When considering your current approach to multi-channel, it helps to start with “Why.”

1. Why you?: Before you can properly position your brand across channels, you need to be crystal clear on why people should engage with you in the first place. What’s your mission? Why choose you? Targeting your marketing is far easier to do when you sharpen the purpose behind the approach. How do you compare against the competition? Why should you stand out? Boil the “why me” into one simple truth. That truth becomes the foundation to help you build a memorable campaign across channels.
2. Why now?: Once you have your core brand purpose identified and clear, it’s time to release control to your customers. Instead of a focus on push, shift to consideration of the end user and what they need most. How can you serve them best with the channel-specific experience? The beauty of great multi-channel strategy is keeping the customer satisfied – even enthusiastic – about engaging with your brand. Is it an in-store mobile experience connecting them to product reviews? Is it an app that tracks shipments or the funds left on a gift card? Asking “Why now?” helps you evaluate right message for the specific channel at the right moment. Of course, testing and proper data analysis will help to “grade” your answers.

Regardless of where the customer engages with your brand, the experience must be a positive one — consistent and seamless regardless of channel. Remember that tiny messages build upon larger messages – and all are important when building a meaningful brand experience. Connecting your touch points with a purposeful approach can make all the difference.

It’s a week before Christmas and my family decided to all pitch in and buy Mom a new laptop. Being the tech guy of the family, I am put in charge of researching and purchasing the laptop. After looking online I find a nice match for my mom at the price that we want at a major electronics retailer. According to their website, the laptop was in stock at the local store. So I hop in my car and drive down to the store, park 10 miles away and walk into a retail electronics pre-Christmas mad house.

I find the laptop I want, stand in front of it and look for a salesperson to grab one from inventory and take my money. There’s a salesperson one laptop down talking to a lady, but there’s no one around to assist me.

Rather than leave in a huff, I take out my iPhone and scan the QR tag laptop’s product/price tag. It takes me to the product page on Best Buy’s website and I place the order online for pick up at that store. I walk up to the Online Purchase Pickup line, which was empty, and tell them I just placed the order. The person at the counter told me they saw the order, but it takes a couple of minutes to clear their inventory pick system, but they would grab the laptop for me and I could come back in a few minutes and pay for it. Nice.

While the experience at the electronics retailer was good, I had a less-than-pleasing multichannel experience at another major retailer. I’m a big guy, and not all stores carry my size for jeans. I looked online for Levi’s and discovered that this major retailer has my brand and my size for $34. I decide to head to my local store and grab a couple pair. I get to the store and notice the jeans I want are on sale (buy one, get the second 50% off). I try them on and they fit great.

As I walk to the cashier I notice that price tag says $54. That’s $20 more than the online price, and even with the second pair half off, it’s still more than what I’d pay online. I thought maybe it’s a miss-tag. I ask the cashier to check the price, and it is $54. She explains that Levi’s increased the price, and if I wanted the $34 price I’d have to order online.

Needless to say, I didn’t purchase the jeans in-store.

So, here are a couple of takeaways to consider:

• If I can’t find a sales associate to help me, make it easy for me to get the information (and product) I need without having to waste my time looking for someone.
• Provide a consistent experience regardless of channel.

Take a closer look at the experiences you’re offering in store, online and mobile. Online, on a mobile device, in-store — it all needs to be consistent. Oh, and mom loves her laptop.

The marketer we met with was only focused on coming up with the best “strategy” possible to “get things off to the right start in year one.” However, in their passion to launch, they refused to consider the ceiling of their technology platform, what their lack of supporting approach would place on their learning in year one and on the success of their program overall (defined by them as their ability to correctly attribute a CPA/ROI to the investment). Frustrating as it was to have such a blinders-on conversation, it was heartening to be reminded that there are leaders and laggards in every phase of marketing, and that “winning them all” doesn’t always equate to good business. For mobile, there’s more to it.

My question to the greater community: For you, what matters most in the mobile channel today? Is it strategy? Is it technology? When does philosophy and approach come into the picture, if at all?

Assuming that having smart people and reliable technology is a given (though there are plenty out there that could use some help with both), what is your personal belief for your brand or offering?

My belief is that approach, technology, and strategic execution are inexorably intertwined. Anyone looking at solutions that are deficient in one or more of these areas is setting their programs up for inevitable self-limitation. Here are some key questions that deserve to be asked and answered by anyone looking at mobile for their brand. (I’ve also included some suggestions for why these matter.)

Approach: There are many choices in mobile today – more than ever before. An innovative approach is one of the ways you can deliver results to your unique business needs, given the relatively low bar for entry into the space for the many “me too” providers. That said, how do you define what experience you bring to your audience to address the true “mobileness” of consumers today?

You need a holistic, unified approach that considers key pillars – like SMS, mobile web, applications, advertising, email, physical world and PC. Without such an approach, you will be missing key interactions that can build a strong base for a program for both learning and proving value for everyone involved.

Technology: The mobile landscape is vast. Trying to “boil the ocean” is a daunting endeavor. With a strategic focus in mind, ask yourself:

• Does your technology platform facilitate data capture and content delivery to make the most out of your consumer’s willingness to engage in a mobile relationship with you?
• Does this happen in an accessible way, both financially and personally?
• Does the technology platform support and create the aforementioned approach in every way, with room for still-to-come strategic executions and learning experiences to occur?
• Does it functionally deliver and philosophically dominate?

The technology platform that supports early and advanced efforts should allow you ready access to data. Such data can be leveraged for proving business theories, understanding results from every interaction you have, and turning those interaction-informed insights into future marketing opportunities.

Strategy: Depending on where your program is today (stand-still, crawl, walk, run), your needs for strategy and execution will differ tremendously on a day-to-day basis. Aptly named “best practices” deliver the goods for solid program foundations and compliance with strict regulations. With that foundation, you need a strong partner — one with insight, creativity, listening ability and cohesiveness. A strong partner intimately familiar with the nuances of their toolset, one that is solution oriented, will help get you in market today. They’ll also be able to drive your program where it needs to be in the coming 12-18 months. Ideal partners in the mobile space have notable references and experience executing with reliability, creativity, and timeliness – remaining beyond reproach with compliance. They have the proper tools at their disposal to effectively execute across all mobile channel destinations and connectors.

Have an experienced partner design a strategy specific to your needs. Look for the technology to support future strategic growth. Ask them if they have the ability: to create unlimited keywords or segment from a single keyword; to easily generate dynamic landing pages based on what 2-D code was scanned or from what email was clicked; to capture SMS dialogs, mobile web browsing activity, downloads, form responses, app interactions, email opens and subsequent mobile device-driven behavior; to personalize messages and content down to a user-profile level; to track coupon requests and redemptions, and to make all of these data points marketable and useable, by whole or by segment. This is where power comes from as it pertains to mobile data and the relationships they can drive.

Other Related Posts:
Updating the Rules of Mobile Strategy
Connection at the Point of Decision
Mobile Marketing Experts Agree on Fundamentals
And other posts by yours truly…

1. Welcome Emails: Sending follow-up emails immediately after that first appointment helps to extend a warm welcome to the new customer. Sharing details with them, like how to access to customer support options, etc., help the customer realize more value in the new relationship with your company.
2. Service Calls and Scheduled Appointments: For service providers, sending pre-appointment emails to confirmation details of the scheduled call helps build trust. Through the email, your customers can opt-in to receive a text-message reminder the day of any service or installation. This interaction sets the tone for high-value digital interactions in the future.
3. Follow-up Surveys: Days after any service is provided, automated email surveys can gather valuable data regarding the customers’ early impressions. When using Concentri for example, that data allows you then to segment and respond to your customers with relevant emails and targeted Web content. Do you have very satisfied VIP clients? Don’t wait, go ahead and automate the sending of Refer-A-Friend promotions. Do you have unsatisfied respondents? Deploy the “white glove” retention-message strategy to help repair the relationship.
4. Messages Based on Triggers: You can also incorporate ongoing messaging triggered by pre-defined events and activities to help migrate customers to the points that shape best relationships. Introducing additional appropriate services can help grow customer the relationship. For instance, an HVAC company who installs a furnace can send info on duct cleaning and seasonal service checks. If you offer ePay or automated payment plans, consider promoting details about that option as appropriate.
5. Promotions: Use ongoing messaging to suggest additional services with reminder or incentive emails triggered by a specific circumstance. If price matters to a specific segment, send them information on specials that align with their interests.
6. Multi-Channel Support: Your mobile messages can also drive customers to your portal Web site, based on promotional triggers (such as inactivity), highlighting the benefits of the online experience with your business.

Frequent Lunch Pail contributor and mobile marketing expert Bryce Marshall recently provided some insight on how marketers can make the most out of mobile this holiday season in preparation for his panel at Mobile Marketer’s Holiday Mobile Marketing Summit on September 2.

While many consumers use the Web and their mobile device to find information on products and services, Bryce notes that consumers using mobile are looking for different information in different ways. Mobile users want small bits of actionable and useful information, like coupons and contact information.

Despite the increased popularity of mobile, consumers are very much multi-channel. Bryce points out that a great untapped opportunity for marketers exists with shopping cart portage, or allowing consumers to forward an online shopping cart or wish list to their mobile device for use in-store.

For more holiday mobile marketing insight from Bryce, be sure to check out Mobile Marketer’s Holiday Mobile Marketing Summit. Bryce will be sharing valuable tips on mobile marketing for the holidays on the “How Will Consumers Engage with Ads, SMS, Sites and Applications over the Holidays – and why it Matters for Customer Experience” panel.

What questions do you have about implementing a holiday mobile marketing strategy? Post them below and Bryce will answer!

It is important right now, with the rapid development and deployment of myriad mobile marketing strategies, to keep in mind that consumers are still very much multi-channel. That is, they routinely interact with the primary direct digital marketing channels on an equal basis. As a result, direct digital marketing software upgrades must drive improvements in every channel, because the consumer will see the difference.

For example, retailers make heavy use of promotions and coupons. But retail marketers sometimes struggle with coordinating the substantial bit of data that must be cleaned, uploaded, and properly organized to ensure every consumer’s experience with a promotion or offer is a smooth one when making a purchase.

The direct digital marketing software feature that addresses that challenge for marketers must first enable the easy upload of massive amounts of retail information. Important bits of data include discounts, offers, offer name, description, disclaimer, terms and conditions, start date, expiration date, offer code… and the list grows longer and longer.

Getting data in to the direct digital marketing software with an easy upload of a .csv file enables fast deployment of email, Web, and mobile promotions for every offer. This is a huge win for marketers because the time from the conception of a promotional idea to execution is now much shorter. While retail marketing does have its tried and true ebbs and flows (e.g. Back to School, Holiday shopping, etc.), retailers lose money in the “off-season” not because of lousy promotions but because of the time it takes to get a promotion in market. The software, or the data upload and organization, should never be the primary reason a promotion is delayed to market. The more time is spent trying to get the data setup for content deployment, the less time is spent emphasizing the content and making it great.

It should be simple for online retailers to upload a list of unique redemption codes, then use them to personalize email, Web, and mobile content per customer.

Great conversion reporting is also an important function of direct digital marketing software. But the upfront benefits of great data organization and speed to market are big time wins in the ever-evolving world of online retail. The right direct digital marketing software helps retailers by making the complex world of promotions and offers simple, and gets them in market quickly to maximize impact.

When making the worthy investment in the mobile Web there are three basic considerations to keep in mind. While these points will not capture every bit of useful knowledge when strategizing the mobile Web, they are good considerations prior to launching a vendor search.

Consideration #1: Audit Your Web Site

I know, “audit” is a scary sounding term. In this context, however, it means take a hard, critical look at your current Web site and pare it down to what content is essential to reach your marketing goals. Therefore, agreeing on the marketing goals for a mobile site is paramount. Chief among the goals must be an enjoyable, easy user experience. Nothing torpedoes a brand’s image in a mobile consumer’s mind more quickly than a lousy mobile Web experience. Goals like clicks and conversions are still important, but everything must come back to the quality of the user experience.

Consideration #2: The Mobile Web is NOT the Web

The mobile Web is not a “light” version of the Web; it is its own, specific communications channel that must be treated as such. While the end user wants to see the same brand on the mobile site that they would on a Web site, the information that is communicated – and how it is packaged – must be different according to the personal nature of the mobile experience.

Consideration #3: Onsite Targeting and Content Testing Works for the Mobile Web, Too

The mobile Web is a different communications channel, but customer segments are all the same. Make sure the data environment is capable of feeding the same segments into the mobile site experience as it would any other channel. Use behavioral data captured from the Web site to determine content and tests on the mobile site. Use email behavior to drive mobile site content. Each touch point is an opportunity for the user to tell the marketer what they like. Marketers must avoid annoying users by showing the mobile Web is really an extension of the brand to a new channel, not just another means for push communication. The key to achieving this is great data capture and multi-channel application of all relevant data.

There are other considerations, but these are few to contemplate when researching the mobile Web from scratch. What are some other considerations worth adding?

One outgrowth of a focus on retention is for brands to offer new products and dip into new product categories. Two retailers, J. Crew and Payless, are already toe-dipping by adding new products and categories that they are not normally a go-to source for. J. Crew is getting into the wedding dress business with an entire retail location devoted to bridal products, and Payless is adding a beauty department this Fall. While there are substantial financial gains to be made by entering new markets, each company is also trying to find new ways to engage and retain existing customers.

Aside from entering new product categories, retailers are beginning to research and deploy technology that boosts the effectiveness of online retailing. While the aforementioned personalization is gaining tremendous momentum right now, tools for better targeting content and for testing content are on the upswing as well – and both are most effective when the marketing goal is retention.

As retention becomes a stronger marketing focus, data must be at the center of any strategic discussion. Many of the writers here at The Lunch Pail routinely contribute information on data’s importance for a good reason. The better the data is organized, and the closer it is to the content – in the same software platform – the better any retention marketing program performs. Regardless of which direct digital marketing channel a campaign is running in – email, mobile, or Web – when each are informed by strong data organization, a connected customer experience that promotes loyalty is the result.

The customer experience has gained tremendous attention and support within marketing organizations across myriad companies. Retention marketing is where direct digital marketing – with its inherently customer-centric data organization – shines. As many retailers seek new ways to reach their existing customer base, it is vital to make sure that marketing programs and campaigns are organized to focus on the customer and grow existing business.

Marketers, what direct digital marketing retention programs are currently working for you?

According to the Conference Board for Consumer Research, May was the third consecutive month with an uptick in consumer confidence. Additionally, a report by LEK Consulting found that consumers with an annual income of $100,000 or more were likely to have already recovered from the recession.

Consumers appear ready to increase their spending. A report by Javelin Strategy & Research noted that 84 percent of women and 79 percent of men plan to increase spending once the economy has improved. Interestingly, 41 percent of consumers surveyed said they plan to purchase clothing and accessories, while 34 percent plan to spend on electronics.

As confidence is spreading, more options for consumers to interact with brands is important.

A recent article by Internet Retailer’s Katie Deatsch highlights how having a multi-channel relationship with customers boosts loyalty. Deatsch points out that retailers with customer relationships across channels build greater loyalty because multi-channel shoppers often spend twice as much as the average non-multi-channel shopper.

Deatsch’s article also has some interesting stats on the future of online shopping. A recent study found that the number of online shoppers is steadily increasing, in part because of the convenience of the online channel. Of the shoppers surveyed for the report, 37 percent said they find better prices on the Web, and 14 percent said they the Web has a better selection than the traditional bricks-and-mortar stores.

The topic of providing customers with content that is coordinated across multiple direct digital marketing channels has been covered quite a bit here on The Lunch Pail and in the press. A recent article featured in 1to1Media outlines how a universal profile management system makes customer centricity a reality across channels.

How do you think customers will respond to the improving economic conditions?

AT&T is, of course, claiming that they are jumping on to the high road first. The company, and ad agency BBDO (Omnicom), introduced a new campaign during last weekend’s Master’s entitled, “Rethink Possible.” Interestingly, rather than promoting solely wireless services AT&T is also grouping together its various services, from wireless capabilities to UVerse. Many believe Verizon will respond in kind by promoting their wireless capabilities alongside its FIOS – especially considering the news that Verizon has changed advertising agencies.

Beware the specter of a truce. The entertaining and aggressive Marco-Polo-style dueling campaigns may be retired, but the competitive spirit lies dormant only long enough to allow the public to recharge. Like political campaigns with plenty of negativity, consumers grow weary of too much negativity in their advertising. AT&T and Verizon are wise to put the brakes on for the upcoming handful of quarters. The Fall promises plenty of contentious political advertising as mid-term elections loom in November. The carriers are wise to grant the public a brief respite. However, I would not be surprised to see the re-emergence of more aggressive advertising from the carriers in one year’s time.

The constant carrier jousting signals two important developments for direct digital marketing. First, the importance of owning the most mind and market share in mobile marketing has never been higher. The more customers each has, the more power they have to control which mobile marketing campaigns are approved or not approved. The second important development is in how each company is promoting its multi-channel services at one time. Like the direct digital marketing software landscape, where the best software delivers multi-channel capabilities in one platform, the battle that once waged exclusively between wireless capabilities may begin to look more like a battle between large MSOs. Verizon is promoting FIOS, and AT&T is promoting UVerse, as part of an overall effort to dominate households, rather than individual bills within a household.

Consumers, like marketers, respond to efficiency. Pushing the efficiency message makes a lot of sense for these two huge companies. As consumers are thinking more about consolidation – bundling features and bills together with one provider – marketers must do the same. This advertising battle is a perfect representation of what is happening with direct digital marketing. Sure, mobile marketing is important as an individual communications channel. But combine its power and data in the same software platform that delivers email and dynamic Web content and true efficiency and consolidation is born, the type of improvements that consumers clearly respond to.

The question begs, marketers: What are you doing to be more efficient and respond better to consumers?