OpenMarket – September 8, 2016
If you’re running an online business, you have to have a mobile engagement strategy. Despite the widespread emphasis on mobile marketing and promotion, however, only a fraction of companies today has a formal, mobile engagement strategy.
If you’re not one of them, then something needs to change.
The Need for a Defined Strategy
Mobile is no longer a mystery in 2016. The statistics and research clearly show that customers rely on mobile devices and similarly ubiquitous forms of communication to engage with one another, as well as their favorite brands.
However, despite the evident value of mobile engagement, most firms continue to operate without a formal mobile strategy. According to a new report from Adobe and eConsultancy, only 20 percent of companies — and just 11 percent of marketing agencies — have a defined mobile strategy extending at least 12 months in place.
“The surprise is still the maturity challenge, where if only 20 percent have a strategy, that indicates there is a major problem in the organization, really with the management team,” says Ray Pun, one of the report’s researchers. “Experience is becoming a key strategy. If your digital experience is lacking, especially on mobile, how can you expect to grow your business?”
Digging deeper into these findings, it becomes apparent that most brands are simply struggling to capitalize on the desires and needs of their customers. They know they should be using mobile, but are failing to achieve this palpable need.
Other findings from the report indicate that 23 percent of brands don’t have any semblance of a mobile strategy in place, while 25 percent say they are currently working on one. Perhaps most distressing is the fact that 32 percent of brands have a strategy that isn’t well defined.
In other words, they may assume they have it figured out, but they’re actually failing to maximize their investment.
As the necessity of mobile engagement becomes even greater in the waning months of 2016, we may be reaching a tipping point where the majority of brands are finally grasping the need for a defined strategy.
The Adobe and eConsultancy report says that brands that lack a well-defined mobile strategy are much more likely to show fewer sales — 10 percent fewer, to put in numerical form — than brands that have defined strategies in operation. This has to do with the fact that a defined mobile engagement strategy forces a company to think about each and every aspect of how it targets and communicates with customers.
That kind of forethought ultimately produces better interactions that are more effective and profitable.
Three Tips for a Better Defined Strategy
If you’re among the 80 percent of brands that doesn’t have a defined mobile engagement strategy this year, then you have a golden opportunity to get ahead of the curve. Now’s the time to strategize and develop a plan for how you’re going to enhance your efforts in the future.
- Focus on Your Needs
Your customers want to engage via mobile channels; this much is clear. With that in mind, you should look at your mobile engagement strategy in the context of your company’s overall strategy and what you’re hoping to accomplish.
“In order to come up with the necessary information that will allow you to define your mobile strategy you need to understand and document where your company is,” says marketer Cordin Arsene; namely, “where your leaders want it to be, the market conditions it operates in, the strongest competitors, the customer journey, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats your company is facing, as well as how mobile as a touch point can become an asset to the company.”
Sound like a lot? Well, it is. However, the ROI of spending so much time focusing on your needs is well worth it in the end.
While you’re ultimately trying to reach your customers, you can’t afford to develop a mobile strategy without first considering your own needs and brand-specific challenges.
- Choose Your Weapons
Next, you have to think about which tools and resources you’re going to use to carry out your mobile engagement efforts. Some of the “weapons” to consider:
- Clearly, SMS (text messaging) is one of the most valuable assets you have at your disposal. It equips you for timely and highly personal engagement that’s incredibly secure and cost-effective.
- Mobile apps. Although mobile apps look like they’re on the way out and no longer make sense with scalable SMS in the picture, you should at least think about the possibility of an app and the value that push notifications can provide. Certain firms continue to extract some value from apps, when they’re used to complement SMS.
- Geo-targeted advertisements. Local search is a big deal. You can’t ignore this aspect of a defined mobile engagement strategy. Geo-targeted ads can be very effective and should be utilized. According to one study, 53 percent of consumers make a purchase after clicking on one of these mobile ads.
There’s a lot to think when you’re serious about creating a defined mobile strategy. But these are a few of the solutions or tools that you’ll likely want to consider.
- Find the Right Partners
Finally, you have to focus on finding the right partners. A solution is only as good as the company that supports it, and you need to identify partners that will be safe, reliable, and scalable. When you do, you can ensure your mobile engagement strategy has the strong foundation it needs to succeed.
There are plenty of choices, so do your research and identify the ones you’re apt to be most comfortable with. When it comes to SMS, OpenMarket is the clear leader.
Contact OpenMarket Today
Did you know that four of the top 10 global brands use OpenMarket’s mobile engagement solutions to engage with their customers better? They use our platform for functions such as customer support, marketing promotions, shipping notifications, informational alerts, and user authentication.
When you work with OpenMarket, you gain access to a robust multi-channel solution that’s secure and scalable. Not only do we provide you with a highly intuitive platform, but we also back it up with world-class 24/7/365 support.
Contact us today and we’d be happy to discuss our cloud-based mobile engagement solutions in more detail!