives?
- What is your budget?
- How and where do you want customers to engage?
- Who are your customers? Will they benefit most from an App or mobile site?
The customer journey should also be key concern when building a mobile site / app. You want to make the process as simple and quick as possible whether you are asking customers to sign up to a service or make a purchase. Ensure processes are streamlined and load times are efficient.
Tracking
To be able to track your results through mobile, as with all digital channels, is essential. However, in the case of mobile there lots of variables to consider:
Mobile site tracking will provide insight into how your customers interact with your site and enable you to refine your site in terms of content and messages, ensuring the best and most effective customer experience.
In addition, short code responses are increasingly visible within offline marketing materials, such as TV ads, posters, email and radio for example. Setting unique short codes for specific activities or campaigns is essential in understanding channel and campaign performance.
QR codes are also a growing feature on the high street, in papers on billboards etc. QR codes can be an effective way to drive people in store or to content on your site / blog and to provide offers. QR codes are also an innovative way to provide an enhanced user experience incorporating video, interviews and bringing print ads to life.
Budget & Mobile Channels
Many companies are still unsure about mobile and therefore are reluctant to commit budget. This is a mistake and one which could see them lose out to competitors. Mobile is still really in its infancy and we are seeing constant developments in both devices and the devices at marketers disposal to tap into them (HTML5 for example). There is therefore need for investment in product development.
In terms of marketing spend PPC will bring the quickest, most cost effective results and therefore budget should reflect this.
SMS activity to both new and existing customers is also an effective way to grow your mobile customer base and increase awareness. It also, provides the ability to target by geo-location providing highly targeted and relevant promotions.
An increasing number of Affiliate Networks offer mobile tracking and most key affiliates will be moving into mobile if they have not already. The affiliate channel is a great way to gain extensive exposure / reach on a CPA basis. There is great potential to migrate existing online affiliate to mobile which is a quick win in that they will be familiar with the brand and understand how best to promote you.
Mobile Display Networks, such as InMobi and Admob enable you to target customers on number of variables and give you access to thousands of impressions.
Campaigns
When considering campaigns it is essential to consider device targeting and ensure suppliers have the capabilities to facilitate this.
As well as focusing on new customer acquisition to mobile the objective of any business should be to increase the number of multi device customers from the existing base. This is where the real value is found as customers are engaged and interacting anytime, anywhere.
Multi channel support
Ultimately support from other marketing channels is key to driving the success of your mobile platform. This should involve education of the existing base, providing mobile only offers to encourage users to trial mobile and ensure where relevant all assets promote short code responses and QR codes.
Tags: Mobile
