What Do Mobile Campaigns and Children Have in Common?

Mobile campaigns are a lot like a child. If you don’t nurture them, or care for them, or just plain ignore them, odds are, they are bound to turn out all wrong.

And just like children they go through a series of steps: incubation, birth, adolescence, adulthood, and finally they reach senior citizen status.

But unlike children, there is no What to Expect When You Are Expecting to refer to. You want to be a good parent, and that takes preparation. I want you to be prepared. I want you to know what to expect when you are expecting (a mobile campaign). So, before you find yourself in a delivery room, about to give birth to a mobile campaign, please read what follows.

Phase 1: Incubation.

“We’re having a mobile campaign!” Elation! Excitement! Then, realization, “We’re… having… a… mobile… campaign…” But fear not. Incubation takes time. In the business word you probably aren’t going to have nine months to wait. The birth of a mobile campaign is going to happen much more quickly, so it is important that you get prepared.

Haphazardness is not going to cut it.

Realize that for this campaign to work it needs to be fully integrated with the other channels in your marketing strategy. Think of Incubation as the planning phase. It is important to understand how you can leverage your other marketing channels to get people to participate in the campaign. This could include in-store, radio, television, and social media promotions, to name just a few.

And just like preparing for the birth of a child, preparing for a mobile campaign means you need to have the proper infrastructure in place. With a baby, you would prepare the nursery. For a mobile campaign, you need to find a partner that best suits your campaign strategy. Your partner should be well versed in the mobile tactic(s) you’ll be employing. Just as I wouldn’t want a plastic surgeon delivering my baby, I wouldn’t want a mobile application builder delivering my SMS campaign.

Make sure that the entire infrastructure is in place, that you have a strong plan, clearly defined business goals, and a sound strategy that is tailored to achieve those goals.

Phase 2: Birth.

Congratulations! Your mobile campaign has been delivered. It came out kicking and screaming, but it’s here… finally!

This is where panic sets in. You are responsible for this mobile campaign… for the rest of its life. Because of this, you want to do everything in your power to nurture it, to grow it, and to have it reach its fullest potential. (One day it might even go down in the history books as one of the best mobile campaigns that ever lived)

It is important that in this phase of the mobile campaign’s life that you keep an eye on it all times. Monitoring it constantly, checking for any problems, and addressing those problems immediately. It is delicate little being and it takes special care.

Phase 3: Adolescence.

Adolescents need nurturing. Adolescents grow. You want your adolescent campaign to reach its fullest potential. But how?

Nurturing is an important first step. You need to give your mobile campaign attention. It is not okay to set it and forget it (it’s not a Ron Popeil gadget for goodness sake). You need to look at your campaign goals and see how the campaign is performing against those goals. If it is underperforming, it needs to go to tutoring. Re-evaluate your campaign strategy and be flexible with it.

If executed well, the campaign will grow itself. The power of mobile is the pass-along that happens. If your campaign includes running mobile coupons, people are going to forward those coupons to all of their friends. Make sure that in all of your messaging there is an awareness component. You would want your child to make new friends and be exposed to different kinds of people. Same goes for your mobile campaign. Make sure that people know how to get involved.

Help your campaign make friends!

Phase 4: Adulthood.

Your mobile campaign has grown up now.

I’m sure you could identify how easy it is to get set in your routine – but routine in the mobile world is not good. Whether your campaign has exceeded all expectations, and especially if it hasn’t, don’t continue to do the same old things.

The world is growing and changing at amazing rates. The same thing can be said of the mobile world. If you don’t adapt, you won’t succeed. If your mobile campaign doesn’t adapt, it won’t succeed either.

Phase 5: Senior Citizen Status.

This is the one place where a mobile campaign is not exactly like your child. You would want your child, who has worked hard through their whole life, to kick back, relax, and retire – but not your mobile campaign.

Life-cycle messaging is an important aspect. Think about how you can continue to communicate with your customers via mobile. The sky really is the limit – especially as mobile continues to grow and evolve.

So there you have it. Sure it isn’t as extensive as What to Expect When You Are Expecting, but hopefully this should, at the very least, make you feel a little less anxious about bringing a new mobile campaign into the world.

You are now fit to be the parent of a stellar mobile campaign.

Tags: life-cycle messaging, Mobile