Great Looking Mobile Campaign – But Did it Work?

June 17th, 2011

Topics: Digital Marketing, Mobile, Mobile Measurement

Over the last two days, at the Mobile Marketing Association Forum, I have seen some really cool case studies about the innovative and creative mobile campaigns agencies have launched for some of the biggest brands in the world. What was clearly missing was the focus on the programs’ effectiveness or performance against stated marketing objectives. When members of the audience asked, “were they good?” The agencies didn’t quite know how to respond.

It was a little awkward, but set the stage perfectly for my colleague Mike Ricci as he took the stage to speak to the how analytics informs strategy by understanding consumer behavior, shows the return they are getting from their mobile investments and ultimately informs optimization activities.

Mike opened the session by laying out the problems and solution:

  • 63% of mobile marketers aren’t measuring or don’t know how their programs are performing (according to eMarketer)
  • As brands strive to evolve from mass communication to 1:1 dialogue with their customers and social media puts control of this conversation in the consumers hands, the need to understand how their customer interacts with their brand across many touch points is imperative
  • Brands need to understand how they engage with each medium as part of my marketing mix, but mobile and other digital data continues to be isolated in silos
  • What is needed is an eCRM approach that unites data from across the digital ecosystem to help crush these silos and achieve consumer centric view

Next the conversation progressed to guidance in how to approaching mobile measurement:

  • How are you measuring mobile? 7 out of 10 brands are just measuring number of downloads as success metric
  • We see a maturity to model that many brands are following in terms of what they are measuring and how they are using the data
  • Now some marketing leaders are demanding proof of effectiveness and ROI before spending another dime in mobile. Must measure more than download to provide this evidence of a good investment
  • The most sophisticated mobile marketers are using this insight to drive incremental investment.

Finally, he closed with some advice on how to approach within an organization:

  • Start early- consider measurement as part of the planning phase
  • Involve Key stakeholders- get the organization to define success
  • Measure all mobile engagement, don’t just stop with SmartPhones
  • Focus on critical measures, don’t get buried in mountains of detail

Analytics should be informing strategy. Used properly it should re-shape the way you engage with your customers.

  • http://www.blogbizbuzz.com Joan – BlogBizBuzz

    Hello Eric,

    Thank you for the feedback I have been reading and gleaning as much insight as possible with regards to mobile marketing.

    It is a ‘fresh breeze’ in marketing and I agree, to have stats reflected ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’ really is required throughout the process.

    As Rich mentioned ‘Mobile can be “level the playing” field for small to mid size companies’. It is having facts and figures before entering the arena of small to medium sized companies, who are already cash strapped. Educating clients on how to gain ground (momentum) via mobile, proving the possibilities on ROI.

  • http://www.proformaroi.com Rich Mistkowski

    Some great insights. I came across this while doing some research for a client. This makes total sense. Mobile is such a great way to engage with prospects and customers. I think that most companies do not have a handle on the 1:1 aspect and the enormous amount of information that they can learn about their prospects and customers.

    Mobile can be “level the playing” field for small to mid size companies. They can run very effective marketing campaigns that focus on conversions. Mobile also gives them the ability to be nimble and flexible. Larger organizations may struggle with this.

    Thanks for the insights. I love learning about mobile marketing.