Thanks for coming back to read the second part of this article. If you haven't read it, here is the first part of this discussion.
As a quick reminder, the 10 objections we most often here are:
1. Consumers don't like to pay for things on their phone
2. No one uses SMS anymore
3. Our site works on mobile
4. Our site works responsively
5. Our newsletter works on mobile
6. Our web team can build for mobile
7. Our digital agency has it covered
8. We only need to develop for iPhone
9. We don't have the budget
10. We already have an app
In this second article, I will discuss objections 6 through 10, hopefully quashing them and proving to you that more than ever when producing mobile marketing, it pays to work with experts (that would be us, by the way - contact us here).
6. Our web team can build for mobile
Building for mobile is not the same as building for web, there are many different screen sizes and operating systems to develop for and only those with experience of building for the smaller screen will understand the various levels of complexity involved. Similar to how you would not ask a plumber to wire your house (and you may raise eyebrows if they offered), you should not rely on your web team to build a successful mobile site, the skills are quite different.
7. Our digital agency has it covered
As with developing mobile in house, unless the digital agency has specific mobile experience they are probably going to get this wrong, or out source it to a third party agency (like us) and charge you more for the service.
Mobile marketing is an ever changing and ever developing landscape; in order to ensure that your service is not being left behind it is crucial to use experts in the industry who are fully dedicated and up to speed with the almost daily developments in mobile technology.
8. We only need to develop for iPhone
Building a mobile campaign just for iPhones would be the equivalent of building a campaign just for those who own a dog; great if your campaign is for Pedigree chum, but futile if you are a mass consumer brand or product.
According to Comscore (3 months ending October 2012):
• iPhones account for 28% of smartphones in the UK (a number that has changed by 1.5%age points over the past 12 months)
• Android devices now account for 49% of all smartphones
• Samsung phones are now 24% (up from 14% last year)
• Smartphones are now 62% of all phones in the UK, so iPhone accounts for about 16% of the UK population
As with ANY media plan, you need to profile your customers, and their device ownership/ habits and then build your campaign to fit. Very few organisations will be able to deliver a solution that reaches their customers by only having an iPhone answer. A good mobile specialist, should be platform agnostic, understanding how the market is made up and being able to deliver for your customer base.
9. We don't have the budget
A mobile marketing campaign need not cost the earth, a simple text and win campaign can be created for less than £4,000 and a basic stand alone mobile site will cost in the region of £10,000. As a company with over a decades experience, we can offer mobile campaigns to fit any budget that will deliver good results (ROI) against your existing campaigns, delivering greater insight in to your consumers through the reporting available.
Your customers are already using mobile to shop and browse, if you don’t invest they will simply go to a competitor who does.
10. We already have an app
An app should be part of a mobile marketing campaign, not the entire campaign itself. A quick look at the most downloaded iTunes apps of 2012 show that users don’t flock to consumer apps on mass, in fact the best performers are games and social media. This doesn’t mean there is no place for apps in a mobile marketing campaign merely that it needs to be thought out where they fit in and what objectives they will deliver for your business.
It is unlikely that someone new to your brand will download an app on a whim, and if we think through this user journey, why would they waste time (and their data package) to do this? The answer is they won’t. As an acquisition tool a mobile site or an SMS campaign is going to deliver more customers than an app. According to IPSOS people are more likely to use a mobile site for browsing and research than an app (and using the internet is the number 1 activity on a smartphone).
An app should be thought of as a CRM tool, allowing your customers to interact with your brand to gain additional content or services or be sent offers via push notifications. A good example of this is any one of the many Banking apps offered on the various platforms. You should be looking for your app to receive at least a score of 4 out of 5 in the store, as this will reflect a well designed app, offering good content and user experience.
Your competitors have probably already developed a multi faceted approach to mobile, looking at an app as just one part of their larger strategy that may include, messaging, QR codes, mobile vouchers, mobile sites and apps. It is important to not stand still, but embrace all the opportunities within mobile, and this where a mobile specialist like Incentivated comes in.
Finally…
As I have shown, the general public are on mobile and using it shop, research and interact with brands in the UK, to not take the time to invest in a full mobile strategy now, may push your customers to your competitors who are on mobile. A mobile campaign need not cost the earth and it pays to work with people who know and are fully dedicated to mobile, who understand its various nuances and the technology within it.
To quote Mary Meeker , the queen of the net ‘Some Companies Will Likely Win Big (Potentially Very Big) While Many Will Wonder What Just Happened.’
What’s going to happen to your company?
