When I was in elementary school learning to write a story for the first time, we had to go through a planning exercise before we could start our assignment. The activity was called “The Five Ws.” Students were instructed to give detailed descriptions of who, what, when, where, and why. Before we could start writing, the teacher needed to look over our planning exercise to see if everything flowed well. If one of the Ws were unclear, it was back to the drawing board. If you received a green checkmark on your paper, it was time to break out your No. 2 pencil and start composing.
No matter if you’re a seasoned pro at mobile marketing, or you fall more on the novice level, you should get started with mobile marketing by thinking of the five Ws. Otherwise, you might be left with a lackluster mobile marketing campaign. Here’s a few things to keep in mind during the planning process.
The Basics
You’ve got to learn to walk before you can run, right? So before we begin with our exercise, we need to cover a basic question before we start. Is your website mobile-responsive (I really hope your answer is yes🤞🏼 )? A mobile responsive design has dynamic content, optimized images, and reliant on mobile operating systems for functionality. Users are harsh critics when it comes to judging websites; it takes about 50 milliseconds for users to form an opinion on your website. Set your mobile marketing campaign up for success by making sure your website is up to par.
Who
Who’s your audience? Yes, everyone is on mobile, but each demographic has very different ways of interacting with brands on mobile. Are you reaching Millennials using SMS? Or are you creating paid ads for Gen X to view as they scroll endlessly on social media? Honing in on who your audience is will help you determine where to start.
What
This is the heart of the operation - what are you creating? Videos, eBooks, texts, emails, etc. are all examples of things you can provide users on mobile. But like your website, make sure the content you’re providing is optimized for mobile. No one wants to turn their mobile device sideways to watch a video.When
Let’s take a trip down memory lane. Remember when location-based push notifications were a thing? Well, marketers are to blame for their disappearance. Marketers got overly excited and abused its power. To prevent this from happening again, we need to be smart when it comes to the frequency of messaging on mobile. A good rule of thumb is to be clear on the frequency of your messaging. Let your users know how often they can expect to hear from you.
Where
Don’t try to boil the ocean. It may be tempting to want to try to utilize every mobile marketing channel under the sun. Resist the urge, people! You’ve got to find the right mobile marketing channels that work for you and your brand. Take TikTok as an example. When’s the last time you watched a Lumavate TikTok? The answer should never be because we aren’t on that channel. Creating TikToks is something I’m not passionate about (or frankly, good at). Because my heart isn’t in creating that type of content, my time wouldn’t be well spent on that channel. And TikTok doesn’t make sense for our audience either, but it does make sense for many B2C brands. Invest in a few channels that you know you’ll get a ton of value from.Why
It’s time to put on your critical thinking hats. Before you hit publish on your mobile marketing campaign, write out the goal you’re trying to achieve. Word of warning: increase app downloads shouldn’t be on your list. If one of your goals is to increase revenue, it probably makes sense to develop a Progressive Web App (PWA). eCommerce brands have seen an enormous amount of success with their PWAs.
Or maybe you’re trying to increase brand awareness? Consumers will have an easier time discovering your brand on their voice assistants by including keywords and optimizing your Yelp and Google Review pages.
Getting started with mobile marketing isn’t a walk in the park, but don’t stress out too much! We’ve got plenty of guides that break down everything that encompasses mobile marketing.
Meet with one of our experts to see how easy it is to centralize your product data, manage digital assets, and create digital product experiences. Trust us…you’re going to be wowed.
