Selasa, 04 Juni 2013

Why Should Marketers Care About Mobile Marketing?

 
This was the simple question posed at the recent CMO Exchange Conference in Miami, Florida. Just 20 years ago, CMOs were just getting adept at computers and the internet, online shopping was a new concept, and social media, digital media, podcasts, and mobile marketing weren’t even on anybody’s radar. Most CMOs were focused on the next big advertising campaign and worrying about just a few channels to place their media on.  Those days are gone and a technological revolution has heralded in a host of vehicles that CMOs are trying to quickly get up to speed on.
To figure out why CMOs and marketers should start caring about mobile marketing, I went to the source – Greg Stuart is the CEO of the Mobile Marketing Associationand is recognized as a thought leader in the digital media world.  I posed two basic questions to Greg during an interview: 1) why should marketers care about mobile, and 2) how can they get started?  What follows are key notes from the interview and my guess is, if you haven’t started testing mobile, this may make you consider doing so.
  1. Mobile is arguably the closest you can get to the consumer.  There is no other device that is as personal (everybody has their own phone), as pervasive (is with you all of the time), and provides the opportunity for proximity. As marketers seek to understand – and leverage – a consumer’s path to purchase, mobile devices have the potential to be a tremendous enabler.  The power (in the future) to determine that a target consumer is driving in the proximity of your restaurant and then feed them an immediate message or coupon is unprecedented. In a 2011 study, Americans spent 2.7 hours per day socializing on their mobile phones – more than twice the time they spent eating. 75% of the globe now has a mobile phone offering access to developed markets as well as emerging regions. Mobile will truly enable marketers to connect at the right time, in the right place, with the right individual.
  2. The “Physics of Media” indicate that the new channel has the biggest advantage.  In a prior study that Greg completed, he analyzed the media mix for thirty iconic marketers. The results indicated that the single greatest contributor to marketing performance (ignoring creative) was: 1) aligning the media mix for today’s consumer’s media habits, and 2) being the innovator / early adopter of new media. It’s fairly simple. In a world of diminishing returns, the brand that invests early in understanding the new channel reaps disproportionate advantages. An example mentioned was the Ford F150 relaunch campaign from nearly a decade ago.  Greg evaluated the contribution of each media channel and found that online delivered 10x the value of TV in driving purchase consideration.  When Ford increased their online budget from 2% to 6%, they sold an incremental $1.4 billion in trucks.
Recently, the MMA released the “Mobile X% Solution” to determine the optimal balance of mobile in the marketing mix to achieve higher return on investment (ROI). Based on a sophisticated ROI analysis of mobile, the optimized level of spend in mobile advertising for U.S. marketers is seven percent, on average (of course, individual companies will vary). And to further highlight the potential and power of mobile, the MMA has issued ‘SMoX.me’ (Smart Mobile Cross Marketing Effectiveness) to measure the economic value of investing in mobile channels compared to traditional marketing channels.
The point is that mobile potentially offers disproportionate results for those who are early to adopt and leverage the power of the new technology.
  1. Mobile – right now – is a great deal!  Right now, mobile is a great deal for marketers as supply is much greater than demand.  Jumping in early, when the costs to test are so low, is the right time to engage in mobile. As marketers, we are supposed to “go where the consumers are and get there first” and consumers are looking to their mobile device for shopping, searching, entertainment, socializing and brand interaction. Often, the challenge is resourcing to manage the program; however, from a testing perspective, now is the time to engage.
WHAT ARE THE CMO’S CHALLENGES IN INTEGRATING MOBILE INTO THEIR MIX?
  1. Measurement / ROI:  As is true of most new technologies, it is currently difficult to measure mobile. However, there are many companies and organizations working hard to resolve this.  It isn’t impossible but it is challenging. The MMA is set to provide research on the economic value of mobile (See SMoX.me) to help structure the discussion on mobile’s effectiveness as a channel and, ideally, increase advertising spend in mobile on a global level.
  2. Overwhelmed with other technologies: Greg indicated that the degree of change that CMO’s are facing has made it difficult for them to keep up. In many cases, the organizational design is archaic and antiquated and isn’t equipped to be able to absorb these activities.  That’s why the first priority is for the CMO to figure out how structure and resource the department to be able to leverage mobile and other opportunities. The MMA calls it being “brand ready” for mobile and it requires the C-suite to understand the complexities of mobile and not try to retrofit a structure reserved for other forms of media. Mobile is unique and requires its own framework, strategy and resources.
WHAT CAN CMOs DO TO GET STARTED?
  1. Apply an innovation-centered approach to the budgeting process: Good companies always make sure they are investing some money (roughly 10%) in unproven yet potentially powerful areas.  Marketers must do the same.  There isn’t an expectation of a short-term return but rather the opportunity to identify a mobile program, from apps to mobile wallets or even messaging, that will help ignite future business. This has to be a priority. If every dollar must pay-out today, than you can’t do the testing that will lead to tomorrow’s home runs.
  2. Supplement your expertise: This simply requires the right resources. It doesn’t necessarily mean hiring new people or outsourcing it, but it does mean making sure somebody is up-to-speed on new technologies and leading the charge to embrace innovation. The Mobile Marketing Association is a great place to get started as they have one mission, which is to provide education regarding mobile and how best to leverage the channel.
  3. Test and learn + clear action steps: Greg mentioned the importance of a six sigma approach to getting started.  You can’t expect to have a positive ROI program out of the gates. It has to be ok to be wrong in the beginning. However, there needs to be a clear plan of what will be tested, how it will be measured, and the subsequent action steps.  Consistently applying a test, learn, improve model will ensure the program gets smarter.
Phones aren’t going away.  In fact, a recent headline indicated: “Mobile to overtake fixed internet access by 2014”.  It’s clear that the ability for leading marketers to tap into one of the most important and heavily used devices should yield tremendous dividends. While I suspect that most CMOs recognize the opportunity, the challenge comes down to time, resources, and priorities.  Hopefully Greg’s insight has provided enough motivation to overcome these challenges!

noted from : forbes

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