Now that we’ve debunked the myths of targeting the right customers, delivering personalized offers, acting in context and creating valuable offers, there’s just one more to dispel…leveraging the results. More often than not, marketers initiate a campaign and then following its completion analyze the results, but the real value lies in between these two steps. In the world of mobile, you no longer have to ‘accept’ the end results – you can continually impact them along the way.
THE MYTH: Results and lessons learned drive future campaigns
Have you ever been fishing and used the same rod and reel, the same lure, and casted to the same spot only to catch a few inedible fish? At the end of the day when you’re counting your less than impressive catch, do you make mental notes of what you should try the next time?
Sounds like an ineffective way of upping your results but this same method continues to be utilized by marketers. Decide what to measure, launch the campaign, gather results, interpret results, and apply to the next campaign…sound familiar?
Although with traditional channels the waiting game was a necessary evil, with mobile marketing the waiting period from execution to... Read more
Archive for Glenn Pingul 
Debunking the Myths of Mobile Marketing: Leveraging Results
Debunking the Myths of Mobile Marketing: Creating Valuable Offers
Understanding ‘who’ to target and ‘when’ to engage with them (see my previous posts) becomes a moot point unless you’re able to determine ‘how’ to communicate with customers in a way that will drive a positive response. This is where a lot of mobile marketers water down the idea of ‘personalization’ – cycling through preconceived offers versus really determining what’s best for a specific customer.
THE MYTH: Higher value offers drive better results.
“If I offer you more for less, you’ll accept and become a devoted customer.”
It’s an easy assumption to make, regardless of what product or service you’re marketing. But consumers have figured out the ins and outs of dangling carrots, and marketers are realizing that long-term success requires more than offering ‘the most’ or ‘the greatest’.
Offers based on value alone tend to fall into a few categories:
“Too good to be true”: We’ve all had the pleasure of answering that dreaded phone call – the one that inevitably comes right at dinner time with someone offering us a free trip to an exotic resort. Most hang up the phone before the offer is fully revealed, but for those who choose to wait it out, that ‘too good to be true’... Read more
Debunking the Myths of Mobile Marketing: Acting in Context
Delivering personalized offers based on an individual’s behaviors (see my previous posts) is only valuable if you can determine the best time to engage. It can be challenging for marketers to pinpoint given the ever-changing contexts of mobile users but those who can up their game are rewarded with better results – and happier customers.
THE MYTH: Event-based marketing is all about context.
Think of the kid who gets into a fight on the playground. Before he even gets through the door, his mom is grounding him for his inexcusable behavior. All the way to his room, he’s pleading with her – “just let me tell you the whole story!” Once she takes the time to listen she learns that: the classroom bully has been picking on him for weeks, the teacher has done little to address the situation, and it all came to a head when the bully was on a mission to push him off the monkey bars. Suddenly, her take on the appropriate action quickly changes.
Herein lies the problem with event-based marketing – it’s based on a single data point and disregards the circumstances leading up to a specific action as well as what’s predicted to happen next. Event-based... Read more
Debunking the Myths of Mobile Marketing: Delivering a Personalized Offer
Now that we know targeting is all about understanding how one behaves, versus who they are (see my previous post), the term ‘personalization’ should take on a whole new meaning. If your marketing approach is smart enough to define and monitor individual customer behaviors, then the delivery of personalized offers should follow suit.
THE MYTH: Segmentation equals personalization.
Does everyone who falls into a certain behavioral profile have the same needs and wants at any given time? Most likely not.
Although the availability of dynamic customer data is helping mobile marketers shift their focus from demographical profiles to behavioral ones, there’s still an all too common practice that stands in the way of true personalization.
You probably know it well. It’s segmentation.
You track and analyze how different customer behaviors impact desired actions. You define behavioral profiles, i.e. high spenders, moderate users, balance hoarders, etc. You identify segments of customers based on these profiles. You send offers to each segment.
That’s personalization, right? Well, not exactly.
What about the behaviors that someone displays before they become a ‘moderate user’? Or the predicted behaviors that may alter this classification? What about the customer’s current context? Or their motivations for action after receiving an initial offer? What about... Read more
Debunking the Myths of Mobile Marketing: Targeting the Right Customers
As ‘mobile marketing’ continues to define itself, our brains are often in overdrive as we try to keep up with all of the latest trends. New technologies, theories, apps, devices, experts– so much to take in, so much to consider when evaluating how to achieve mobile marketing success.
With that in mind, I’ve decided to do a series on ‘debunking the myths of mobile marketing’ over the next few months. My goal is to go back to the basics and focus on what really matters when it comes to engaging with your mobile customers.
So without further ado, it’s time to debunk…
THE MYTH: It’s all about who you are.
Think about your current mobile campaign.
How did you determine the ‘right’ customers for your message? Was it based on who they are? For example, their age? Their gender? Where they live?
How much time lapsed from when you defined the target list to when you began the outreach? A few hours? A few days? A few weeks?
How many times did you revisit your target list once the outreach began? Half way through? Never?
Am I bombarding you with questions? Yes, but I want you to understand how this myth is impacting your success at reaching... Read more
