How to Pick Your Mobile Marketing Partner
For those who have not yet ventured into this form of marketing, you may be unsure what to look for when interviewing potential mobile partners. Here is a list of key insights I believe you should be thinking about when deciding on the most appropriate firm for your business.
As we fast approach the end of September, the need for businesses to begin planning for their 2018 mobile marketing strategy becomes ever more pressing. For those who have not yet ventured into this form of marketing, you may be unsure what to look for when interviewing potential mobile partners. Below are a list of key insights I believe you should be thinking about when deciding on the most appropriate firm for your business.
Ensure ROI
For those new to mobile marketing, you will no doubt have strong expectations of it delivering results for you. So for this reason, when you employ the aid of a professional mobile marketing firm, you want to know that it has experience generating a strong return on investment for its clients.
Be sure to find out what outcomes they have generated and how they can help you achieve your own ROI.
A Streamlined Approach
Implementing any new technology or tactic can put a strain on your marketing team, and bringing on a third party can make that process even more challenging. A solid mobile marketing partner will get you up and running with your new campaigns within days or weeks, not months.
Make sure you understand what the process will look like and how long it should take, on average.
Thought Leadership
Of course, the firm you choose should know mobile marketing like nobody else. It should be leading the way with its knowledge by creating whitepapers, webinars, and other content to educate you and the wider audience on cutting edge technology and strategy.
Be aware of how often the firm will assess you mobile marketing strategy and whtehr it imparts its wisdom in the greater mobile space.
Agility
Not only should a mobile marketing partner help you stay on top of mobile strategy, but it should also do the same itself. Look for a firm that continually offers more ways to serve its clientèle in the mobile world.
What makes this firm stand out, does it highlight it’s USP?
Platform Reliability
Working with a mobile marketing firm means you will use its mobile marketing platform in order to connect with your customers. That platform should be stable so that you never have to worry about the privacy of your customer data, nor that the system will crash when you need it most.
Do you know the uptime rate of the platform?
Seamless Integration
Your new mobile marketing platform should serve to enhance the systems you’re already using, not work against them. Look for a partner that offers a platform that integrates with CRM, POS, and ESP systems you already use.
Look into what integrations the software encompasses.
Prompt Short Code Provisioning
Be aware, short code provisioning can be time-consuming in the mobile space. The industry average is 10-12 weeks, but savvy mobile partner can get it approved faster.
Find out how long provisioning takes.
Tier 1 Aggregator Status
Having direct relationships with the major mobile carriers is an appealing quality when looking for the right mobile marketing partner. Having this kind of access means your SMS messages will get sent faster and with a high throughout rate.
Finally, familiarise yourself on the firm’s throughput rate and uptime.
Ultimately you need to look for a supplier who will make it painless to integrate your mobile practices with existing marketing strategies so that, as you move into 2108, you can continue to engage directly with today’s connected consumer at scale.