Article

Eren Kocyigit
Eren Kocyigit 10 March 2015

Mobile Marketing: How To Develop An Appropriate Mobile Strategy (Part 3)

3-Step Model to Develop a Mobile Strategy in order to cope with Mobile Revolution

Mobile Marketing: How to Develop an Appropriate Mobile Strategy



Before reading this - please read: Mobile Marketing: How to Develop an Appropriate Mobile Strategy (Part 2) STEP 3 

Also to transform your business through mobile marketing, read the full unversity grade lecture from part one: Mobile Marketing: How To Develop An Appropriate Mobile Strategy? (Part 1) 

 

STRATEGY 1 – Work to switch ‘not mobile users’ into ‘mobile users’

This strategy should be constructed according to the findings regarding mobile marketing adoption that were mentioned in Step 1. As mentioned in step 1, drivers and barriers of mobile adoption changes from person to person, device to device, application to application, channel to channel, service to service, etc… So each firm should analyze their target customers in order to obtain drivers and barriers to their mobile marketing adoption. In this strategy each firm’s major aim should be switching ‘not mobile users’ into ‘mobile users’, because in order to talk about mobile marketing, first of all we should have customers who use mobile devices.

In order to switch ‘not mobile users’ into ‘mobile users’, following questions that are presented by Shankar and Balasubramanian (2009) should be answered;

  • Are the inhibitors to mobile adoption related to:
    • A lack of knowledge about these services?
    • A lack of confidence in the customer’s ability to use these services?
    • An inability to project the cost of using these services?

According to the answers to these questions, strategies regarding switching ‘not mobile users’ into ‘mobile users’ should be embraced.

Strategies that can implement in this part are more suitable for the firms that are already in mobile sector such as telecommunication and mobile device manufacturer companies. For instance, if a mobile device manufacturer firm detected that their target customers do not use mobile devices because of lack of knowledge then as Varnali and Toker (2010) suggested, they can manufacture more user-friendly devices.

STRATEGY 2 – Work to increase customers’ mobile services usage

This strategy should be constructed according to the findings regarding mobile marketing adoption that were mentioned in Step 1 and factors affecting attitudes toward mobile marketing that were mentioned in Step 2. As mentioned in step 1 and step 2, drivers and barriers of mobile adoption and factors affecting attitudes toward mobile marketing change from person to person, device to device, application to application, channel to channel, service to service, etc… So each firm should analyze their target customers in order to obtain drivers and barriers to their mobile marketing adoption and factors affecting attitudes toward mobile marketing. In this part of the strategy, it is assumed that customers are using at least one mobile marketing tool (such as SMS, web, App., etc…) and firms are trying to increase the number of mobile services their customers use.

In order to increase customers’ mobile services usage, first of all, firms should present high quality service in the channels where firms are already implementing marketing strategies to customers. In other words, if a firm is implementing SMS marketing strategy to its customers who only use SMS service of the mobile devices, firm should present a high quality SMS marketing service in order make these customers also mobile application user. Here the question is how to obtain ‘high quality’ marketing? Answers vary according to their target customers’ attitudes toward mobile marketing. For instance, if firm’s current customers are developing a positive attitude towards mobile marketing when the mobile service is simple and inexpensive (Barwise and Strong, 2002), then it can be suggested to this firm to offer new mobile marketing services user-friendly and inexpensive. Moreover, if firm’s current customers are developing a negative attitude towards mobile marketing when the messages are irrelevant or irritating (Merisavo et al., 2007), then it can be suggested to pay particular attention to the utility and relevancy of mobile advertising messages (Merisavo et al., 2007)

STRATEGY 3 – increase variety of mobile services that are offered to customers

In this part of the strategy, firms should seek for increasing the variety of mobile services that they offer to their customers. While doing this, as Shankar and Balasubramanian (2009) told, firms should also rethink the value proposition in the mobile context. For instance, firms should not transport its Internet marketing strategy to mobile marketing strategy but construct their unique mobile marketing strategy. Thats because it will be most effective if it is ‘native’ i.e. memorable, and well-coordinated with time and the user’s location.

STRATEGY 4 – use adequate mobile marketing tools to affect each stage of customer decision making process

In this part of the strategy, firms should seek affecting each stage of customer decision making process. As mentioned earlier, Shankar and Balasubramanian (2009) examined role of mobile marketing in customer decision-making and asserted that marketers should affect each of consumer decision making process (need recognition, information search, alternative evaluation, purchase and post-purchase) by mobile marketing initiatives.

In order to affect need recognition part, marketers may use lots of tools like SMS and email marketing which includes promotion messages. Here the important issue is the utility and relevancy of mobile advertising messages (Merisavo et al., 2007). For instance, sending a customer a promotional SMS at 03.00 a.m. might be irritating. Similarly, sending a promotional message regarding Ankara to a customer who locates in Istanbul will be evaluated as irrelevant and might affect this customer attitude negatively to further mobile marketing campaigns of that firm.

In order to affect information search part, firms may offer mobile applications which give lots of information about their products/services. For instance, every year IKEA launch its yearly catalogue as a mobile application which enables its customers to reach product info anywhere and anytime they want. If mobile devices are compared with traditional media such as TV and print regarding information search, mobiles devices lacks the persuasive power of the print and TV media due to the highly constrained screen size but better than traditional media location-based advertising can provide timely and actionable information to customers (Shankar and Balasubramanian, 2009)

In order to affect alternative evaluation part, marketers may use content marketing strategies that are reachable via mobile devices. This is possible if firms have mobile web- sites which have rich information regarding their services/products. Google’s survey results indicate that %79 of the participants use mobile devices while shopping, %70 of the participants use them in store. This findings show that; having a user-friendly mobile web- site which has rich information is a ‘must’ for firms. For instance, when a customer is in Best Buy to buy a MP3 player, he/she likely evaluate alternatives on his/her mobile device. So companies that lack of mobile web-sites fall behind in the competition.

In order to affect purchase part, marketers can use mobile payment tools which give customers. As Dahlberg et al. (2003) asserted mobile payment solutions provide several benefits such as being more secure, easier and faster to use than competing (traditional) solutions. For instance, with Google Wallet (a mobile payment product launched by Google) a customer may pay in a store in a more secure, easier and faster way and this experience provided in the purchase time increases customer satisfaction.

Lastly, in order to affect post-purchase part, marketers may provide consumer-generated content tools such as blogs, forums, and etc.. Several studies in the literature found that people are more open to messages that come from another person rather than a company. For instance, as mentioned earlier Wais and Clemons (2008) found that; customers perceive marketing message positively if it came from another person than if it came from a company. In order to give an example: let’s consider a customer who bought a digital camera. After purchase, the consumer compared it with similar products and had a tension or anxiety (Cognitive Dissonance) regarding to his/her purchase. At this point mobile marketing tools that have consumer-generated content might decrease customer tensions and convince this customer that he/she made the right decision (for example after he/she watched a you-tube that is uploaded by another customer and the positive comments below the video might decrease this customer’s anxiety about the purchase)

STRATEGY 5 – Integrating mobile marketing strategy with firms’ holistic marketing strategy

In this part of the strategy, firms should seek integrating mobile marketing strategy with firms’ holistic marketing strategy. That means every firms mobile marketing activities should be in accordance with their overall marketing activities. To give an example; if a firm is launching a new product and promoting it in traditional media like TV, radio and print, this firm should also incorporate promotional messages sent via mobile devices. As Merissa et al. (2007) claimed; most successful mobile marketers worldwide like Coca-Cola, McDonalds, and mobile operators, have successfully incorporated the mobile channel into the promotion of their goods and services.

Based on these facts it seems that it is much easier for a customer to get into a dialogue with a well-known and established brand than with an unknown one. Thus, companies should strengthen their brand among consumers in order to develop trust. By doing so, the addition of new marketing channels, such as mobile devices into the promotion mix becomes easier.

4. Conclusion

At the academicians’ side, it can be told that; the literature on mobile marketing is accumulating and the stream of research is still in the development stage. In this study, it is detected that; there is a study needed to link the consumer behavior toward mobile marketing and mobile marketing strategy construction.

In order to link customer and firm under mobile marketing context, a conceptual model is presented in this study that consists of three steps. According to this model; firstly each firm should analyze and understand the drivers of mobile adoption in their target market context. After analyzing drivers and barriers of mobile adoption in their target market context, then marketers should analyze factors affecting customers’ attitude toward mobile marketing according to their target customers’ characteristics and mobile marketing tools that they offer to their customers. Finally, after analyzing the determinants to mobile marketing adoption and factors affecting attitude toward mobile marketing, firms should construct their mobile marketing strategies according to results/findings that are obtained in step 1 and 2.

In step three; an illustrative strategy map is presented in the study which consists of five strategies; 1- firms need to work to switch ‘not mobile users’ into ‘mobile users’ 2- firms need to work to increase customers’ mobile services usage 3- firms need to increase variety of mobile services that are offered to customers 4- firms need to use adequate mobile marketing tools to affect each stage of customer decision making process 5- firms need to integrate mobile marketing strategy with their holistic marketing strategy.

Mobile devices have become an integral part of users’ daily lives and they have become a very important shopping tool that should be analyzed. Their power to lead customers into making purchase and affecting each stage of decision making process of customers got both marketing practitioners and academicians’ attention.

As a conclusion, mobile marketing have become one of the most important topics in contemporary marketing issues. Numbers and statistics show that its evolution will be continuing in the future. Since the importance of mobile marketing will be increasing in the future, both scholars and practitioners should work together in mobile marketing subject. This study tries to contribute the literature by linking consumer behavior side and firm strategy constructing side. As a further research, model presented in the study might be implemented several sectors and backed by qualitative and quantitative researches and case studies.


Original Article

About Author:
Marketing and Business Development Director @Tikle, Digital & Mobile Marketing Lecturer Linkedin Twitter Website

 

FREE EVENT: Join Digital Doughnut in London on March 31st, 2015 for an evening of networking with speakers reviewing Digital Transformation


Read More on Digital Doughnut

 

Check out our latest videos!

 

Please login or register to add a comment.

Contribute Now!

Loving our articles? Do you have an insightful post that you want to shout about? Well, you've come to the right place! We are always looking for fresh Doughnuts to be a part of our community.

Popular Articles

See all
7 Reasons Why Social Media Marketing is Important For Your Business

7 Reasons Why Social Media Marketing is Important For Your Business

In the past two decades social media has become a crucial tool for marketers, enabling businesses to connect with potential customers. If your business has yet to embrace social media and you want to know why it is...

Sharron Nelson
Sharron Nelson 29 February 2024
Read more
B2B Marketers Need a New Approach to Lead Gen to Meet the Growing Quality Challenge

B2B Marketers Need a New Approach to Lead Gen to Meet the Growing Quality Challenge

The biggest challenge facing B2B marketers in 2024 is generating high quality leads. And the problem is getting worse.

Michael Nutley
Michael Nutley 18 March 2024
Read more
How to Create a Landing Page: The Ultimate Guide

How to Create a Landing Page: The Ultimate Guide

Learn how to make an effective landing page with our latest article. Perfect for beginners and pros alike, this article gives you practical tips to create a landing page that works for you. From picking the right...

Ravi Shukla
Ravi Shukla 19 February 2024
Read more
How to Review a Website — A Guide for Beginners

How to Review a Website — A Guide for Beginners

A company website is crucial for any business's digital marketing strategy. To keep up with the changing trends and customer buying behaviors, it's important to review and make necessary changes regularly...

Digital Doughnut Contributor
Digital Doughnut Contributor 25 March 2024
Read more
4 Tips for Building Effective Direct Response Marketing Campaigns

4 Tips for Building Effective Direct Response Marketing Campaigns

Craft irresistible offers and elevate your marketing strategy with direct response marketing campaigns.

Iulia P
Iulia P 22 March 2024
Read more