4 Causes of Mobile Marketing Strategy Triage

Copyright: <a href='http://www.123rf.com/profile_scyther5'>scyther5 / 123RF Stock Photo</a>

Have you ever worked on a triage team? I have. Today’s seismic mobile strategy shifts remind me of the lessons I learned under pressure.

Here’s the story…

This was the scenario: in a previous career, I belonged to a sales effectiveness “SWAT team” for Siebel Systems (later acquired by Oracle). Senior leadership would send our 4 person team to a customer site with just a few day’s notice.

The situation was tense because the customer was ready to pull the plug on their sizable software investment. The industries varied from one customer to another, but the conditions driving the emergency remained constant: the Chairman of the Board or CEO had placed a multimillion dollar bet on our software, and they were losing.

As a member of the triage team, I needed to quickly find the root cause of low user software adoption, help the client recover their investment, and save face with their stakeholders.

Today, the CMOs migrating to a “mobile first” culture are facing the same trial by fire. A shift towards a mobile first strategy requires a change in organization behavior and customer engagement. Much like the salad days of CRM deployments, these considerations are often pushed aside and overshadowed by the appeal of something new.

In my latest ForbesCMO post, I outline four areas where marketing leaders fail when deploying mobile strategies.

Here are two of the most common traps:

  1. Putting your company ahead of your customer. I’ve often heard CMOs ask “what kind of app should we develop? What features should it include?” This will send your teams down the mobile rabbit hole. It’s simply too tactical and focuses on your needs, not your customers’. Instead, ask “what approach will bring out the best in our customers and stakeholders as we develop our strategy?”

Don’t let your desire to be top ranked Apple Store candy supersede your customer relationships. SC Moatti, a seasoned Silicon Valley product manager, marketer, and author of Mobilized, offered some wise advice at our recent Marketing Leaders of DC™ meeting:

“Mobile platforms are an extension of us. Your mobile strategy must take into account three customer aspects: their body (a desire to look good); their spirit (supporting meaningful work), and their mind (a design that fosters continuous learning).”

  1. Boiling the ocean. It’s easy to let scope creep undermine the best-laid mobile strategy. Two marketing leaders avoided this by starting small. Instead of a deep dive, they waded in the metaphorical mobile pond.

First, let’s talk about Robin McClain, VP of Marketing and Communications for Destination DC. She saw an opportunity to reach visitors through an entirely new channel: messaging apps. “Potential visitors and local loyal fans are sharing DC-themed GIFs and stickers with their friends and family.” Destination DC became the first municipality to offer free emojis to the public. Since Robin’s team launched the #MyEmojiDC program in May 2015, Destination DC reports over 30,800 shares and an average of 2,000 daily interactions. (Full disclosure: they are a client).

In another scenario, a digital agency worked with the CMO of a top 50 beauty products brand on a mobile loyalty program. Using geotargeting, the program offered loyalists a free makeup session when they came within the vicinity of select department stores. Loyalists raved, and cosmetics sales skyrocketed. Over 90 percent of the people who scheduled a free session purchased product. Makeup artists greeted customers by their name when they arrived at the store. Word of mouth mushroomed and sales soared.

How about you?

What is your company doing to avert mobile strategy triage? We’d love to hear from you in the Comments section below.

Check out the full post, as well as additional mobile strategy success stories, in ForbesCMO.

Copyright 2016, Lisa Nirell.  All rights reserved.

 

Comments open: True
Okay

Related Posts

AI has forever changed how we innovate and collaborate. Move your 2024 growth strategies forward faster at CLIC ’24, happening May 1-2 in New York.

Read More

January is the ideal time to kick start question #6 in my list of Mindful Questions: Ten years from now, what is one thing you will regret if you do not learn or do it now?

Read More