7steps mobile-marketing-smart-insights

Mobile Marketing
7 Steps Guide
Authors: Rob Thurner and Dave Chaffey
Published: March 2013
Plan > Reach > Act > Convert > Engage

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© Smart Insights (Marketing Intelligence) Limited. Please go to www.smartinsights.com to feedback or access our other guides.
7 Steps mobile marketing guide
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Mobile Marketing
7 Steps Guide
Table of contents
3 Introduction Why mobile is a must for focus in 2013
8 ONE Making the business case for mobile
18 TWO Mobile marketing strategy
28 THREE Create compelling mobile experiences
56 FOUR Reaching mobile users through search marketing
advertising and customer communications
72 FIVE Mobile commerce and mobile payments
86 SIX Mobile CRM and mobile coupons
104 SEVEN Integrating mobile, local and social

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Introduction
Why mobile is a must for focus in 2013
Anyone who works in digital marketing or e-commerce cannot have failed to have seen the
forecast predicting that by 2014 mobile Internet should overtake desktop Internet usage.1
This has certainly been a call to action for focusing more attention on mobile marketing.
We believe that mobile device use has already transformed the way consumers access
online content and services for entertainment, socialising and purchase decisions. At the
same time, we want companies to make the right investments in digital marketing, so we
always try to present a balanced picture to help guide investment. As a counterpoint to the
simplistic ‘mobile use will overtake the desktop’ by 2014 hype we published this summary of
global mobile traffic as part of our 2012 compilation of statistics to show a more realistic state
of mobile usage. See our Mobile Statistics compilation for the latest data2
.
Mobile browsing traffic worldwide. Source: Pingdom
As you would expect, this compilation shows that across all regions we are some way
off mobile traffic superseding desktop traffic, although in Asia and Africa, mobile traffic
proportions are higher since mobile penetration is relatively high compared with desktop or
laptop computer usage.
Strategy recommendation 1 Don’t blindly invest in mobile because of the hype
Yes, mobile marketing has already transformed the way the Internet is used by many for
some activities, but it doesn’t mean every business has to have a mobile app or a fully
mobile-optimised site – you have to choose the cost-effective option for your business.
To be realistic about the impact of mobile Internet usage, we also have to consider the
activities that are commonly performed on mobile. The two most common mobile usage
activities are accessing email and using social networks, often through mobile apps.
To understand consumer demand for using online services it is dangerous to consider
potential usage of services from research questions like ‘have you ever purchased using
1 Smart Insights: 2013 Mobile marketing statistics compilation.
2 Smart Insights: comScore 2013 Mobile Future in Focus compilation for multiple countries

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a mobile phone’ or ‘do you intend to use your smartphone for purchase’. Instead, panel
data looking at actual usage is preferable. We recommend taking a look at the comScore
MobiLens compilations. These show that across these European countries, although nearly
half of mobile users have used a smartphone (48.8 per cent), but there is still a significant
proportion of users that are not using smartphones. Ths results in the majority of page views
still being served onto desktop computers. However, the UK, Ireland and Russian Federation
are ahead of the other countries in mobile adoption.
Mobile use in Europe. Percentage share of Page Views Source: comScore MobiLens3
The data presented above is for smartphone usage, we also have to think through the
implications of increased use of tablets, often alongside TV as part of multi-screening.4
This
research shows that 67 per cent of people have used multiple devices to shop online, with
smartphones often prompting spontaneous purchase.
The opportunities from mobile interactions for brands
When thinking about how we can use mobile devices and media for marketing there is a
tendency to limit our thinking to mobile commerce transactions. There are certainly great
opportunities for mobile commerce shown by the early, enthusiastic adopters like Amazon
and eBay.
Amazon’s continued success online is today underpinned by a strong mobile performance,
with sales via its mobile site and app reaching $1 billion in 2011. eBay predicted sales of $8
billion in 2012, a 25 per cent increase on mobile sales in 2011. eBay’s senior director for EU
mobile Olivier Ropars, reminds us of the real threat mobile presents to traditional retailers:
‘Almost 50% of people with smartphones will check prices in-store. When something isn’t
available on the rail, the smartphone is a more efficient way of shopping. The smartphone is
giving a lot of power to the consumer.’
3 Smart Insights: Comscore Mobile Future in Focus compilation for multiple countries
4 Smart Insights: Summary of Google research on multi-screening.

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What are the main brand interactions?
To help make the case for mobile and make the most of the opportunities, you need to
explain the full range of interactions beyond mobile commerce. As we will see in Step 4,
mobile search volumes are increasing rapidly, while in Step 7 we see that mobile use of
social networks and location-based services is increasing.
Google infographic summarising the new multiscreen world
We recommend that you start developing your strategy, not by thinking about mobile sites
or apps, but instead thinking about the different situations where consumers use mobiles.
For example, as they follow up on a TV ad as they sit at home; search for a restaurant in
town; scan barcodes or action codes in a store or simply read their emails as they commute
to work. Don’t think smartphones, but smart users, ask ‘How are our early adopters using
smartphones and tablets in practical and innovative ways?’
The next diagram shows how we see the many mobile touchpoints and the opportunities they
give for brands to interact in new or different ways with their customers.
Your mobile marketing strategy should be split into reviewing the best investments for
mobile brand discovery which are the options for mobile marketing communications through
messaging and other sites and mobile brand experiences which is where you create mobile-
optimised sites, apps or mobile commerce sites to interact more deeply with customers.
Mobile brand discovery mainly involves promotional push to encourage adoption of mobile
services and interaction with the brand, plus pull via search engine optimisation (SEO) as
customers use search, publisher sites, messaging and offline ads (for example through QR

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(Quick Response) codes).
The core mobile marketing touchpoints requiring management
We’re not saying you need to work on all these activities! Instead, this shows your range of
options for mobile interactions for which you will review the balance of investment as part of
your mobile strategy.
This table shows how you can summarise your mobile plan. It defines the options you have
selected for interacting with mobile users across the RACE customer lifecycle.
Funnel
stage
Key mobile marketing activities KPIs
Reach Mobile discovery and promotion of
mobile services
þþ Mobile search marketing
þþ Mobile display
þþ Offline prompts through action
codes
þþ Mobile share of search (% of site
visits referred through mobile)
þþ Mobile reach through display
þþ Unique visits to mobile sites
Act Encouraging mobile consumer
interactions
þþ Mobile-optimised sites
þþ Mobile-specific content
þþ Mobile-specific offers
þþ App downloads
þþ n, % of mobile opt-ins
þþ n, % of app downloads

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Funnel
stage
Key mobile marketing activities KPIs
Convert Online and offline sales delivered
by mobile
þþ Mobile commerce sites
þþ Transactional mobile apps
þþ Mobile voucher campaigns
þþ Mobile conversion rates and
average order value
þþ Mobile channel sales and profit
contribution
þþ Offline sales referred by mobile
vouchers
Engage Creating customer loyalty and
advocacy
þþ Social commerce interactions
þþ Mobile CRM
þþ Mobile messaging
þþ Repeat mobile commerce sales
þþ Repeat app usage
þþ Mobile satisfaction ratings
þþ Mobile messaging response rates
and value generated
In later sections of this guide we will explore, in more detail, how mobile marketing activities
can be used to support each of the areas of RACE.
About the Lead author, Rob Thurner
Rob Thurner is an established mobile consultant, author, trainer,
and speaker.
He is Founding Partner of Burner Mobile, the consultancy
business which helps solve clients’ business problems with
innovative, future-proof mobile solutions.
Rob design and runs intermediate and advanced mobile
workshops for marketers of all levels of expertise across Europe
and the USA. His business partners include the IDM, IPM,
Econsultancy, The Knowledge Engineers, Smart Insights and the
IAB where he was a founding member of the Mobile Leadership
Council. He‘s also course Tutor on The IDM’s Diploma in Digital
Marketing.
His interactive mobile training sessions are informed by hands-on experience developing
mobile strategies for clients like American Express, Barclaycard, Betfair, Carphone
Warehouse, Heineken, Jaguar M&S and Virgin Media.
Following a BSc (Honours) in Politics from Bristol University, Rob began his career as a
journalist and then public affairs consultant before joining media start up TDI (now CBS
Outdoor) as Marketing Manager. He moved to Clear Channel International and served as
Group Marketing Director for the company’s Business Units in over 40 countries throughout
the EMEA and APAC regions.

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ONE
Making the business case for mobile
rr Q. Have we created a business case to prove the case for investment in mobile
marketing?
Despite the excitement around the potential of mobile marketing, the reality is that it hasn’t
resulted in whole new marketing budgets being created. We’re in tough economic times and
budgets are, if anything, lower than in previous years. You will need to convince more senior
colleagues in marketing, finance or the main person that mobile warrants more investment.
So we are, in reality, talking about substitution or reallocation of budget for mobile. Often,
what you will be proposing is to shift money out of desktop site development budgets and
reassigning a portion of the media budget to activate a response to advertising via mobile
devices.
Strategy recommendation 2 Make the business case for investment in mobile
The reality is that budgets typically need to be reallocated or substituted for investment
in mobile marketing, so you have to show superior commercial value from the new digital
media. Yet many companies haven’t done this.
A survey by the Chief Marketing Officer Council among 250 global marketers revealed that
just 16 per cent have developed a mobile strategy aimed at building customer engagement.5
The ‘Engage at Every Stage’ report looked at how brands view their mobile marketing
initiatives. Brands represented in the results include marketers from Coca-Cola, Anheuser-
Busch, JP Morgan Chase and Unilever. Only 14 per cent are happy with their mobile
strategy.
The report goes further and states that only 15 per cent are using mobile to trigger
consumption, 18 per cent use it for reactivating or acquiring customers and 18 per cent use it
for transactions.
Like others who have been immersed in the world of mobile for 10 years or more, this comes
as no surprise to us. At the time of writing, the vast majority of brands have yet to optimise
their sites for mobile – despite clear evidence that globally 2013 will be the year that Internet
access via mobile overtakes access via PC, and most still approach mobile in a tactical way
rather than grasping the opportunity to transform their businesses with the mobile channel
and integrate mobile into their broader business strategy.
How to make the business case for mobile marketing investment
We recommend these six steps to help develop the business case for mobile:
þþ 1. Define the scope of mobile marketing investment.
þþ 2. Review current and predicted future consumer use of mobile channels.
þþ 3. Benchmark competitor use of mobile.
þþ 4. Create mobile return-on-investment models for investment options.
þþ 5. Select and prioritise mobile options and create a mobile roadmap.
þþ 6. Write the business case.
5 Mobile Marketer: Study - 16 percent of marketers have a formal mobile strategy - study.

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1. Define the scope of mobile marketing investment
One of the difficulties with creating a mobile strategy is that it is so wide ranging. You need
to communicate to colleagues that it’s not just about a mobile site or app and that mobile
technology has its own ecosystem of technologies and suppliers that you have to participate
in. The next diagram shows some of this complexity. We have to consider:
1. Operating system platforms. Different manufacturers support different technologies.
Because of consumer use of these platforms you should consider supporting both Apple’s
iOS and the Google-supported Android which most Samsung, HTC and Motorola handsets
now operate. Larger companies will want to support the Windows Phone platform used by
Nokia Lumia and some Samsung and HTC models, and Symbian also from Nokia.
2. Devices. Although you should make sure your mobile site or app can work on the core
operating systems, you should also check the capabilities of the most popular smartphones,
tablets and the long tail of legacy ‘feature phones’ to make sure you optimise the user
experience of all your mobile customers, whatever device they use.
3. Wireless technology platforms. Development of sites and apps is usually independent
of individual device specifications, and the major mobile carriers. The fast growing range of
multichannel retailers must also support customers using Wi-Fi in-home, in-store and in other
Wi-Fi hotspot locations to give them a better browser experience.
4. Mobile ad networks and portals. To reach audiences online you will have to consider
specialist ad networks and the portals offered by the operators, for example using O2 More
to offer coupon-based rewards programmes for mobile users.
5. Payment services. The traditional payments market, dominated historically by the banks
and credit card providers, is now been challenged by players in the mobile carrier, handset
and payments technology industries. We will review these in Step 5.
6. Location-based services. Foursquare is the best known independent location option
but Facebook and Google have local services to consider in order to deliver precise
geo-targeting campaigns and services.
The main components of the mobile marketing ecosystem
The diverse range of stakeholders have been working hard to monetise the mobile
opportunity – device manufacturers, technology providers, digital service providers,
payments providers, mobile platforms and ad networks.

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Mobile operators developed the infrastructure upon which the whole mobile ecosystem
has thrived. However, the explosion in native apps and rapid roll-out of Wi-Fi networks
in-home, in-store, in education, in leisure and in transport hubs now deliver a broad range of
Internet-based communication platforms, including Skype, WhatsApp, iMessenger and Viber.
For the first time in 20 years operators are now seeing a drop in SMS use.
So how are the mobile operators responding to the challenges posed by other players in
the mobile ecosystem? In a word, through collaboration. The UK is the first market globally
where the operators have combined forces to deliver a one-stop-shop mobile commerce
solution. This is Weve which aims to give businesses access to a single, consolidated
consumer base, via a single set of services, based on robust, smart anonymised data
tracking subscribers’ mobile behaviour.
What is it? Weve
Weve is a joint venture between the UK’s three largest mobile network operators EE,
Telefonica UK (O2) and Vodafone UK. Between them, they represent over 80 per cent
of UK mobile customers, a user base unmatched by any single handset vendor or
technology company.
Often the UK is the test market in mobile for the global operators to test, learn and adapt
the model before rolling out to other markets. Weve required EC approval – which took
20 months (because it is seen as a precedent decision) – with the potential to set a global
template for other mobile commerce ventures across Europe.
At launch Weve has an opted-in base of 15 million customers. Its shareholders, EE,
Telefonica UK and Vodafone, comprise 80 per cent of UK mobile customers. Weve has
identified four distinct areas to assist brands understand and deliver the customer journey.
These correspond broadly to the Smart Insights RACE framework.
The core mobile marketing activities – weaving mobile touchpoints through the customer
journey
Each of these areas is supported by smart anonymised data that allows Weve to provide a
rich, relevant mobile experience based on data drive targeting.
þþ Media – mobile marketing (REACH stage). Weve combines multiple communications
technologies, including Location, push messaging via SMS, push messaging via video,

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apps discovery and display advertising.
þþ Incentives – new customers (ACT stage). Weve combines the intelligence and
experience of its joint-venture partners to deliver time- and location-based incentives
to encourage customer interactions with participating online and traditional brands. O2
Priority Moments is the best known ‘operator’ mobile loyalty programme.
þþ Payments – wallet/transactions (CONVERT stage). Weve is a neutral host/platform,
which is not tied to a particular wallet system or to a particular software platform or
handset, and provides a single point of technical integration, and a single contact point for
mobile users to contact for mobile users should they have questions or require support
whilst building confidence in mobile payments.
þþ Loyalty – long-term customer retention/loyalty programmes (ENGAGE stage). Weve will
seek to capitalise on the trend for consumers to replace their plastic loyalty cards with
mobile alternatives. Research from Mercator Advisory Group reveals four per cent of
consumers have replaced loyalty cards with mobile apps, and 53 per cent are interested
in doing so.6
Weve plans to add mobile functionality to existing programmes to enhance
the consumer experience. In addition, Weve will offer a fully managed and hosted
mobile-centric loyalty solution.
The operators start from a position of strength, in owning the customer relationship, and
accessing vast amounts of anonymised customer data as the basis of highly targeted
services to fast track mobile adoption by UK companies. It will be fascinating to see the
lessons learned and business generated.
2. Review current and predicted future consumer use of mobile channels
Using analytics and, in particular, advanced segments is the key to understanding the
effectiveness of mobile sites and optimising them.
Example of mobile site growth taken from Analytics
This anonymous example provided by an Expert member shows the rate at which mobile
growth is occurring in their consumer segment.
Strategy recommendation 3 Use your analytics as the starting point for the business case
Use the trends in your analytics to review your growth in visits. You will find that bounce
rates are likely higher and conversion rates lower for mobile visits which should be used to
argue the need for investment in mobile.
6 Peter Buck: Payment gateways presentation.

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You can use the Audience Mobile devices report in Google Analytics to find relevant
consumer usage.
Best Practice Tip 1 Use advanced segments to isolate the mobile audience and then
review their behaviour
Using advanced segments in Google Analytics will help you isolate visits from different
mobile devices and show the volume and behaviour of these visits. Advanced segments
are essentially a filter that can be set for each visitor type including device to understand
behaviour with a specific technology. You can segment through these standard advanced
segments:
þþ Mobile device info (i.e. model of mobile).
þþ Mobile device branding (i.e. company).
þþ Service provider (i.e. network or Internet service provider).
þþ Mobile input selector (i.e. touchscreen or gaming).
þþ Operating system (i.e. iOS or Android versions).
þþ Other (includes screen resolution).
You will also need to make sure you have the tracking set up correctly for reviewing. If you’re
running an e-commerce site, selling online, then the tracking in Google Analytics of sales
transaction is almost always set up by the e-commerce provider, although there are often
teething problems with accuracy or managing international sites.
Recommended resource? 7 Steps Guide to Google Analytics
The 7 Steps Guide to Google Analytics explains goal set up and advanced segments.
For an e-commerce site, your main goal is simple. It’s a sale registered through the checkout
completion page. But that’s the end of the funnel process, so you also need goals for other
points in the funnel, for example:
þþ Browse products
þþ Search products
þþ Add to basket
þþ Start checkout
þþ Individual checkout steps.
Best Practice Tip 2 Use published statistics to support your case
There are many country- and sector-based reports on consumer mobile adoption. We have
a page we update with the latest Mobile Marketing Statistics. Check the latest from our
resources there.
Ensure you can report on the percentage of mobile visitors performing all these activities to
help build your case. Even for a non-transactional e-commerce site these categories of goals
are relevant.
If you run a transactional consumer site, this recent data from network Affiliate Window
across their range of UK retail clients shows the growing importance of handset sales –
useful for benchmarking your mobile sales projections against. Note that desktop is on the
left axis and still 72 per cent of sales on Christmas day, when mobile device sales (right axis)

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peaked with 16 per cent of total.
Christmas 2012 – New Year 2013 Sales by device. Source: Affiliate Window
The latest IAB statistics show that 25.2 million UK mobile users (52 per cent) are actively
engaged in mobile commerce. Smartphone users are 63 per cent more likely to engage in
mobile commerce than non-smartphone users. According to Google, 17 per cent of mobile
users have changed their mind about purchasing a product or service in store as a result
of information gathered using a smartphone. Please refer to Google resources: The Mobile
Playbook and The Mobile Planet.
We could quote a lot more statistics at you and it’s likely they would be impressive, but
statistics date quickly. Instead, we will direct you to three of the best sources for regularly
updated mobile statistics so that you can see for different countries and demographics which
the most relevant are.
Mini-case study: The TicketsNow mobile site
The TicketsNow success story shows the benefits that can be delivered through applying
conversion rate optimisation (CRO) to a new mobile-optimised site. For example TicketsNow
combines a mobile-optimised site with Google mobile ads to boost mobile sales 100 per cent
in the first month. Research from Google showed that more than 25 per cent of ticketing-re-
lated search queries occur on mobile devices. Sachin Gadhvi, Director of Search and Mobile
Marketing explains the requirement for them to focus on a mobile-optimised platform:
‘Search queries and purchases in our space are migrating to mobile at a rapid pace. Mobile
is where consumers are now and increasingly where they’re headed, so that’s where we
need to be.’
To start with TicketsNow asked the ‘mobile site or an app’ question we will cover in section
3. It was felt that since search is one of the company’s biggest channels for customer
acquisition, it made the most sense to lead with a mobile site and provide a streamlined
user experience. A mobile site would also reach the broadest audience rather than having to
develop apps one by one for the most popular platforms.

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The TicketsNow mobile site
3. Benchmark competitor use of mobile
To make your case you can also use an emotional argument to colleagues based on fear of
competitors getting an edge. Competitor benchmarking of mobile usage based on features
developed and level of use of their mobile services can be effective here. You can use the
techniques described in this guide.7
Best Practice Tip 3 Benchmark
Fear of falling behind competitors can add to your case. Show the success of competitors
or out-of-sector companies in using mobile sites, apps and campaigns.
This is particularly important in mobile as your new generation of customers will expect a
positive mobile experience. Mobile friendly brands are perceived as innovative and fun, and
well positioned to gain share of voice through social media sharing. Mobile friendly brands
also benefit from the halo effect of attracting high-calibre staff and retaining them.
4. Create mobile return-on-investment models for investment options
But, how do you PROVE that investment in mobile marketing is worthwhile?
The commercial argument will be strongest in many organisations if you create mobile return
on investment (ROI) models. You should create conversion-based models to illustrate the
ROI. These should show how increasing the level of mobile visitors or conversion rate by a
anticipated percentage can increase the revenue generated. Take a look at this summary
of what Venda has found8
amongst its clients which you can use for your business case
models. Damon Mannion suggests that you should use these types of insights to inform
creation of a business case:
þþ A mobile-optimised site will convert at around half the rate of a desktop site, however...
þþ A non mobile-optimised site will convert at around half the rate of the mobile-optimised
site.
7 Smart Insights: Competitor benchmarking guide.
8 Figaro Digital: Damon Mannion of Venda on modelling mobile conversion increments.

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þþ Of people who research on their mobile device, 39 per cent go on to purchase on their
desktop advice and 24 per cent go on to purchase in-store.
þþ Around 30 per cent of consumers use their mobile in-store to inform purchases through
in-store Wi-Fi or scanning barcodes.
þþ Overall this will give rise to a 2 per cent increment in sales from creating a mobile-opti-
mised site.
A summary of differences in proportions of screen usage and conversion rates. Source:
Venda
As explained above, to help develop these models you should look at trends in current usage
of your sites on smartphones and tablets using mobile segments in analytics.
For mobile marketing for transactional e-commerce sites, you can create revenue models
showing sales uplift and online profit contribution from:
þþ 1. Increased online conversion rates from a mobile-optimised site. Using analytics for
your desktop site you can show how conversion rates differ for site visitors using mobile
devices and estimate an increase in conversion. Bear in mind that the situation in
which users access mobile sites differs, so mobile conversions will typically always be
lower than those for desktop platforms except in situations particularly suited to mobile
transactions (e.g. booking a taxi or reserving a table).
þþ 2. Increased online leads and sales from mobile app(s). This part of the mobile revenue
estimate is only relevant if you are considering creating a mobile-optimised site AND
developing a mobile app. In this case you can estimate sales referred by the mobile app
by calculating a sales prediction based on numbers of app downloads, conversion rates
to sale and frequency of usage of apps. You can tap into the insights from retailers like
Amazon and eBay who find the simplicity of apps results in higher conversion rates and
revenue per mobile user. You may need to consider online app-based sales generated
from app features and services which are part of the offline shopping experience. For
example, if app users scan prices or offers offline from QR codes, that will generate
online sales (although there may be cannibalisation from offline sales).
þþ 3. Increased offline sales from online research. This is known as the ‘ROPO effect’
related to multichannel customer journeys.
What is it? ROPO

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ROPO stands for ‘Research Online, Purchase Offline’. Although Research Offline-Pur-
chase Online is another behaviour which is increasingly important through mobile since
customers use their smartphones to scan online prices in-store.
þþ 4. Increased online purchases from in-store research. Consumers are increasingly using
mobile devices to research purchases in-store, either over their carrier networks, in-store
Wi-Fi or mobile scanning.
The figure shows a useful matrix for summarising these multichannel behaviours. This
study9
reviewed the role of the Internet in the decision process for mobile and broadband
contracts involving the Vodafone website and stores in Germany based on a panel of
16,000 web users and questionnaires about their intent and purchase. For both of these
services, the contract was signed online by around one-third of the audience. However, a
significant proportion signed the contract offline.
Example ROPO model for Vodafone Germany. Source: Google.
This and similar research has been sponsored by Google to show the importance of
investing in AdWords and display advertising. Consumer behaviour will vary dramatically by
sector, so we suggest you complete research to estimate how this matrix looks for you.
5. Select and prioritise mobile options and create a mobile roadmap
With the range of mobile options we have discussed in this section, it’s likely you wont be
creating a single mobile case for investment for a single year. Mobile requires a long-term
commitment so we recommend creating a long-term roadmap using the format contained in
our Digital Marketing Strategy Toolkit.10
For example, Debenhams, a leading UK retail adopter of mobile shared this retrospective of
their mobile development over the last two years or so. Their mobile manager, Sarah Bailie
explains, ‘Integrating online in store should be top priority for all multichannel retailers looking
to create an experiential and destination shopping experience. Debenhams’ most valuable
customers engage with the brand via multiple channels.’
9 Smart Insights: Vodafone ROPO example.
10 Smart Insights: Digital Marketing Strategy toolkit.

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Debenhams mobile marketing roadmap. Source: Sarah Bailie, Mobile commerce manager at
Debenhams
6. Write the business case
According to digital strategy consultant Mike Berry writing in the Smart Insights guide
to Making the Business Case for Investment in Digital Marketing:11
‘From a commercial
viewpoint, there are really only 2 reasons for organisations to spend money on digital
marketing:
(a) it delivers immediate ROI (or at least within a measurable time frame)
or
(b) it’s becoming increasingly important, so it will in time deliver that ROI, which means that
brand owners need to get involved now and “learn how to do it” or they’ll be left behind when
it really takes off.’
Recommended resource? Smart Insights Business Case Template and health check
Our Business case template gives a structure for creating a business case and there are
more ideas in the companion ebook.
The mobile healthcheck is a useful place to start when making the business case
for mobile is to establish your current position: how user-friendly is your business for
customers accessing your content on their mobile and tablet devices? It’s available in an
interactive form and as a spreadsheet. Managers of digital marketing and e-commerce use
our audits to assess their capabilities and then present to colleagues a summary of current
status and areas that need to be improved.
The audit is a simple Excel spreadsheet with these worksheets:
þþ A ‘Read me’ worksheet explaining how to complete the audit.
þþ A worksheet listing key questions covering your mobile activities spanning the Reach-
Act-Convert-Engage (RACE) model to assess your current performance, which can be
mapped against your competitors.
þþ A scoring system summarises your capabilities using a radar chart covering each step
of this guide.
11 Smart Insights: Making the business case for digital marketing.

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TWO
Mobile marketing strategy
rr Q. Have we developed a long-term mobile strategy?
We have seen that increased consumer use of smartphones and tablets gives a huge
opportunity for marketers because usage of mobile has increased dramatically. We believe
that to make the most of this opportunity requires a proper plan. Without a long-term plan and
roadmap of initiatives, you will likely fail to make sufficient investment in mobile or perhaps,
worse still, make the wrong type of investment. Put simply, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.
Strategy recommendation 4 Develop an overall mobile strategy using a planning process
framework like SOSTAC® combined with RACE
While most companies will invest in making their mobile sites compatible, far fewer have
a strategy as suggested by the research in the previous section which showed that just 16
per cent have developed a mobile strategy aimed at building customer engagement. We
recommend reviewing how you can generate value at each stage of customer interaction
from RACE: Reach-Act-Convert-Engage as we will explain shortly.
A strategic approach to mobile is also important to encourage your existing customers to
use mobile in their interactions with the brand. Betfair provide an excellent example of a
well-defined mobile value proposition. Speaking at Mobile Marketing Live 2012 Ben Carter,
global head of online marketing at betfair, revealed to delegates that the volume of bets
placed on mobile in 2012 doubled to almost £2 billion. Mobile users on the sporting exchange
have risen to 275,000, up 122 per cent year-on-year, and now account for 15 per cent of total
revenue. Half of all UK betfair customers, Carter added, have placed a bet on the exchange
via mobile.
Betfair mobile proposition and activation landing page. Source: betfair mobile site

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The company has encouraged use of different mobile platforms through integrating
campaigns including email, text and website personalisation. The landing page on the
desktop site clearly explains the proposition and encourages mobile activation through SMS.
Using SOSTAC®
to structure and manage your mobile marketing
SOSTAC®
is a strategic framework incorporating planning tools first laid out by PR Smith.
SOSTAC®
stands for Situation, Objectives and Strategy, Tactics, Action and Control. You will
have seen it if you have read our 7 Steps Guide to developing a digital strategy.
We recommend you follow this, or a similar planning framework since if you don’t, you will
be pulled in many different directions by the many different mobile marketing options. As
the diagram on the next page shows, Control is a key part of SOSTAC®
since it links to the
objective setting where you create a budget model and you use it to check that your strategy
and tactics are on track.
What is it? SOSTAC®
SOSTAC®
is a planning process framework to help structure and manage implementation of
plans. It stands for Situation, Objectives and Strategy, Tactics, Action and Control originally
developed by PR Smith for marketing communications planning. In Emarketing Excellence
Dave Chaffey and Paul Smith have adapted the SOSTAC®
framework to apply it to digital
marketing as shown in the diagram on the next page.
Here are some specific approaches we recommend for creating your mobile strategy:
þþ Situation – where are we now? Use analytics to assess current mobile usage and
extrapolate trends in leads and sales. You also need to review competitor services.
þþ Objectives – where do we want to be? You should create conversion-based models
based on the market insight from situation analysis to create SMART commercial
objectives for mobile prompted online and offline referred leads and sales.
þþ Strategy – how do we get there? This isn’t tactics, this is your mobile brand strategy.
Start by considering key mobile audience segments based on customer personas and
use cases. You should then define how mobile services will enhance the brand in a way
that supports its existing positioning. This is your mobile value proposition.
þþ Tactics – how exactly do we get there? These are the core digital tactics which are
part of the RACE framework which we introduced at the start of this ebook and use to
describe specific tactics later in this guide. These include: Reach (using offline ads and
touchpoints, search marketing and display marketing; Act (defining content, offers and
calls to action to engage); Convert (creating efficient registration and checkout) and
Engage (customer communications through app notifications, email and social networks).
þþ Action – what is our plan to implement the tactics? Development and campaign plans.
þþ Control – did we get there? Mobile is arguably more measurable than other digital media,
so take advantage of it to test, learn and refine to get better results.

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PR Smith’s SOSTAC®
planning system applied to digital marketing. SOSTAC ® is a regis-
tered trade mark of PR Smith (www.PRSmith.org)

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Combining SOSTAC®
with RACE
For each step of SOSTAC®
you should consider the range of mobile interactions with
customers as part of RACE. In this section we will suggest the main issues to consider for
each as a checklist based on our combined SOSTAC®
- RACE tool that we recommend for
downloading.
Recommended resource? SOSTAC®
– RACE review template
The Smart Insights digital marketing toolkit contains a one page SOSTAC®
Word template
to create an initial or summary plan. It also contains more in-depth SOSTAC®
– RACE
templates to prepare a customised plan for your business or your clients.
A checklist for developing a digital mobile strategy
Our coverage of mobile strategy won’t go into detail on the core concepts of revenue models,
proposition development and targeting that you will know from our strategy guide. Instead,
we will provide a checklist for you to quickly scan. This is based on our mobile marketing
audit which you may want to check if you’re doing a detailed review for your company or a
client.
Situation analysis
rr Q. Has the range of mobile marketing options been defined?
These are defined by our diagram in STEP 1. They should be reviewed across RACE.
rr Q. Have we created a mobile-specific digital SWOT?
This is available in our strategy toolkit as a template. We recommend the TOWs matrix.
rr Q. Has customer use of mobile platforms been assessed using advanced segments?
This should review the full mobile funnel broken down into microsteps as described in
Step 1.
rr Q. Has competitor use of mobile platforms been defined?
This is a marketplace review assessing use of mobile platforms supported for mobile
sites, apps, mobile media used for activation, mobile propositions and use of mobile
coupons and mobile customer relationship management (CRM). It should include direct
and indirect competitors and also out-of-sector mobile leaders to assess future trends.

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Objective setting
Applying SOSTAC is an iterative process, so you will need to reviewed the Strategy section
and model your objectives before the objectives can be finalised.
rr Q. Has a business case for mobile been developed?
rr Q. Do you have a roadmap of what you want to develop in the future?
rr Q. Have objectives been set for the level of support for different mobile platforms and
devices?
rr Q. Have SMART objectives been set for each of the RACE customer interactions?
Conversion or funnel-based models should be created so you can have a quantitative
assessment of how many you can Reach by mobile, Encourage interaction, Convert and
keep engaged through mobile CRM.
Best Practice Tip 4 Build models based on all steps of the conversion funnel
Review how mobile site visitors and app users progress through the purchase funnel. What
proportion of them are browsing categories, doing searches and adding to basket?
These micro-conversions in the e-retail sales funnel should be modelled and reported
Strategy
Returning to the first question we raised in this book – making the business case for mobile
– let’s consider whether mobile needs its own strategy, or whether mobile should be built into
the broader business strategy.
When we consider the power of mobile in activating customer response to other marketing
activity (Step 4) providing a conversion channel to sales (Steps 3 and 5) and long-term
engagement (Step 6), you could argue that a stand-alone mobile strategy is unlikely to
succeed. To be really effective mobile must be fully integrated into other business processes,
and form part of business strategy.
There’s no question that mobile is already a board level agenda item for leading companies,
which realise its strategic importance on their business success. Market leaders are aware
that consumer behaviour has shifted throughout the purchase cycle thanks to mobile and
tablet adoption. Just look at your web log files and track the proportion of visitors now
accessing you via their mobiles.

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Consumers are leading the charge, and companies must match their demands.
Yet to realise its full potential, companies must build consensus for a top-down mobile
agenda. It’s simply not enough to expect a mobile champion or mobile task force to introduce
and execute the company’s mobile agenda without Board level support. Consider the number
and range of senior stakeholders shown in the diagram who can feel highly threatened by the
mobile revolution. These ‘digital migrants’, who match the 45–54 or 55+ demographic profile
boxes, may see the disruptive threat direct mobile poses, but lack the knowledge base to
take advantage of the opportunity to gain competitive advantage for themselves and for their
companies.
Multiple stakeholders’ view of mobile: opportunity or threat? Source: Burner Mobile
Working with stakeholders in a large organisation to agree change process
rr Q. Agreed stakeholder management and change management process in a larger
organisation?
Getting agreement in a small organisation is relatively straightforward, but what about a
larger company? Board or senior management support for the mobile team mitigates this
risk.
Strategy recommendation 5 Obtain stakeholder buy-in for change management process
required by mobile
Working in concert, and following a single mobile agenda, carefully selected stakeholders
can accelerate the productivity of the mobile champion or mobile taskforce. However,
they all have the ability to sabotage mobile progress.
To fully embrace mobile, change management programs should be set in place also. The
Gleicher Formula outlines the three necessary preconditions for change programmes
to be successful in overcoming the resistance to change that is natural to humans and

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organisations. If any one of the three of D, V, or F are not present, then no change will
happen.
Managing change: The Gleicher Formula. Source: David Gleicher
In addition to a compelling vision, we would suggest that the mobile strategy should also
outline an urgent case for change as well as clarity on the first steps needed once the Vision
has been bought into – so as to secure maximum chances of buy-in and mobilisation around
the vision.
Delivering the mobile strategy requires engagement across the business in order to achieve
buy-in. We’ve all experienced managers who simply tell us what to do without bringing us
into the decision-making process, or sell us their preferred solution. Some of us have enjoyed
working for more enlightened managers who share the vision, consult us and give us the
resources to device the solution. The fortunate few will have enjoyed working with managers
who help co-create the solution.
This change management model applies to mobile adoption: the more we share the vision
and involve others, the more likely they are to engage and buy into the mobile solution.
Managing stakeholders: Tell, Sell, Test, Consult and Co-create. Source: Peter Senge. The
Fifth Discipline
You can get a better idea of the types of activities that form each of these areas in the
change management process.

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Techniques for managing change relevant to a mobile marketing implementation
In addition to these key issues of buy-in and change management, there are also more
practical issues of mobile strategy to review that we will discuss later in this book. These
include:
rr Q. Act and Convert strategies. Have value propositions for mobile marketing been
reviewed and defined?
This will include content and promotions strategies to activate use of mobile channels as
shown through the betfair example at the start of this step.
rr Q. Has our mobile platform strategy been defined?
This defines the level of support for different mobile platforms and devices on a roadmap
of developments.
rr Q. Has our Reach strategy been defined to maximise awareness of mobile and
encourage mobile activation?
This shows how you will use mobile-specific media, desktop digital media and traditional
media to target audiences to raise awareness, engagement and transactions.
rr Q. Has our engagement strategy defining customer and user communications been
defined?
Mobile CRM. Contact policy of the type and frequency of messaging.
rr Q. Have the multichannel journeys encouraged by mobile marketing been reviewed?
The ROPO experience must be prompted and tracked through mobile.
Tactics, Action and Control
These activities for implementing the chosen mobile solutions can be further broken down
by RACE. These are simply listed here briefly since they are covered in more depth in later
sections of this book.
Reach
rr Q. Have we reviewed the effectiveness of our SEO on mobile platforms?
rr Q. Are we using mobile-specific AdWords campaigns?
rr Q. Are we using mobile advertising networks to drive traffic?
rr Q. Have we created awareness of our mobile platforms through offline communications?
Act

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rr Q. Has a decision about the need for a mobile-optimised site been taken?
rr Q. Has a decision about mobile app propositions been taken?
rr Q. Have actions for encouraging mobile usage in physical locations been taken?
rr Q. Has action been taken on the creation of mobile-specific content assets?
rr Q. Have we personalised our offers to individuals in mobile channels to encourage
conversion?
Convert
rr Q. Can we track and segment conversion microsteps in mobile channels?
rr Q. Is our mobile search and browse merchandising effective?
rr Q. Has product selection through the shopping basket been optimised?
rr Q. Has our mobile checkout or registration form process been optimised?
rr Q. Have offline conversions referred by mobile channels been tracked and their use
encouraged?
Engage
rr Q. Have customer communications been used to encourage use of mobile services?
rr Q. Is our mobile CRM strategy defined and operational?
This includes a contact policy defining the type and frequency of communications.
rr Q. Do our emails work effectively on mobile devices?
rr Q. Have our options for mobile couponing and use of mobile operator customer loyalty
services been reviewed?
rr Q. Have we reviewed the options for permission-based text messaging?
To summarise your mobile strategy we recommend you use the strategy summary table in
our digital strategy toolkit applied to mobile. Here is an example for a transactional online
mobile site (not including an app).
Objectives Substantiation (informed
by situation analysis or
insight, example)
Strategies to achieve
goals
Key performance indi-
cators (critical success
factors)
1. Reach objectives.
Deliver 2 million
mobile site visitors in
year.
Extrapolation of current
growth in mobile segments
on current site plus +25%
increment from promotion in
other digital channels.
• Start investment in
Google AdWords for
mobile and mobile display
networks.
• Use device detection to
access mobile site.
• Promotion in store.
Click-through rates from
mobile-specific campaigns and
impression share delivered by
AdWords.
2. Act objectives.
• 4% add to basket
visit conversion
rate from mobile.
This conversion rate is around
two-thirds of desktop site
conversion. Consistent with
reporting industry examples.
• Develop mobile
site-specific search.
• Mobile site merchandising.
Mobile site search % and add
to basket rates.
Promo click-through rates.

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Objectives Substantiation (informed
by situation analysis or
insight, example)
Strategies to achieve
goals
Key performance indi-
cators (critical success
factors)
3. Convert objectives.
• Mobile AOV = £35
• Mobile Visit to
sale conversion
= 2%
This conversion rate is around
two-thirds of desktop site
conversion. Consistent with
reporting industry examples.
Initial implementation of mobile
checkout. This will be optimised
in future years.
Microstep conversion within
checkout process.
Registration process for new
customers.
4. Engagement
objectives.
Customer satisfaction
ratings of mobile
experience at 80% of
online.
Reviews placed and
repeat customer
conversion at 80% of
offline rates.
It is expected with the new
mobile site that satisfaction
ratings and repeat purchase
percentages will be slightly
lower, but this is unknown.
We need to check emails are
still successful in generating
reviews.
Combination of strategies:
• Email and mobile
messaging specific to
mobile site purchasers.
• Mobile couponing.
% of reviews.
With regards to the objectives for conversion and engagement, it’s important you keep a
close eye on the conversion rates and satisfaction for different stages in the funnel. This is
shown by the Debenhams ratings on page 28.
Average order will likely also be lower for mobile channels and this should be considered in
projections. Retailer M&S features discounts and offers more prominently through its mobile
site and app since this is most effective given when and where the mobile channels are used.

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THREE
Create compelling mobile experiences
rr Q. To develop brand engagement and commercial benefits through mobile, should we
invest in apps, mobile-optimised sites, or both?
This step looks at the challenges presented by each and practical tips to maximise user
experience. We start this section by reviewing the options available for app development.
We also look at the impact of HTML5 and the likely effect of Responsive Design in delivering
superior UX for all mobile Internet users.
Best Practice Tip 5 Review your mobile experience satisfaction scores carefully
Given the form factor of mobile devices, the usage situation and relative new technology
it is tough to create mobile experiences which rival those of the desktop. So it’s important
you keep a close eye on the conversion rates and satisfaction for different mobile platforms
against desktop at different stages in the funnel.
This relative performance of the Debenhams mobile site shared by Sarah Bailie shows how
satisfaction rating are significantly lower even for quite well-established mobile experiences.
Comparison of mobile and desktop experiences. Source: With thanks to Sarah Bailie, Mobile
commerce manager at Debenhams
Making the case for designing mobile-optimised sites
The mobile Internet is the vital heart around which the whole mobile ecosystem operates.
Investment in mobile advertising and search make it easier for consumers to find you on the
mobile Internet, but to encourage new mobile users to interact an effective mobile experience
is critical. As 4G spectrum spreads from the advanced mobile markets in Asia to Europe
and the USA, we argue that a mobile-optimised site is the critical starting point for all brands
building their mobile presence.
What is it? The mobile Internet
The mobile Internet refers to browser-based access to the Internet from a featurephone, a
smartphone or tablet computer, connected over a wireless network or via Wi-Fi.

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Morgan Stanley forecaster Mary Meeker rattled the cages of marketers, mobile bloggers and
tweeters back in 2009 when she predicted that Internet browsing via mobile devices would
exceed PC-based Internet browsing by 2014.12
Mobile Internet browsing is growing 150 per
cent year-on-year, and mobile analysts predict mobile browsing will surpass PC browsing in
2013, yet the vast majority of marketers are yet to optimise their sites for mobile.
Why does this matter? Well, it depends how you want your brand to be perceived by your
existing customers, whose browsing behaviour is being changed radically by smarter
handsets and tablets and, critically, by the younger generation of tech-savvy consumers
who have never known the world without a mobile phone by their sides 24/7 and have
expectations about engaging with brands on their mobiles. A survey conducted by John
Lewis shows one-third of those questioned would shift allegiance to another retailer if their
incumbent retailer’s mobile site offers a poor user experience.
Let’s look at the evidence. According to Google estimates, only 20 per cent of brands have
optimised their sites for mobile, which shows an uncanny correlation with their site analytics
revealing average mobile site ‘bounce’ rates of 79 per cent. The message here is that if you
simply serve up your full mobile site onto customers’ mobile phones, they will bounce off your
site immediately, and seek a competitor’s site which has been made for mobile.
Strategy recommendation 6 Mobile-optimised sites are critical for brands wanting to retain
customers and to prevent mobile-savvy competitors from eroding their market share
A recent survey of shoppers using mobile retail sites shows 30 per cent would switch
allegiance to a rival retailer which provides a better mobile user experience.
Optimising your site for mobile is no longer a ‘nice to have’. Failing to optimise your site has
the same effect as closing your High Street shop for two shopping days each week – you’re
closing your doors on potential customers.
When designing and building for the mobile Internet, user experience is everything. Let’s
consider the two key reasons:
Reason 1. Consumer intent
Our browsing intent on mobile is very different on mobile, compared with PC. A study by
Microsoft suggests the Internet purchase funnel from initial search to task completion is one
month on PC, and one hour on mobile. Whilst this will depend on the product and service
in question (high involvement car purchase or mortgage selection versus ‘impulse’ clothing,
confectionery or entertainment purchases), the point is that on mobile, we want to find,
access and buy quickly and easily. With limited screen size, navigation on the mobile web
must be quick, easy and intuitive.
Reason 2. Handset and screen size diversity
In the UK alone, there are over 600 different types of handsets with five core operating
systems in regular daily use. iPhone users will be well aware that they can’t view Flash
files on their handsets, BlackBerry users probably won’t reach for their BlackBerry when
wanting to browse the web, and those with legacy Nokias and the long, long tail of ‘feature
phones’ will probably question what the fuss is all about as their browsing experience is
limited by screen size and processing speeds. You need to cater for the handset in question,
maximising the handset’s capabilities, and not simply design and build for the lowest
common denominator.
12 Morgan Stanley: Mary Meeker forecast.

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So where do you start? In the next section we will take you through seven key issues to
consider.
Mobile-optimised site development – key issues to consider
There’s much conjecture about the proportion of web traffic which is mobile. Many B2B
brands we meet reckon the figure is less than five per cent. Retail and lifestyle brands are
seeing much more significant mobile traffic on their sites: Subway is detecting 50 per cent
of traffic to its site on mobiles between 12.00 and 1.00pm on weekdays. Facebook is seeing
roughly half of all browsing sessions on its site conducted on mobiles. As we’ve said before,
check your analytics and look for day-part and seasonal variations.
The ‘accepted’ average figure for mobile hits on sites stands at around 20 per cent. It’s worth
noting that Google Analytics is likely to under-estimate the proportion of mobile traffic as their
servers are not detecting all the Java Script calls by some mobile devices.
In this section we will consider six key issues to consider when working with your technical
team or agency to review the options for creating mobile sites. In the section on design and
build we will review different technical alternatives for creating the mobile site. We will give
examples throughout, but highly recommend you take a look at this compilation of Mobile
Design Patterns.13
1. Identify whether the browser is using a PC or mobile device
rr Q. Are mobile site redirects in place?
This is straightforward and no capable agency would create a mobile site without this. It’s as
well to be aware how they work.
For an example of this, take a look at www.autoglass.co.uk which uses a wide range of
mobile within their detection scripts. Ticketsnow.com gives another example we will return
to in a moment. If you take a look at the mobile home pages of http://m.autoglass.co.uk or
http://m.ticketsnow.com you will see a simple auto detection script in action.
Best Practice Tip 6 Detect mobile traffic and auto re-direct to a mobile URL
The first task is to identify whether the browser hitting your site is using a PC or a mobile
device. Adding a script on your site will detect the PC browsers – who should be served the
‘full fat’ version of the site – and the mobile browsers – who will be redirected to a mobile-
optimised version of the site. There is no need at this stage to use a separate URL.
Craig Sullivan,14
Ebusiness manager of Belron explains that for Autoglass they use
network-level packet sniffing to detect the user’s device and redirect to the relevant site.
They also use cookies to remember these preferences for future visits, but with flexibility for
the user to change to their preferred mode. Here is one example of a script to detect mobile
browsers.15
2. Define supported handset and handset capabilities
rr Q. Have supported handsets been defined?
Closely related to the first issue, you will need to decide which set of handsets your mobile
site will be compatible with.
13 Smashing Magazine: Mobile Design Patterns.
14 Craig Sullivan freely shares his experience of mobile usability on Slideshare.
15 Example browser detection script.

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Best Practice Tip 7 Define target handsets
With the wide range of mobile devices, mobile operating systems and browsers it won’t be
possible to select all, so you will have to set the balance to improve experience on some
devices against the number of users.
The most popular handset, the iPhone, has achieved a market share of 12 per cent, but that
leaves 88 per cent of mobile users owning other handsets, with different screen sizes, user
interfaces and operating systems. The 10 most prevalent handsets comprise less than 25 per
cent of mobile users, which means there’s a long tail of legacy handsets.
So how do you deliver an engaging user experience for each and every handset? The key
is to identify the handset from the first browsing session on your server, which can be done
instantly by matching the handset’s profile against a live, constantly updated database
of mobile handsets. Device Atlas is one of several open source databases which contain
handset profiles.
Perhaps you only have a 95 per cent coverage of key devices and need to expand your
coverage further? The Keynote Device Anywhere16
test center can help to review your
coverage here:
DeviceAnywhere
3. Define how content will be repurposed for mobile
rr Q. Have we specified how content will be redefined for mobile handsets?
While you can present the same content to mobile users as desktop users, you will typically
want to reduce the volume of content. It may be possible to do this in a dynamic way, but
otherwise separate content for each device may need to be defined.
16 Device Anywhere test center.

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You should be aiming to build and maintain one content management system (CMS), which
populates both the PC and mobile version of the site. To deliver consistent content, whether
a content catalogue, journey planner or rich media library, it makes sense to integrate the
data held in the existing CMS back end with the PC Internet site and mobile site front ends.
Once you’ve identified the handset you will know which content you can deliver to that
handset, and how to present the content. The most obvious example is video content, which
should be delivered to iPhones in a format other than Flash, for example, using MP4 files.
Space does not allow a detailed examination of the tools provided by mobile web build
specialists. For example, Netbiscuits.com or Mfabrik.com.
Best Practice Tip 8 Repurpose content dynamically
To deliver a good user experience, play to the handset’s display capabilities and suppress
content which won’t render properly.
4. Design and build
rr Q. Does the mobile design follow best practice?
This is probably the most demanding step, and the one which distinguishes the average,
vanilla-looking, templated sites from the high-end sites with complete customisation, which
offer a richer and more compelling browsing experience for users.
Content must be quick and easy to find, as mobile browsers have limited time, and
immediate ‘intent’. Navigation is critical. Content should always be accessible within three
clicks, and mobile sites should be built ‘on-tracks’, i.e. scrolling should be vertical only, not
horizontal.
You need to carefully consider best practices for mobile usability which share much in
common with desktop usability. Remember that usability is based on:
þþ Time to complete a defined task.
þþ User satisfaction with completing a task.
For a home page this means simplicity is key. Let’s take a look at an example:
TicketsNow mobile home page
This example is arguably too simple, but it shows how a simple home page was created by

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Tickets Now who we introduced in Step 1. This enables browsing, search and support brand
information – links to explain the marketplace and the guarantee.
Strategy recommendation 7 Ensure the mobile site EASILY supports top user tasks
The main user tasks that should be supported on mobile are similar to a desktop site, but
there must be fewer: KISS! The main tasks on the home page for a retailer are typically:
þþ 1. Browse. Decide on the key categories to display. M&S (see previous step) use a grid
rather than simple ‘rails’ to enable more categories to be displayed.
þþ 2. Search. Determine whether browse or search is most popular for your brand. For a
ticketing site, search is usually most important, but browsing is more important in retail
typically.
þþ 3. Branding messages. These can explain the brand heritage, why it can be trusted,
and if it’s an unusual service (like Autoglass below), how the service works.
þþ 4. Merchandising. Promotions and recommendations about products.
þþ 5. Support. Usually below the fold, but customer service is always important.
Some may also consider social sharing essential, but this makes more sense in the context
of content to share
Autoglass brand-related messages accessed via the About page
We will now review four common options for mobile site development:
þþ Mobile site design option A. Simple mobile site (different content).
þþ Mobile site design option B. Screen-scrape (same content).

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þþ Mobile site option C. Responsive Design (same content, different mobile styling).
þþ Mobile site option D. HTML5 site (same content, different mobile styling).
These are not mutually exclusive, so an HTML5 site would typically offer Responsive Design
too.
Mobile site design option A. Simple mobile site
The quickest method of creating a mobile site is perhaps to create a completely separate
mobile site on a domain http://m.company.com which has a different design, build, hosting
and content. This option may be appropriate for very small businesses who want a simple
mobile site which they don’t update frequently, but we would advise this not a viable
long-term option for most companies for these reasons:
ýý Updates to content have to be duplicated across each site.
ýý Different tools and resources often needed to manage each site.
ýý Future updates to styling have to be duplicated too.
ýý May not give a consistent brand experience for users.
Best Practice Tip 9 Use the http://m.<domain-name>.com standard for naming mobile
sites
Companies have adopted this informal standard, simply because the ‘m’ subdomain is
shorter to type than ‘mobile’.
Mobile site design option B. Screen-scrape
Although it’s not the option we recommend, it’s worth noting that a number of high profile
brands have opted for a temporary ‘screen-scrape’ approach, which involves dropping
existing web content into a basic mobile site template without opting for back end integration.
The advantage of the screen-scrape approach is that it presents a quick route to market, and
avoids contact potential conflict between PC web and mobile web developers.
Example ‘Screen-scraped sites’(Many are being updated to give a more personalised experi-
ence at the time of writing)
Think through the widespread disadvantages of screen scraping when compared with the
fully integrated approach, which provides the better long-term solution.
ýý The screen-scrape option incurs additional time and cost to manage the site, as changes
to the back end CMS will need to be updated manually on the mobile site, rather than
benefitting from automatic updates.

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ýý A quick look at ‘screen-scrape’ sites reveals an alarming degree of standardisation across
the sites, and lacks the differentiation brands demand across their PC websites. Take
a look at the four retail sites below, cover the headers, and you’ll see they all follow an
identical template.
Mobile site design option C. Responsive Design
Today’s multiple-device using consumers need content in the right format in real time, which
presents challenges as the form factor and operating system varies across most of their
devices. Enter Responsive Design, which automates the overlay of contextually relevant
content matching the profiles of mobile users – allowing you to access social media feeds,
loyalty offers and other data feeds triggered by your preferences to maximise engagement
and to optimise sales conversion.
First introduced as a concept in 2010, Responsive Design is the principle web developers
deploy to design one website that adapts to any device using modern web development
methods like CSS3 and image scaling.
Responsive Design can also automate the overlay of contextually relevant content matching
the profiles of mobile users. For example, if you’re targeting heavy social media users,
Responsive Design allows you to import, automatically, customers’ social media feeds to
display product recommendations. If you’re after deal junkies, you can hook into their loyalty
programmes and deliver time and location sensitive mobile coupon offers to optimise sales
conversion.
The main proponents are web front end developers who can use Responsive Design to
remove the need for separate sites and teams and they can claim to support all channels.
Although there are thousands of examples of websites based on Responsive Design, only a
limited number of big companies have adopted it.
Responsive Design is an increasingly popular approach to building mobile sites since it
enables a single version of the site and content to be maintained which adapts for different
resolutions. It’s value is best illustrated by an example. This simple example illustrates it well.
You can see that the full-screen desktop version has two main columns while the iPad and
iPhone examples have a single column with the menus wrapping around (a limitation of this
example).
Contrast this to what we often see when browsing using a smartphone: tiny text and difficult
to select buttons and navigation which require us to zoom in to select the next page.
What is it? Responsive Design

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A design approach where the layout of the page adapts to the current screen resolution
whether desktop, tablet or mobile screens based on a single version of the site content.
This contrasts with a traditional approach where the design is developed for a fixed
number of pixels for each type of device.
Technically speaking, Responsive Design uses cascading styles sheets, in particular an
approach called media queries17
to specify how the page is laid out. If you want a more
technical briefing on Responsive Design we recommend this briefing from Smashing
Magazine.18
The alternative to Responsive Design is a fixed-width template specifically designed for a
mobile site.
The reason that most major companies have not embraced Responsive Design is that
although it’s technically straightforward, it complicates the layout of pages and information
architecture. Designers have to plan for the most common denominator between different
devices which will usually lead to a compromise. The ongoing trade-off remains the same:
any website should be as responsive as possible without compromising the user experience
for desktop, tablet and mobile screens, which brings us back to the main theme in the
section: user experience based on intent and context.
If your customers are accessing your site on their smartphones whilst out shopping, their
intent will be seeking store locations, product ranges, price comparison, offers. When
browsing at home on their PCs, laptops and tablets, they will be seeking more detailed
product information, ratings and reviews. We believe the primary goal of the site must be to
deliver the content optimised for the context and intent of their browsing experience. This
trumps ease of managing the design and build process.
Mobile site design option D. HTML5
We argue that the real potential of the mobile Internet for retailers lies ahead. The major
game changer for brands creating a mobile web presence is HTML5, the browser technology
which comes pre-installed on every smartphone. Companies operating in the main sectors
now using mobile – retail, packaged goods, travel, financial services, publishing – are turning
to HTML5 ‘web apps’ in order to build once and target all mobile platforms at once. This is
more cost-effective and less labour-intensive than building different native apps for iOS,
Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry.
HTML5 blurs the line between sites and apps, and challenges the prominence and cashflow
of the appstore hosts. According to Bernstein Research, the widespread adoption of HTML5
for web apps could cut Apple’s operating profit growth by 30 per cent by 2015.
HTML5 browsers provide clear benefits for brands and users alike, including better provision
of rich media, the ability to access and use data submitted in previous browsing sessions,
and accessibility regardless of signal strength.
Mobile commentators watch the effects on the HTML5 on the industry closely, says Jeffrey
Hammond, principal analyst at Forrester Research: ‘With more and more companies
investing in HTML5 sites, we will see a reduction in porting costs to support other platforms
like Android and Windows 8. This will erode, but not eliminate Apple’s first mover advantage.’
From the commercial perspective, HTML5 allows developers and publishers to
circumnavigate the 30 per cent commission charged by Apple and Google on app download
17 World wide web consortium: media queries.
18 Smashing Magazine: introduction to responsive design.

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costs and a further 30 per cent on products and subscriptions sold ‘in-app’. Both costs can
be eliminated with HTML5-based sites.
From the technical perspective, HTML5 apps have some problems that native apps do not.
HTML5 apps are typically slower than native apps. The switch from native apps to HTML5
apps will not happen overnight, but its potential to transform mobile Internet browsing is
immense.
HTML5 case study – FT.com
FT.com proves that HTML5 web apps are now providing clear benefits over OS-specific
apps.
The success of the FT.com web app shows that developing mobile platform-specific apps
isn’t the only option; in future, the dependence on app stores for each mobile native OS may
seem quaint. The figures on digital publishing by FT.com a year after the app was launched
certainly show the importance of mobile:
þþ Digital subscriptions to the title, which operate behind a metered paywall increased 31 per
cent year-on-year to more than 300,000.
þþ The number of registered users climbed 29 per cent to 4.8 million.
þþ Mobile devices account for 25 per cent of traffic to FT.com, while there are 2.7 million FT
web app users.
FT.com HTML5 mobile site, it’s not a native mobile app
The FT does a great job in explaining the benefits of non-OS apps. Under the heading, ‘a
better, faster app’, the FT explains these benefits:
þþ Web browser access – No app store download needed.
þþ Automatic enhancements – No need to visit an app store for the latest version.
þþ Reading offline – The latest edition is automatically stored for offline access (this is
possible with native OS apps).
þþ Speed – Improved performance on most connections.

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þþ Greater range of content – Including video on iPhone – this get’s around the problem of
Flash players.
þþ Use your existing account – no additional registration required.
Of course, the other big benefit for publishers, not mentioned here, is that they can take a
bigger share of subscription revenues. The app was launched in June 2011 in response to
Apple’s introduction of new rules governing subscription-based iOS apps – Apple is looking
for a 30 per cent cut of subscription revenues for people signing up from its native app and
keeping access to those subscribers.
Rob Grimshaw of FT.com told The Guardian that switching to HTML5 wasn’t just about a
spat with Apple, but was an attempt to ensure the FT could scale quickly across different
devices and platforms: ‘The origins of the web app come from thinking more broadly about
our mobile strategy, and particularly how we are going to cope with developing for numerous
different platforms,’ he said.’There are at least five [native mobile platforms] out there that
you reasonably have to cover, and a web app is the obvious solution. We just accelerated it
because of some of the things Apple did with their subscriptions.’
5. Consider personalisation options
rr Q. Have mobile personalisation options been considered?
Mobile sites featuring personalisation are still relatively unusual. This is surprising if you
consider that one phone has one user. Ask a group of strangers to pass their phones round
the room and you’ll detect a potent sense of anxiety. We don’t share our phones, with
anyone. We don’t want others seeing the texts we send and receive, the photos we’ve taken,
our social media pages, the sites we’ve browsed or the apps we’ve downloaded.
This means that we can develop highly personalised and customised sites. Back end
integration, with application programming interfaces (APIs) exposing individual customer
records, can be used to build bespoke sites which match the profile of each user. Look no
further than Amazon to see how brands can use purchase history data and apply intelligence
to develop sites with highly targeted product offers. To make your sites highly relevant to
users, you can apply behavioural targeting, with time and location sensitive messaging.
A personalised mobile-optimised site has the benefit that specific features can be developed
for mobile users. This is not the case with a basic Responsive Design approach. Back end
integration enabling linkage to individual customer records, can be used to build bespoke
sites which match the profile of each user. Amazon is well known for integrating purchase
history data and apply intelligence to its desktop site with highly targeted product offers. Of
course, it now also does this for its mobile site.

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Amazon home page personalised recommendations
To make your site(s) highly relevant to users, you can apply behavioural targeting, with time
and location sensitive messaging.
Best Practice Tip 10 Use personalisation to increase relevance of mobile sites
Personalise your mobile site to serve content matching users’ customer profiles with
product, and even time- and location-based updates.
This is the way the designs above could look if the designs were more personalised:
Wireframes of personalised site alternatives
6. Measurement and conversion rate optimisation
rr Q. Are measurement and CRO in place?
Mobile provides a time- and location-rich data trail – in realtime – for you to track interactions,
and fine tune to maximise conversion.
Mobile web analytics allow us to track the origin of browsers, their handset profiles, and
their browsing patterns, broken down to unique users, repeat users, page views, dwell time
per page and per session. We can also review bounce rates, which average 80 per cent for
mobile sites, weighted by the majority which remain non-optimised for mobile. As for desktop

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sites, we need to define our conversion points and KPIs for each conversion step as shown.
Conversion funnel steps and KPIs for each
Measuring interactions is important, but the real value comes in using that data to nudge
users down the purchase funnel. To boost sales on mobile, we should examine drop-off
between those putting goods in their virtual carts and those completing the transaction.
When building mobile commerce sites, keep the user experience as simple and as
‘frictionless’ as possible to reduce drop-offs. Having analysed drop-off statistics, you can
target those who came close to making the purchase by re-targeting with SMS reminders,
with mobile surveys, with timely banner ads and offers encouraging them to return to your
site.
To boost offline sales conversion, share with your retail store, car dealer or equivalent the
browsing profile of the potential and returning customer. Consider how much more likely it
is that the car dealer will close the deal with the prospect if he knows in advance about the
prospect’s browsing behaviour. Consider the improved prospects of a car dealer closing the
deal when the prospect comes to the dealership for his test drive if the dealer has already
received meta-data of previous web browsing sessions, which allows him to open the
conversation on the performance, security or energy efficiency topics which matter most to
the prospect.
Best Practice Tip 11 Plan ahead for mobile CRO
Conversion rate optimisation is becoming more established for desktop sites and is needed
for mobile sites too. Make sure the solution you choose for building your mobile site
enables you to track and report on site effectiveness.
You may think you know what your customers will find most interesting and engaging on your
site. Reviewing your web traffic will confirm or refute this. If you see significant page views
for some sections of you site, you should be allocating resource and space to that section,
if you’re seeing other sections being ignored, either demote the position of that section to
‘below the fold’, or omit it from the site altogether, and focus on the more popular sections.
Recommended resource? Improving your site with Google Analytics

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The Seven Step Guide to Google Analytics guides you through common questions to
ask through analytics to improve a site. These also apply to a mobile site and should be
compared with the main site. Key questions to ask include:
þþ 1. Q. What are the main referring traffic sources?
þþ 2. Q. What are the main entry points? (Home page will be higher for a mobile site
typically.)
þþ 3. Q. What are the common customer journeys from the entry points? (The search v
browse behaviour will be different for mobile.)
þþ 4. Q. Which customer paths and content help generate the most value?
þþ 5. Q. What are the comparative conversion point drop-offs?
Specialist mobile analytics tools
Google Analytics will provide similar information about site performance for a mobile site as it
will for a desktop site. Some mobile site owners look for more detailed insight from specialist
suppliers. Examples of the some of the most popular specialist mobile analytics services
include:
þþ Flurry Analytics (www.flurry.com). This free service is used by over 75,000 companies
to measure audience reach, engagement, retention, conversions and revenue for apps.
Flurry tracks 37 billion app sessions each month (1.8 billion daily) based on over 20
million live app users worldwide.
þþ Bango Analytics. One of the main features is unique visitor identification that can be
used to understand repeat usage across devices and detailed information about access
through devices and operators.
þþ Velti mGAGE. A focus on campaign metrics reviewing multichannel metrics.
þþ Mixpanel. A real-time analytics service popular with publishers which provides mobile
analytics including apps through segments.
Qualitative assessments of the site experience
You can only get so much insight from the hard numbers available in a web analytics system;
getting feedback from customers will help explain why you may have problems with customer
journeys highlighted by analytics. As we showed in the Debenhams example at the start of
the Step, you should report on satisfaction ratings across your site.
Visitor intent surveys are particularly important for mobile since you can see the main
reasons for a visit to a site. A visitor intent survey involves asking the user why they visited
the site through an exit survey and whether it was effective for them. We think they’re
essential since your web analytics will only tell you so much – what visitors DO, not what they
FEEL. See this article for the full range of tools available.19
Five top tips for producing great mobile sites
As a summary to this section, review the five following common challenges brands face when
building a mobile web presence. Which do you have covered and which don’t you?
19 Smart Insights: Online qualitative feedback tools.

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Challenge Issue Solution
One site or
two?
Should you transcode (‘screen-scrape’)
your main website into a standard mobile
template to create a separate site or
optimise your site for mobile?
Create one site, hosted on one URL, fed by one
CMS rather than building a separate site, which
requires duplicated content updates.
Right content Agree on a clearly defined content plan
(news and info, entertainment, mobile
commerce).
Offer content which mobile users want to access
on their handsets: maps, info, shopping, social
networking and coupons are most popular mobile
Internet activities.
UX Smaller screen size and lack of keyboard
make easy, simple navigation critical.
Use simple navigation; vertical not horizontal
navigation. Icons are easier to access than text
links, and appear more ‘app-like’.
Personalisation Personalised content maximises page views,
extends dwell time, attracts repeat visits.
Build in behavioural-, location- and time-based
components. See Responsive Design section
below.
Promotion Mobile users want to find you quickly and
easily on the mobile Internet.
Use all media channels to drive traffic; use
trackable links to detect which evaluate channel
efficiency
The case for designing mobile apps
The logic for investing in mobile apps is compelling, but there are significant costs. With
the advances in the browser-based mobile Internet option, there are now serious questions
about the ongoing role of native apps. The benefits include:
þþ Personalisation. When I download an app, it becomes ‘mine’, creating an easy,
convenient, instant one-to-one shortcut to the chosen brand.
þþ Payment channel. iTunes or alternatives give a convenient, secure and trusted channel
for mobile users to pay for music, games and other entertainment using app downloads
and in-app purchases.
þþ Preference. The majority of mobile time by users is spent using apps rather than mobile:
time spent with apps measures 90 minutes per day against 75 minutes for sites.
Strategy recommendation 8 Don’t feel obliged to build an app because everyone else is
If you’re a large brand an app will be worthwhile since you will get the returns from a
faster experience and clearer navigation. However, remember that 85 per cent of apps
are opened only once. Be clear about the consumer and business benefit upfront.
With the advances in the browser-based mobile Internet option, there are now serious questions
about the ongoing role of native apps.
Let’s rewind the clock to 2007 when Apple made its debut in mobile with the iPhone launch,
and imagine how different the mobile landscape looked. Clunky handsets, costly data and poor
browsing technology rendered the mobile Internet a non-viable option for brands seeking to
build a robust mobile presence. This created a vacuum for apps to gain traction and multiply,
rapidly.
Apps have enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence in their short lifetime, having first appeared
on the screens of early adopting iPhone users back in July 2008. By March 2012, Apple
reported 25 billion app downloads, with app downloads tracking at 1 billion per month, a
number matched by its major app store competitor, Google Play. Apps have made a healthy
contribution to Apple’s revenues, generating an estimated $6 billion, which includes the 30

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