The hyper-connected consumer of today has little patience for clutter or noise. His smartphone is the compass with which he engages the world, the persistent interface that guides him through the ever-evolving digital landscape. How then, as marketers, do we evolve in order to not only keep pace with the mobile revolution, but also to utilize it as intended? The smartphone is intensely personal, intimately integrated into our social graphs, superior in its contextual awareness of time and space, hyper-connected and nearly always within arm’s reach. The smartphone has, in essence, become a natural extension of our human selves. Yet, despite the newfound wealth of opportunities available to mobile marketers, we have been consistently and fundamentally flawed in both strategy and execution. Quite simply put, we’re doing it all wrong.

1. 5 Flaws in Your Mobile
Marketing Strategy

2. The hyper-connected consumer of today has little
patience for clutter or noise. His smartphone is the
compass with which he engages the world, the
persistent interface that guides him through the ever-
evolving digital landscape.

3. How then, as marketers, do we evolve in order to not
only keep pace with the mobile revolution, but also to
utilize it as intended?

4. The smartphone is intensely personal, intimately
integrated into our social graphs, superior in its
contextual awareness of time and space, hyper-
connected and nearly always within arm’s reach.

5. The smartphone has, in essence, become a natural
extension of our human selves.

6. Yet, despite the newfound wealth of opportunities
available to mobile marketers, we have been consistently
and fundamentally flawed in both strategy and
execution. Quite simply put, we’re doing it all wrong.

7. 1. Flaw: De-Emphasizing the Unique Nature of the
Medium

8. Although they share a common infrastructure, mobile is
not the traditional web. In fact, the two have few
equivalents in the stationary web world.

9. The stationary web is exactly that – inactive. With that
said, why would mobile design, which should be focused
on creating an experience unique to those who are
actively on-the-go, be constructed with an inactive
model in mind?

10. Mobile events are inherently transitive in nature. The
different elements of the medium — constant
connectivity, location awareness, personalization and
social connection — add affinity to consumer/brand
interactions and empower the medium uniquely as an
events-driven interface.

11. These features form the foundation for consumer
interaction — a tight, relevant orchestration of branded
communications among increasingly interconnected
brand advocates.

12. 2. Flaw: Treating Connected Consumers as
Stationary Targets

13. Mobile consumers are moving targets; therefore,
marketers must consider the variability of exchange.

14. Where is the consumer right now? What is she interested
in? How can I compel her to visit my store location?
What can I reward her with to increase her loyalty to the
brand? How can I use the medium to make her
encounter the brand more efficient? What experience
can I provide to her that she would feel compelled to
share?

15. When viewed through this lens, the possibilities for
engaging consumers are limited only to the imagination
and ingenuity of the brand.

16. 3. Flaw: Ignoring the Power of Contextual
Relevance

17. The mobile medium represents the most powerful
mechanism for delivering contextually relevant,
consumer-brand marketing communications. To take
advantage of its unique capabilities, however, successful
marketing strategies must evolve alongside these
communicating customers.

18. The digital natives of today’s hyper-connected world
seek contextual relevance when engaging with brands.
Their experiences are defined not only by the message
itself, but by the context in which the message is
presented.

19. Marketers who effectively tackle today’s mobile variables
will provide consumers with unique experiences that are
differentiated, highly relevant and intensely personal.
Only then will we collectively realize the power and
influence of marketing in the moment.

20. 4. Flaw: Employing Old World, Unidirectional
Communications Strategies

21. Effective consumer engagement can no longer take an
unidirectional mindset. Today’s digital natives are
constantly presented with a dizzying array of branded
digital touchpoints. They are expecting consistent yet
unique communication and brand message.

22. Brands are now challenged to become adept transmedia
storytellers, to create a message that syncs with the
communication medium in which it’s delivered.

23. Brands must move beyond simply marketing to people
but, instead, must master marketing to a context that is
determined by device or platform. They must consider
the specific medium which they choose to engage.

24. 5. Flaw: Not Offering Value in Exchange for Value

25. Establishing consumer relationships through mobile
marketing, as with any successful relationship, inherently
requires a mutual exchange of value.

26. Regardless of the strategies or technologies employed,
successful mobile marketing relies heavily on a fair and
evenly balanced value exchange between consumer and
brand.

27. Without the perception that value is mutual, the
relationship becomes essentially one-sided and
unrequited. The customer may attempt to end the
relationship — perhaps permanently.

28. In Conclusion

29. Given the intensely personal nature of smart devices,
coupled with the fact that the device is nearly always
within arm’s reach, it becomes extremely important that
mobile marketing avoids being intrusive and irrelevant.

30. Conventional marketing wisdom advocates a right
audience + right message + right time methodology,
designed to entice a stationary audience. In mobile, the
same principles don’t necessarily apply.

31. Rather than marketing at the target with brand-centric
storytelling, wherever and however she may encounter
you, allow the tale to travel along with her as she goes.

32. Communicate the narrative, allow the mobile medium to
reveal ensuing chapters in a continuum of branded
engagements.

33. Scott Forshay
scott.forshay@gmail.com
Twitter @scottforshay