Developing a Strategy for Mobile Maturity + Investment; A Webtrends White Paper

1. WHITEPAPER / MOBILE ANALYTICS
Developing a Strategy for
Mobile Maturity and Investment
WHITEPAPER / MOBILE ANALY TICS

2. AT A GLANCE
Business Trend
Consumers across the globe continue to spend more and more time on their mobile devices. Many brands are
dedicating a higher percentage of their marketing budgets to engage an audience in this new channel. However,
total marketing budgets remain relatively fixed, which puts pressure on mobile marketers to justify spending as
they try to grow and monetize their mobile audience.
At Issue
Even as businesses are starting to better articulate their strategy, a majority is still not effectively measuring the
performance of their mobile tactics. With unclear objectives, no key performance indicators, and lacking tools to
assess and optimize programs, proving return on investment is a major challenge.
Business Solution
As mobile matures as a marketing channel, it will have a significant impact on the bottom line, ultimately leading
to increased revenue and/or decreased costs. Measurement of the direct and indirect contribution of mobile
marketing towards these business objectives is necessary in order to properly manage this channel. With digital
analytics, they measure what matters to their business, build a business case for ongoing investment, and
identify opportunities to incrementally increase returns.
YOUR BRAND IN MORE PLACES
More than a decade ago, companies scrambled to take their businesses and brands to the web. Under great
pressure, marketers rushed in with little more than blind faith in the new online channel. Few knew what a
website could do for their business, yet no one wanted to be left behind without an online presence. The
elements for sophisticated online marketing—web sales, strategies, interactive applications, search engine
optimization and web analytics—were either in their infancy or nonexistent. The Internet was too new to
measure. But over time, common standards were developed.
We take for granted that a website will open equally well in Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari, but in the
mobile world, what works fine on an iPhone may not work at all on a BlackBerry or Android phone.
Today, marketers are faced with similar circumstances, as well as
“Ever since Beta versus VHS, we’ve been new challenges, in taking their brand mobile:
in an environment where if you made App platform fragmentation makes it expensive and time
the wrong choice, you ended up behind. consuming to achieve broad reach with native applications
And it’s true right now. You’re going to Varying device capabilities create need for multiple mobile
be making a bet, and if you make the web experiences adding complexity and cost
wrong bet, you might regret it later.” Information about their potential mobile audience isn’t easily
accessible, requiring a lot of guesswork in developing go-to
– Josh Bernoff of Forrester Research market strategies
on NPR’s Marketplace, Jan. 27, 2010 Mobile measurement is new, lacks common standards, and is
of ten overlooked in the planning and deployment of mobile
sites and apps
WHITEPAPER / MOBILE ANALY TICS

3. Over the next few years of the mobile journey, some technologies will flourish while others may disappear.
Which ones are anyone’s guess, but one thing is certain: Mobile is contributing to the splintering, or multiple
ways, in which your customers access the Internet and how they engage with your company. Ongoing
measurement to show that you are on the right track is imperative.
MOBILE USERS > DESKTOP INTERNET USERS WITHIN 5 YEARS
Global Mobile vs. Desktop Internet User Projection, 2007 – 2015E
2,000
1,600
Internet Users (MM)
1,200
800
Mobile Internet Users
Desktop Internet Users
400
0
2007E 2008E 2009E 2010E 2011E 2012E 2013E 2014E 2015E
Source: Stanley Research
ACHIEVING SCALE AS A MARKETING CHANNEL
Mobile adoption has quickly achieved a scale that brands cannot ignore. And it will just keep growing.
Currently, four out of every 10 mobile customers in the U.S. uses a smartphone, according to a recent
Interactive Advertising Bureau study released July 2011.
Over 26 million people in the U.S. will be using tablets this year, growing to 82 million in just four
years, according to Forrester Research, 2011.
iTunes App Store now of fers nearly 450,000 apps, which raced past 10 billion downloads in January
2011
Retailer eBay achieved more than $2.5 billion in sales through mobile in 2010 and expects to double
that amount in 2011.
As mobile becomes a preferred way that customers access information and interact with companies, it will also
become a critical marketing channel. However, in the race to catch up with consumer demand and achieve a
competitive advantage, many businesses still haven’t projected how mobile fits into their overall digital
marketing mix or how to measure its success.
WHITEPAPER / MOBILE ANALY TICS

4. AT ISSUE: DEVELOPING APPS BEFORE DEVELOPING GOALS
Measuring performance tends to get overlooked when companies first venture into the mobile channel. Without clear
objectives, an app may achieve one-time novelty status but still fail to accomplish any business goals.
Too frequently, marketers skip the critical step of defining and planning a mobile market strategy, heading straight to
application development instead. Many enter the mobile arena with an iPhone app, cross their fingers, and hope it
achieves something positive. Others roll out mobile apps across all major platforms and hope one catches on. Often
companies publish an app and then spend their resources maintaining it. And others choose to focus on mobile web
because they believe apps will go the way of the dinosaur.
Understanding what influences consumer behavior and purchasing decisions is vital to an effective mobile marketing
strategy. Before your development phase gets underway, decide how and, more importantly, what you will measure
to assess your mobile channel’s effectiveness.
MEASURING WHAT MATTERS:
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Four questions are vital to measuring the success of your mobile apps and sites:
1. Are people finding and using your mobile properties?
2. How engaged and loyal are your users?
3. Are they engaging in high value activities and becoming customers?
4. How do we retain customers and encourage usage?
The answers to these questions, or key performance indicators (KPIs) provide insight that guides
development, ongoing improvements and methods for retaining customers.
ARE PEOPLE FINDING AND USING YOUR APPS AND SITES?
To influence the adoption of your mobile sites and apps, it is necessary to generate awareness and interest
with your target audience, both inside and outside the app markets. For instance, what are you doing
today to promote your apps? How are you helping people find out that you have a mobile site? What tactics
are you currently using—website, mobile site, email and text messaging programs, paid and organic
search, other forms of traditional advertising? As you adjust your promotions, monitor changes in these
mobile measures:
Total Downloads – Number of times your app is downloaded from an app store. It demonstrates the
amount of interest in your application and provides an upper bound for the number of active users you
may have at any one time (but remember, it’s a limited measure on its own).
App Users – Number of unique application users over a period of time. This metric shows how many
people actually use the application after downloading.
Active User Rate – Ratio of the number of app users to the total downloads. This helps you understand
if you are gaining or losing your audience over time.
New Users – Count the number of users that first used your app during a period of time. This is a useful
metric in comparison with active user rate to see if you are staying ahead of the customer attrition
curve.
WHITEPAPER / MOBILE ANALY TICS

5. Site Visitors – Number of unique visitors to the site over a period of time. This metric shows how many
people use the mobile site.
New Visitors – Count the number of visitors that first accessed your site during a period of time. This is
a useful metric to understand if you are interacting with the same users or unique people over time.
HOW ENGAGED AND LOYAL ARE YOUR USERS?
Are you of fering functionality and services that are useful or desirable to your users? When making a value
judgment, think about how you expect your customers to use your application over time. Reading daily
news, finding a restaurant, booking a flight, searching for a doctor, checking a balance, paying a bill,
reporting an auto accident—all have dif ferent frequencies of use. The best measures for user engagement
are:
Frequency of Visit – Ratio of the number of visits to the number of users over a period of time. This
shows how often your app or site is being used. It is one gauge of user loyalty.
Depth of Visit – Number of screens viewed on average compared to the number of visits. Together with
duration, this metric gives you insight into how engaged your customers are with your app or site.
Duration – The average amount of time spent in the application or site. As with depth of visit, an
indicator of how engaged your mobile audience is.
Bounce Rate – Ratio of the number of user visits with a single view event to the total number of visits.
This helps you understand how many of your users are just starting up your app and then closing it
again. Or how many are landing on your site and then immediately abandoning it.
ARE THEY ENGAGING IN HIGH VALUE ACTIVITIES AND
BECOMING CUSTOMERS?
High value or conversion measures reflect what you want customers to do when using your app. For
example, do you want them to purchase a product, view a movie trailer or register for a promotion? Taking
measurement to this level of detail is critical to demonstrating business value for any mobile marketing
tactic, whether it is a simple mobile site, full-featured commercial app or SMS campaign.
Most importantly, high-value measures evaluate mobile channel success as defined by your company’s
overall marketing objectives. For example, if the overall objective is to reduce operational and customer
support costs with self-service capabilities, be sure to identif y all of the ways your app does this. Map your
measurement to individual customers who successfully complete those self-service activities.
Audience characteristics – Include in the planning phase. Think about the characteristics of the audience
you are trying to reach and what you can distinctly offer them through an app, mobile site or SMS.
Starting with a market-focused approach will make it easier to identify these elements.
User activities –Think about the activities you provide that generate revenue, cost savings or brand
engagement for your business.
WHITEPAPER / MOBILE ANALY TICS

6. HOW DO WE RETAIN APP CUSTOMERS AND
ENCOURAGE USAGE?
Too many times people download apps and never use them. Retention depends on the relevance of the
time to take action to save the app. Consider these factors:
Stickiness
out other app distribution markets and promote your app on mobile and traditional Internet sites, as well as
offline.
Feedback
like and don’t like, or features they wish you offered. You can find this feedback at the app store or you can
create a feedback loop on your mobile or traditional website.
INVEST AND CONNECT IN THE MOBILE MARKETING CHANNEL
WHITEPAPER / MOBILE ANALY TICS

7. Webtrends Sales Europe, Middle East, Africa For offices worldwide, visit:
+ www.Webtrends.com
sales@Webtrends.com emea@Webtrends.com
fax:
About Webtrends Inc.
Webtrends is a global leader in mobile and social analytics. We help marketers create, measure and improve campaigns for more than 3,500 global
brands including: The New York Times, Microsoft, BMW, RIM, China Telecom, China Mobile, CCTV, Tencent QQ, Hitachi, The Associated Press, HSBC,
Barclays, Vivo Cellular and Petrobras. Our leadership extends beyond the web analytics industry we founded to the measurement, optimization and
integration of all digital content and customer intelligence, including web sites, social media, mobile and paid-search advertising.
Webtrends is a registered trademark of Webtrends Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks
are the properties of their respective owners
WHITEPAPER / MOBILE ANALY TICS