Savvy marketers are eagerly eyeing this emerging media space. For most of our clients at Barkley, the question is not whether to take advantage of mobile marketing, but how to do it right.
While there are significant differences between brands when it comes to mobile strategies, there are some common principles emerging from our discussions that seem nearly universal. I think these principles can serve as a foundation for effective and sustainable mobile marketing strategies.
1. Embrace User Control - Mobile devices are intensely personal. Any unsolicited intrusion into that personal space is offensive. Mobile marketing campaigns need to empower users by giving them access to and control over things they want, whenever and wherever they want.
2. Get Personal - Brands should use the information a user gives them to personalize and enhance the experience to the user's benefit. Again, mobile devices are highly personal, and users expect their devices and the services accessed by them to be tuned to their needs.
3. Optimize for Mobile - Back in the early days of the web, we learned that slapping a brochure on a web site didn't result in a great experience. Mobile is as different from the web as the web is different from brochures. In addition to designing for mobile technology and the mobile infrastructure, marketers need to design mobile campaigns for the mobile mindset. Consumers have different needs and behavior patterns when they're using their mobile devices. Marketers need to accommodate these differences.
4. Provide Value - Most important, mobile marketing campaigns need to offer users real value, both to offset the costs paid by users to access mobile services and as fair exchange for users granting access to this highly personal medium.
On this last point, I think there are several ways to provide value, depending on the brand and the audience. There are probably others, but here's my list:
- Monetary - At a minimum, the value of what you're offering should exceed the cost of accessing it through my mobile device.
- Timeliness - Give me information I need to know as soon as possible.
- Location - When I'm out and about and I need something, help me find it.
- Convenience - There are some things I want to have with me at all times wherever I am. It's easier to have or get it on my phone than to carry other things.
- Efficiency - I'm on the go and want to make the best use of my time.
- Amusement - I'm bored and killing time. Entertain me.
- Connection - Help me stay in touch with my friends and family, who are all mobile too.
So while the territory of mobile marketing is vast and largely unexplored (at least here in the U.S.), I think these principles work as essential guideposts and will help us to avoid some of the inevitable hazards that exploration entails. I’m excited about this new space and grateful for clients who are eager to explore it with us.
Mark Logan writes about mobile marketing at his blog, bemomobi.
