Google became a multi-billion dollar behemoth one nickel at a time through its AdWords program. Look how that turned out. You take one billion nickels and all of a sudden you have a lot of money.
What’s the lesson here?
Building anything successful requires patience. You need to learn what works, execute it well and that will lead to a solid foundation with an attractive upside.
So what does this have to do with mobile marketing?
Well, building a successful mobile marketing channel for your brand requires careful thought and patience. Too often there’s a failure to appreciate the opportunity to nurture extended or ongoing participation or an expectation that mobile is some sort of silver bullet.
Two of the worst examples of this thinking are ‘single scoop’ promotional campaigns and iPhone applications with limited utility or where the core customers don’t map well onto the device’s user base.
A lot of mobile marketing efforts are focussed purely on short term promotional programming. The prime example is layering SMS contest entry over an existing promotion. There is most certainly a place for this type of execution. SMS has reach and familiarity among consumers and it allows you to entice desired behaviour with an incentive. The problem starts when brands either don’t use the opportunity to ask the consumer to opt-in for future communications or don’t bridge to another mobile experience that prompts action or deeper brand involvement.
The second mistake was getting swept up in the iPhone hysteria. I won’t call anyone out, but I can think of several brands that launched apps that were either so gimmicky that they were likely deleted or forgotten after a single use or the customer base was clearly not well represented among the iPhone user base. Flurry, a mobile analytics firm, has some very revealing stats about application loyalty. Unless you have a strong core user base on the device and an application that genuinely adds value, save your money. While launching an app can open up a new audience for your brand, it also creates tremendous pressure to offer something compelling and useful.
In both of these cases, the biggest danger (apart from wasting money) is that you’ll start to view mobile as an ineffective channel. You’ll be underwhelmed with the results or not realize the power and opportunity that earning a share of the consumer’s mobile device can offer you.
Here’s my lens for viewing effective mobile programming:
Merge campaign tactics into relationship programming
Short-term campaigns do have an important role to play in mobile marketing. They are great demand generation and customer acquisition vehicles. They can help move units with ‘clicks to bricks’ offers. They can support brand building efforts among key demographics. But make sure you’re looking at these campaigns as part of a broader strategy that uses the personal and connected attributes of the channel to deepen customer engagement, loyalty, advocacy and propensity to purchase.
Bake value into your programming
Consumers aren’t going to give you a share of mobile without getting something in return. There has to be a value exchange that’s weighted in their favour. Contest prizing certainly fits the bill, as do coupons and other discounts or exclusive opportunities. But the value can also take the form of something that offers genuine and repeatable utility. A simple, common example would be an allergy medication company sending out SMS pollen count alerts to opted-in customers. Consider both one-time and long-term involvement with each and every consumer interaction.
These approaches take time and patience. You will need to test and learn, continuously. Some efforts will work better than others. It may take time for your audience to fully embrace your mobile efforts and for you to gain the necessary insight into their mobile habits and preferences. But thoughtful and measured mobile programs will create a solid foundation in a channel that is increasingly central to your brand’s digital footprint.
Note: This post can also be found on Profectio.com
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Mobile is, in a very real way, an extension of the owner into the world. It’s a conduit to their social graph and a way to process, document and engage their environment.