Putting a Marketing Strategy Behind the Push for Mobile

Mobile marketing is the biggest opportunity to hit retail since the collapse and wavering recovery of the economy. The benefits of mobile are varied, but they're tangible and achievable. While the overall impact of mobile in the world of retail marketing will take years to play out and be measured, there's little doubt that it will be substantial.

If you aren’t developing a mobile strategy, or implementing and refining one, there's a tendency to feel like the last one picked for the kickball team. With all the activity — and dollars — surrounding the mobile space, it’s easy to see why the primary goal for many marketers has been to just get in the game.

The challenge is that all the rules, playing field and players are still being developed. There's so much movement with so many changes coming so quickly that to place bets on what the landscape will look like in 12 months, or even in the fourth quarter of this year, is about as easy as picking a winning lottery number.

Consumers are engaging with mobile in ways we could never have imagined just a few years ago. This activity isn't a short-term change in behavior — it's here to stay. While the temptation to jump on board now is strong, good things will come to those who think and plan before taking the leap.

Let’s start with a little level-setting. First, despite all the talk to the contrary, nobody needs a mobile strategy. What's needed is a marketing strategy that incorporates the benefits of mobile. The real value lies in its always-on, always-connected and always-with-me status. That means that mobile is best used to connect all critical touchpoint tactics in a marketing strategy to make them more effective.

Start with the shopper in mind. Determine the desired outcomes for all shopper engagements. Look at the current value proposition and make sure it’s viable and relevant. Map out the various touchpoints and see how, or if, they support one another. That’s where mobile comes in, providing connectivity across the media landscape and ultimately user feedback to help gauge success.

Once the time is right to introduce mobile, the real work begins. The app is the easy part — deciding if an app is even required is much more challenging. Getting that app onto shoppers’ phones is a victory in itself. But the hard part doesn’t start until that mobile app is effectively deployed and shoppers are engaging with it.

Why? Once the app is up and running, the data flow starts. It’s that data flow that constitutes the true gold dust of the mobile world. To be effective, plans and processes need to be developed to manage the flow of data. Additionally, the processes and resources to mine that data for insights must be in place ahead of time. Analysis of the massive amounts of data isn’t something the IT department can handle as a side project. Dedicated, expert resources are critical or the entire exercise might as well be scrapped.

Finally, once the insights are teased out of the data and the action plan is developed, there's the execution of the plan to consider. What's the plan to activate the insights and integrate a clear, consistent and compelling message to the shopper across all touchpoints, using mobile as the linkage connecting the various points across the path to purchase?

Retailers rushing to market with a mobile app with no overarching strategy are about to step on a rake. A successful mobile program requires lots of planning and the gathering of as much knowledge as possible before taking that first step. The mobile field offers retailers tremendous benefits but only to those that clearly define their goals, move forward with caution and keep the customer in mind. In the ever-changing mobile landscape, the smart traveler will keep focus on the customer needs, not the technology.

Jeff Weidauer is vice president of marketing and strategy for Vestcom International Inc., a Little Rock, Ark.-based provider of integrated shopper marketing solutions. Reach Jeff at jweidauer@vestcom.com.