BUSHOR-1296; No.

of Pages 9

Business Horizons (2016) xxx, xxx—xxx

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com

ScienceDirect
www.elsevier.com/locate/bushor

Planning and implementing effective mobile

marketing programs
Barry Berman

Frank G. Zarb School of Business, Hofstra University, 222 Weller Hall, Hempstead, NY 11549, U.S.A.

KEYWORDS Abstract Mobile marketing is an ever increasingly important component of a firm’s

Mobile marketing; overall promotional strategy. The importance of this medium can be seen through
Smartphone marketing; time spent on mobile media, number of searches, and direct and indirect mobile-
Mobile coupons; generated sales. Despite its increased importance, the effectiveness of mobile
Geofencing; marketing needs to be improved based on such metrics as bounce rates, add-to-cart
Beacons; rates, shopping cart abandonment, and average order size. Strategies to increase the
Opt-in effectiveness of mobile marketing are discussed. Firms need to capitalize on the three
major strategic advantages of mobile marketing: (1) the fact that mobile marketing
devices are always on, always connected, and always with the consumer; (2) the
ability to generate location-sensitive offers; and (3) the ability to send relevant
personalized messages and offers. Firms also need to develop and implement an
effective mobile marketing strategy through a series of activities. These include
understanding and reacting to the complexity of mobile marketing, designing sites
based on ease of use versus ‘bells and whistles,’ increasing opt-in rates, using
effective customer engagement strategies, and developing effective mobile coupons.
Criteria to evaluate the effectiveness of mobile marketing are discussed.
# 2016 Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. Published by Elsevier Inc. All
rights reserved.

1. The current state of mobile for about 44% of all personal computing time, twice
marketing the level of 2008 (Duncan, Hazan, & Roche, 2014).
According to one source, just over one-half of all
For a majority of consumers, mobile devices have searches on Google are now performed on mobile
surpassed both desktop and laptop computers as sites (Graham, 2015). A recent Deloitte study
the principal gateway to the Internet (O’Kane, found that smartphone devices influenced almost
2013). Mobile phones and tablets now account $600 billion of in-store purchases, up from
$159 billion in 2012 (Haims, 2015).
According to Shop.org/Forrester Research Inc.’s
State of Retailing Online study, 58% of the retailers
E-mail address: [email protected] surveyed placed mobile marketing as their highest

0007-6813/$ — see front matter # 2016 Kelley School of Business, Indiana University. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2016.03.006
BUSHOR-1296; No. of Pages 9

2 B. Berman

priority. The second-highest rated priority was discusses how a firm can develop an effective mobile
omnichannel efforts, such as buying online and marketing strategy.
picking up in-store and ship-from-store (Forrester,
2015). The rapid growth of mobile marketing, as
well as its impact on traditional shopping behavior, 2. Capitalizing on the strategic
contribute to its overall importance as a promo- advantages of mobile marketing
tional medium.
Despite the increased usage of mobile marketing A good mobile marketing campaign needs to capi-
by firms and consumers, there is evidence of poor talize on the advantages of mobile marketing. These
planning, poor implementation, and the need for advantages include (1) mobile marketing devices
firms to adapt to fast-changing dynamics. The fol- always being on, always connected, and always with
lowing sections document problem areas that mo- the consumer; (2) mobile marketing’s ability to
bile marketers need to overcome. generate location-sensitive offers; and (3) the abili-
A 2013 study of 745 business leaders found that ty to offer mobile marketing messages that are
while 56% of these leaders were using mobile mar- highly personalized. See Table 1 for an expansion
keting in their firms, 43% stated that they have of these topics.
not determined the correct mobile strategy
despite their seeing a value in mobile marketing
(StrongMail, 2013). A major concern is the need to
Table 1. Advantages of mobile marketing as
improve the effectiveness of mobile marketing
compared with other marketing programs
based on such performance metrics as bounce rates,
add-to-cart rates, shopping cart abandonment,
 Mobile marketing is always on, always connected,
completion rates, and average order value for mo- and always with the consumer
bile devices versus laptops and desktops.
A website’s bounce rate represents the percent- Marketers can generate offers based on special
age of visitors who entered the site and then weather conditions and natural disasters.
leave (‘bounce’) rather than viewing other pages
within the same site. One study found that the Marketers can quickly match a competitor’s
bounce rate is 50% higher for mobile devices as price offer or use short-term price reductions
compared with desktops. Add-to-cart rates (the to reduce inventory levels.
percent of visitors adding a product to a site’s
shopping cart) are 30% lower than desktops Marketers can quickly assess the effectiveness
of different campaigns.
as well. Shopping cart abandonment (placing
items in a shopping cart but not completing the  Mobile marketing is able to generate location-
transaction) is 10% higher on mobile devices than sensitive offers
on desktops (Bakay, 2014).
Another study found that while desktop comple- Marketers can develop special offers to
tion rates are 13.5%, the completion rates for mobile consumers within a given distance to both its
devices is only 8.5% versus 13.4% for tablets (Bolton, own and competitors’ retail locations.
2015). Lastly, the average order value is $116.48 for
mobile users, versus $149.53 for tablets and $180.91 Marketers can provide special product
for desktops (Bakay, 2014). information to consumers within a specific
According to Mobiquity, a mobile solutions pro- aisle.
vider, many consumers are not having a good expe-
 Mobile marketing can send relevant personalized
rience with mobile shopping apps. Indeed, 54% of messages and offers
consumers stated that retailers only meet expecta-
tions or inconsistently meet expectations, 42% of Marketers can tailor messages and offers can be
consumers noted slow mobile download times, 37% tailored to each consumer based on their
stated they had inconsistent experiences with mo- purchase history, social media usage,
bile marketing retail sites, and 26% found a lack of demographic data, and usage data.
accessible information relating to their mobile mar-
keting experiences (Berr, 2014). Marketers can present different offers to
This article is divided into two sections. The first current consumers, heavy users, lapsed users,
section describes how firms can capitalize on the relationship customers, and transactional
customers.
major strategic advantages of mobile marketing as
compared to other forms of marketing; the second
BUSHOR-1296; No. of Pages 9

Planning and implementing effective mobile marketing programs 3

2.1. Mobile marketing devices are always GameStop Corp. uses between 7 and 14 beacons
on, always connected, and always with the across different zones of a store–—depending on a
consumer store’s size–—to send promotions to a customer’s
mobile phone as he/she passes by each zone. The
Unlike laptops and desktop computers, mobile devi- retailer further divides each zone on the basis of
ces are always on, always connected, and typically product categories, such as the Xbox system. Bea-
always with the customer. This characteristic enables cons enable consumers to gather information on
retailers and consumers to constantly enter each specific items through their mobile device. Consum-
other’s environment (Kaplan, 2012). The always- ers can also receive promotions and trailers by
with-the-consumer characteristic is so important downloading the GameStop Technology Institute’s
that smartphone and tablet users often experience iOS app (Nerthiaume, 2015).
heightened stress when separated from their devices Location technology works best when coupled
(Lindstrom, 2011). with immediacy and data on a consumer’s past
Unlike traditional print, radio, and television ad- purchases. Neiman Marcus is testing the use of geo-
vertising, there is an immediacy associated with mo- fencing to identify VIP customers as they enter its
bile marketing. Immediacy has two effects: (1) the stores. The upscale retailer plans to use this infor-
speed from planning a promotion to its receipt by mation to provide better customer service on the
consumers, and (2) the ability to immediately cancel basis of reviewing the VIP customer’s purchase his-
an offer (based on a very high response rate, or limited tory (Brousell, 2013). It is also testing the sending of
remaining inventory). This second form of immediacy messages on trunk shows and special promotions via
enables marketers to create mobile marketing offers iBeacons to customers close to a store who have
that are valid for a very limited time period. downloaded Apple’s Passbook app.
Immediacy enables a firm to use short-term price Through combining information of consumer
reductions to reduce inventory levels, to study a preferences on its mobile app, the use of geofenc-
product’s short-run price elasticity, and to test the ing, and immediacy, Pizza Hut targets customers
effectiveness of different marketing campaigns. located within one-half mile of any of its 340 loca-
Immediacy also enables a marketer to develop spe- tions. Pizza Hut found that the use of this mobile-
cialized marketing campaigns based on time of day, based strategy was 2.6 times as effective as an
day of week, weather conditions, and natural dis- online display ad (Boitnott, 2015).
asters, or to quickly match a competitor’s lower
price offering. Through immediacy, marketers can 2.3. Mobile marketing’s ability to send
attract past loyal shoppers when they are close to a relevant personalized messages and offers
store or extend offers based on slow times. Firms
such as 1-800 Flowers.com are able to send their Since smartphones and tablets are generally not
messages at the time preferred by each customer. shared with others in the same family or household,
marketers can tailor messages to each consumer
2.2. Mobile marketing’s ability to based on his or her purchase history, social media
generate location-sensitive offers usage, demographic data, and usage behavior pro-
vided from the firm’s customer loyalty program.
Immediacy works especially well with location- Personalization can be further enhanced by inte-
sensitive offers. As an example, marketers can grating such Google filters as contacts, interests,
contact consumers when they are within 5 miles of and search queries.
a branch location or when they are in a specific aisle of Nielsen has developed a predictive model that
a store. Technologies like GPS, GSM (Global System specifies the relevant promotions for specific cus-
for Mobile Communications), Bluetooth, and RFID tomers based on data from the retailer’s loyalty
enable marketers to identify the exact location of program, as well as Nielsen Consumer Panel data
a specific mobile device at any point in time. Whereas (Cameron, Gregory, & Battaglia, 2012). The value of
geofencing technology works outside of a store, iBea- personalized information is very high. In an experi-
cons enable marketers to target specific locations ment conducted by Nielsen, a sample was broken
within a store. As a result of geofencing and iBeacons, into two groups: 10,000 app users who downloaded
retailers can use a simple Moball CMS (Content their loyalty card data in the mobile app versus a
Management System) to drop pins on a map to gener- control group of 10,000 customers of the same
ate a hot zone. These technologies enable retailers to retailer that did not register for the mobile app.
send a mobile-based message to an app user as he/she In comparison to the control group, the test group
enters the hot zone. Retailers can also set up a geo- experienced a 13% increase in coupon redemptions,
fence around competitors’ locations. a 37% increase in redemptions for product groups
BUSHOR-1296; No. of Pages 9

4 B. Berman

that were new to the household, and a 23% increase Table 2. Mobile marketing best practices
in redemptions for brands that were new to the
household (Cameron et al., 2012). A major pitfall  Being aware and responsive to the complexities of
to personalization is the creep factor. This occurs mobile marketing (different devices, multiple
when consumers perceive that advertisers have operating systems, different browsers, different
spied on their online purchases, site visits, and other screen sizes, limited bandwidth, and limited
memory)
non-public actions.
 Evaluating a mobile marketing website by
Google’s mobile-friendly test: https://www.
3. Developing and implementing an google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly/
effective mobile marketing strategy
 Balancing the need for ‘bells and whistles’ with
Two important academic studies discuss critical the need for clean, mobile-optimized sites
success factors for mobile marketing. A study pre-
sented by Huang (2012) used a panel of mobile  Periodically studying a firm’s opt-in rate and the
marketing experts and found that of 23 possible factors that influence it
factors, the four most important were permission,
acceptance, usability, and value/profit. Permission
 Using appropriate opt-in incentives
is an underlying condition of an opt-in campaign,  Handling personal information in a confidential
acceptance relates to consumer benefits, usability manner
represents ease of use, and value/profit measures
the value to consumers.  Portraying the use of personal and institutional
The second study is based on literature review of trust
success factors for mobile marketing. Billore and
Sadh (2015) found that the biggest challenge for  Demonstrating that consumer trust will not be
advertisers is to get mobile advertising accepted by abused through constant offers
their target customers. Among the factors found to
be related to mobile advertising’s acceptance are  Developing functional apps that add value to
consumers
value, entertainment, informativeness, credibility,
and interactivity.  Integrating mobile coupons into a mobile
Table 2 contains a listing of mobile marketing best marketing campaign
practices. Some of these practices involve a firm’s
being aware of the complexities of mobile market-  Constantly evaluating mobile marketing programs
ing in planning and implementing a mobile market- through use of multiple measures
ing program (e.g., different devices, operating
systems, screen sizes). In contrast, others involve
the need for continual testing and measuring per-
formance (e.g., Google’s mobile-friendly test, eval- appropriate aisle of a store (Rifkin, 2015). Other
uating appeals, and measuring factors influencing firms such as Nanigans and Kahuna provide mobile
opt-in rates). Firms can use this table as a checklist advertising software that enable firms to better
to ascertain their readiness to adopt a mobile mar- manage their mobile marketing programs in-house.
keting strategy, areas of mobile strategy strength The following sections describe strategies to im-
and weakness, and the need to outsource mobile prove the performance of mobile marketing: under-
marketing planning and implementation. standing and reacting to the complexity of mobile
While large firms with specialized staffs may have marketing, increasing a site’s ease of use, increasing
the capabilities to effectively plan and implement a site’s opt-in rate, retaining customers through
mobile strategies, smaller firms may opt to hire using customer engaging strategies, and utilizing
mobile marketing media specialists. Williams- mobile marketing coupons.
Sonoma has 11 data scientists that constantly use
data mining techniques to develop highly personal- 3.1. Understanding and reacting to the
ized message appeals (Lamy, 2014). Smaller firms or complexity of mobile marketing
firms undertaking mobile marketing for the first
time can outsource part or all of this function. Mobile marketing’s poor performance can be due to
ShopAdvisor uses data analytics to describe a cus- a variety of issues. These include the need to design
tomer’s preferences and then sends discount offers mobile marketing to reflect multiple mobile oper-
and product reviews while shoppers are in the ating systems (Apple, Android, Windows Phone,
BUSHOR-1296; No. of Pages 9

Planning and implementing effective mobile marketing programs 5

Blackberry), devices (smartphones and tablets), and  23% failed to complete a purchase as the trans-
multiple browsers. One common error is the use of action could not go through.
the same landing page and screens in mobile mar-
keting as in laptops and desktops. While this may be Google has created an analysis tool that firms can
cost effective and results in a uniform look across utilize to determine whether their website is
media, it does not take into account the fact that mobile-friendly.1 The Google tool generates a list
mobile phones come in various sizes and shapes, the of faults if the site does not meet its criteria.
difficulty in navigating within a site due to the Internet marketing firm Portent tested 25,000 EWeb
absence of a mouse, and the limited bandwidth pages that were ranked as top sites by two websites:
and memory of mobile devices as compared with Majestic Million and Alaxa. Portent found that
traditional computers. 10,000 of these sites failed Google’s mobile-
Mobile marketers need to understand that a smart- readiness test (Sanders, 2015).
phone’s small screen requires considerable scrolling The importance of ease of use necessitates that
to read long messages or to view long text-based mobile marketers speed-test the time to pull up a
messages. Typing is also often difficult due to the site’s opening screen, to search within a website, to
small keyboard on smart phones. As a consequence of add an item to the shopping cart, and to check out.
these factors, a marketer needs to test its mobile ads In addition to customer frustration issues, slow or
on each operating system and on multiple smart- inconsistent download or checkout speeds can wors-
phones, and needs to limit the amount of typing by en during peak selling periods. Amazon’s vice presi-
consumers. Contact phone numbers listed on a mo- dent of mobile shopping is so focused on ease of use
bile ad should be in the form of a clickable link. that he repeatedly tests Amazon’s mobile site to
These factors add complexity to the planning and ensure that customers can go from wanting to buy-
implementing of a mobile website and contribute to ing in 30 seconds (Metz, 2013). Ease of use can also
its overall costs. One expert estimates that mobile be increased by a consumer’s search suggestions
websites cost, on average, 25% more than a desktop- loading more quickly. For example, a customer
only site (Sanders, 2015). typing ‘gil’ on Amazon’s site will quickly see
‘Gillette’ as an option.
3.2. Ease of use beats out ‘bells and
whistles’ 3.3. Strategies to increase opt-in rates

Research by McKinsey suggests that few mobile Two factors are critical to the success of a permis-
shoppers actively seek out such ‘bells and whistles’ sion-based marketing program: a consumer’s opt-in
features as video, expert opinions, or magazine- rate and opt-out timing. In many countries, a mar-
style articles. Instead, they prefer sites that are keter needs to receive prior permission from a
clean, are optimized for mobile applications, fea- customer before a mobile message can be sent.
ture easy-to-read pages, load quickly, and have For marketing to be successful under permission-
easy-to-use shopping carts and smooth checkouts based marketing, marketers need to understand two
(Ericson, Herring, & Ungerman, 2014). A McKinsey interrelated factors: (1) the reluctance among con-
survey of UK shoppers found that survey respondents sumers to grant permission and (2) what it takes for
reported load speed is 60% more important to users consumers to willingly grant permission.
than a site’s having videos (Ericson et al., 2014). Often, marketers provide incentives to increase
The ‘ease of use’ concept is confirmed by a the opt-in rate. These include payments, coupons,
2013 Mobile Consumer Insights study that found that special offers, and access to a mobile app. A state-
while 86% of smartphone and tablet owners have ment of the firm’s privacy policy is useful, too. Opt-
attempted to make a purchase on their device, 66% in rates can also be increased through in-store and
did not complete their transaction due to obstacles website placement of such information, as well as
encountered during checkout. Among those adults store-based salesperson promotion of customers
who were unable to complete an attempted pur- opting in.
chase on their smartphone or tablet (Jumio, 2013): Research findings concerning consumers’ reluc-
tance to receive unsolicited mobile advertising are
 51% terminated the purchase because they were very similar across studies. One group of researchers
uncomfortable entering their credit card infor- found that respondents agree that their mobile
mation;

 41% stated that the checkout was too difficult to 1

https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-
use on their device; and friendly/
BUSHOR-1296; No. of Pages 9

6 B. Berman

handsets were primarily for personal use and that partnerships: ‘‘There are apps that really do nothing
mobile contact from companies was viewed as an- of great substance other than help a firm feel they
noying, an invasion of privacy, and intrusive. Re- are moving with the times. They are not. A one-
spondents were also highly suspicious of how firms dimensional app will quickly qualify as a useless
handle their personal information and worry about gimmick’’ (PR Newswire, 2014). Apps should be in-
trusting a company with their personal data in the teractive with the user, bringing both parties mutual
event the data is passed onto third parties (Watson, benefits. Useful mobile marketing data includes lo-
McCarthy, & Rowley, 2013). cation and time-sensitive special offers, a route to
A 2015 Oracle study showed that while 56% of the closest store, information on the aisle and loca-
consumers understand that giving retailers access to tion of a desired item in a store, previous shopping
personal information can improve their shopping lists, as well as loyalty program-related information.
experience, 55% of consumers have reservations Starbucks has developed an effective mobile mar-
or disagree with retailers having access to such keting strategy that integrates such useful features as
information. Only 23% stated that they have no mobile ordering, mobile payments, and loyalty pro-
issues with downloading an app that enables re- gram data. Starbucks has also recently enabled its
tailers to track their movements in-store and online customers to place orders through their mobile phone
(Oracle, 2015). to reduce wait times at its store counters. As of
A second study of consumers in three European January 2015, Starbucks’ customers can also pay
countries–—Germany, Finland, and the UK–—found for their purchases using smartphones. Mobile pay-
that institutional trust is by far the greatest factor ments now account for 16% of all of Starbucks’ trans-
in a consumer’s giving permission for mobile mar- actions. Lastly, Starbucks has integrated its mobile
keting. Institutional trust is developed by continu- marketing program with its My Starbucks Rewards
ous advertising and a general presence in major loyalty program, which allows members to earn spe-
media. This increases consumers’ familiarity with cial discounts and free goods. This loyalty program
a company and its products and communicates added close to 900,000 members in December
a company’s stability (Jayawardhena, Kuckertz, 2014 alone, bringing its total membership to over
Kautonen, & Karjaluoto, 2009). 9 million people (Halzack, 2015).
Mobile marketers need to be careful not to abuse Home Depot’s consumer-directed mobile site en-
trust through constant offers (Kaplan, 2012). Over- ables a customer to determine if an item is in stock,
marketing can make consumers withdraw at a faster directs the customer to the appropriate store aisle,
pace (Kumar, Zhang, & Luo, 2014). Elephant Bar, a and contains product reviews. In addition, the Home
restaurant chain, has 100,000 loyalty club members, Depot app offers local coupons, measurement tools,
some 40% of which have downloaded a mobile app and even store-based workshop schedules. Home
that enables the firm to use location tracking. In Depot has a separate app for professionals that man-
order to avoid having its members bombarded with ages their shopping list for specific projects, contains
constant offers and messages, Elephant Bar has past purchase data, enables fast reordering of fre-
developed specific standards that limit messages quently purchased goods, and allows contractors to
to when a customer is within two miles of a store order via smartphone then pick up goods in-store.
and the restaurant is open. In addition, offers–—such Another effective app is the IKEA catalog. This
as a free drink or appetizer–—can only be made to app enables consumers to virtually place different
customers that have earned loyalty rewards. Lastly, IKEA products in their room. Through this interac-
message frequency is limited to no more than one tive platform, consumers can determine a product’s
message in a four-day period (Wagner, 2015). Like- suitability in terms of size, integration with other
wise, Neiman Marcus limits in-store messages based IKEA products, and their existing furniture. This app
on beacons to typically one message per shopping received 6.2 million installs. In addition, the aver-
trip (Berthene, 2015). age user spends eight minutes with this app versus
only three minutes with IKEA’s catalog (Allen, 2015).
3.4. Using effective customer engaging
strategies 3.5. Developing effective mobile coupons

Firms need to focus on delivering marketing messages In terms of incentives for opting-in to a website,
that are relevant to these subscribers. Since apps are McKinsey found that 35% of online buyers were
viewed for their functionality and are not perceived willing to share personal information in return for
as advertising, marketers need to create apps that targeted offers, like promotional coupons. These
add value to consumers’ lives (Gipta, 2013). Accord- consumers tend to be the wealthiest group of online
ing to Jim Snow, U.S. President of Moball franchise shoppers (Constantinides, Gregg, & Salsberg, 2013).
BUSHOR-1296; No. of Pages 9

Planning and implementing effective mobile marketing programs 7

Mobile coupons are often used with location data may be less likely to click on an ad once they become
such that the coupons become available when the familiar with the site over time.
consumer approaches the store or is within the In addition to the number of page views and
relevant aisle of a store. Marketers can also utilize clicks, marketers need to know who is being
location-based mobile coupons such as GeoQpons reached, and how much they spend. Other impor-
(www.geoqpons.com) and Yowza (www.yowza. tant metrics are the opt-in rate, the opt-in time
com). With these apps, after the consumer down- interval, the bounce rate, the shopping cart aban-
loads and installs a mobile application from the donment rate, the acquisition cost per mobile cus-
service provider, the application shows all of the tomer, the average sale or profit per user, and the
available coupons and deals from close-by retailers. number of coupon redemptions. Some of these
Unlike traditional paper-based coupons, mobile criteria–—including acquisition costs per mobile cus-
coupons can be stored in a smartphone’s memory tomer, average sales, and average profit–—relate to
and do not need to be clipped, carried, organized, how well the mobile advertisements are planned
searched for, and stored for future use. and promoted. Other criteria look more at how well
While the bounce rate for smartphone devices is a mobile marketing site can counter potential pit-
high and the completion rate and average sales rates falls such as high bounce rates and shopping cart
are low when compared with tablets and laptops, a abandonment rates. All performance metrics should
bright spot for smartphones is mobile coupon re- be benchmarked against a firm’s previous-year per-
demption. One report found that while the widely formance numbers, current annual goals, or even
quoted rate for coupons from freestanding inserts is the best-in-class in a related business.
0.5% to 2%, the rate is about 2.7% for e-mail coupons
delivered via desktop computers. This contrasts
with an 8%—16% rate for coupons delivered via 5. Conclusion
smartphone (Brown, 2012). eMarketer forecasts
that as of 2015, smartphone coupon users will sur- While mobile marketing is an increasingly important
pass tablet coupon users in percent of mobile cou- promotional vehicle with some significant advan-
pon users (eMarketer, 2014). tages over traditional media, many marketers have
A good mobile coupon should have the following failed to use mobile marketing effectively. This poor
characteristics: it should give offers to customers performance is evidenced by high bounce rates, low
close to a store, it should be easy to redeem (it completion rates, and poor average sales in com-
should not have to be printed to be redeemed), the parison to laptop- and desktop-based promotions.
price reduction should be significant for the custom- A report from Forrester states that these prob-
er to act, it should link to specific customers (such as lems may be due to strategy, governance, and im-
lapsed customers), and it should help build a cus- plementation issues. The study found that many
tomer database via consumer opt-in. Bed Bath & marketers are uncertain how to organize mobile
Beyond has launched a mobile coupon initiative marketing efforts. Among the challenges are inter-
which enables its customers to scan and upload connecting mobile initiatives when firms have mul-
physical coupons. These can be redeemed in its tiple brands (Cameron, 2014).
stores by displaying the coupon on the customer’s Developing an effective mobile marketing pro-
smartphone. gram is much more challenging than developing a
traditional program aimed at laptop and desktop
users. The mobile program needs to be planned,
4. Measuring the success of mobile implemented, and tested for multiple devices
marketing efforts (smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops) and
different operating systems, and should adjust for
While the Web is one of the most measurable me- the limitations of mobile devices in terms of screen
diums, a Forrester study found that 73% of the firms and traditional keyboard size. In addition, the im-
studied lack mobile objectives and 47% lack mobile- mediacy, location, and personalization attributes of
oriented key performance indicators (Cameron, mobile devices increase the need to develop a
2014). One popular metric used to assess the effec- portfolio of messages to reflect such attributes as
tiveness of mobile advertising is click-through rate: weather conditions (immediacy), distance to a store
the percentage of people who view an ad (impres- (location), and a consumer’s preferences and past
sions) and then proceed to click the ad with a finger, purchase behavior (personalization). In addition,
mouse, or stylus. It is a broad indicator of the overall manufacturers and wholesalers need retailer coop-
exposure of a website or online ad. A common eration to install and upgrade messages using store-
problem associated with this measure is that users based iBeacons.
BUSHOR-1296; No. of Pages 9

8 B. Berman

A firm seeking to implement or upgrade its mobile McKinsey & Company. Retrieved January 11, 2016, from
marketing program needs to critically review its http://www.mckinseyonmarketingandsales.com/digital-
disruption-evolving-usage-and-the-new-value-chain
existing digital marketing efforts in terms of staff eMarketer. (2014, May 2). U.S. mobile users turn to smartphones,
competency and whether it possesses the budget tablets to redeem coupons. Retrieved January 11, 2016, from
necessary to introduce or upgrade its location tech- http://www.emarketer.com/Article/US-Mobile-Users-
nology and its customer information system. As part Turn-Smartphones-Tablets-Redeem- Coupons/1010801
of this process, a firm needs to consider outsourcing Ericson, L., Herring, L., & Ungerman, K. (2014, December). Busting
mobile-shopping myths. McKinsey and Company. Retrieved Jan-
part of these responsibilities. Lastly, since mobile uary 11, 2016, from http://mckinseyonmarketingandsales.
marketing involves multiple departments such com./busting-mobile-shopping-myths
as advertising, marketing research, information Forrester. (2015, February 9). Mobile still tops retailers’ priority
technology, and channel relations, firms need to lists, according to Shop.org/Forrester state of retailing on-
line report. Retrieved January 11, 2016, from https://www.
determine whether its current organization is most
forrester.com/Mobile+Still+Tops+Retailers+Priority+Lists+
appropriate. According+To+Shoporg+Forrester+State+Of+Retailing+
Online+Report/-/E-PRE7604
Gipta, S. (2013). For mobile devices, think apps, not ads. Harvard
References Business Review, 91(3), 70—75.
Graham, J. (2015, April 21). ‘Mobilegeddon’ could be bad news for
Allen, R. (2015, July 9). 7 effective mobile marketing campaigns. 40% of top websites. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.
Smart Insights. Retrieved January 18, 2016, from http:// usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/04/20/mobilegeddon-
www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile- could-impact-your-business/26090627/
advertising/7-effective-mobile-marketing-campaigns Haims, A. (2015, July 28). Push versus pull: How mobile changed
Bakay, B. (2014). M-commerce today: Opportunity and challenge. retail promotion strategies. Chain Store Age. Retrieved Janu-
EQ2 2014. Retrieved December 31, 2015, from http://www. ary 11, 2016, from http://www.chainstoreage.com/article/
slideshare.net/burakbakay/ecommerce-quarterly push-vs-pull-how-mobile-changed-retail-promotion-
Berr, J. (2014, December 25). As mobile shopping booms, so do strategies
problems. CBS MoneyWatch. Retrieved January 11, 2016, from Halzack, S. (2015, January 24). Starbucks has big ambitions
http://cbsnews.com/news/mobile-shopping-mayhem-for- for mobile shopping, transition to digital era. Chicago Tribune.
holiday-shoppers/ Retrieved January 11, 2016, from http://www.chicagotribune.
Berthene, A. (2015, February 25). Neiman Marcus lights beacons com/business/chi-starbucks-digital-era-20150123-story.html
for in-store shoppers. Internet Retailer. Retrieved January 15, Huang, Y. H. (2012). The identification, ranking, and categoriza-
2016, from https://www.internetretailer.com/2015/02/25/ tion of mobile marketing success factors. International Jour-
neiman-marcus-lights-beacons-store-shoppers nal of Mobile Marketing, 7(2), 86—97.
Billore, A., & Sadh, A. (2015). Mobile advertising: A review of the Jayawardhena, C., Kuckertz, A., Kautonen, T., & Karjaluoto, H.
literature. The Marketing Review, 15(2), 161—183. (2009). Antecedents to permission based mobile marketing: An
Boitnott, J. (2015, September 15). Key takeaways from 5 of the initial examination. European Journal of Marketing, 43(3/4),
most successful mobile marketing integrations. Inc. Magazine. 473—499.
Retrieved January 15, 2016, from http://www.inc.com/ Jumio. (2013, May 9). Retailers, listen up: High rates of mobile
john-boitnott/key-takeaways-from-5-of-the-most-successful- shopping cart abandonment ties to poor user
mobile-marketing-integrations.html experience. Retrieved January 11, 2016, from https://www.
Bolton, H. (2015, February 20). Shopping cart abandonment sta- jumio.com/2013/05/retailers-listen-up-high-rates-of-mobile-
tistics. Formisimo. Retrieved January 11, 2016, from http:// shopping-cart-abandonment-tied-to-poor-user-experience-
www.formisimo.com/blog/shopping-cart-abandonment-rate/ pr/
Brousell, L. (2013, August 28). Five things you need to know about Kaplan, A. M. (2012). If you love something, let it go mobile:
geofencing. CIO Magazine. Retrieved January 11, 2016, from Mobile marketing and mobile social media 4x4. Business
http://www.cio.com/article/2383123/mobile/5-things-you- Horizons, 55(2), 129—139.
need-to-know-about-geofencing.html Kumar, V., Zhang, X., & Luo, A. (2014). Modeling customer opt-in
Brown, A. (2012, October 3). Study shows ROI for mobile coupon and opt-out in a permission based marketing context. Journal
redemption. Point of Sale News. Retrieved January 11, 2016, of Marketing Research, 51(4), 403—419.
from http://pointofsale.com/Success-stories/Study-Shows- Lamy, M. (2014, February 2). 4 takeaways on retail’s digital future
ROI-for-Mobile-Coupon-Redemption.html from marketing executives at Williams-Sonoma, Sephora, Gilt.-
Cameron, D., Gregory, C., & Battaglia, D. (2012). Nielsen perso- com, and Macy’s. Nanigans. Retrieved January 19, 2016, from
nalizes the mobile shopping app: If you build the technology, http://www.nanigans.com/2014/02/03/4-takeaways-on-
they will come. Journal of Advertising Research, 52(3), retails- digital-future-from- marketing-executives-at-williams-
333—338. sonoma-sephora-gilt-com-macys-2/
Cameron, N. (2014, December 16). Mobile marketing is lacking Lindstrom, M. (2011, September 30). You love your iPhone.
strategy and governance. CMO. Retrieved January 14, 2016, Literally. The New York Times. Retrieved January 11, 2016,
from http://www.cmo.com.au/article/562564/forrester- from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/01/opinion/
mobile-marketing-requires-strategy-governance/ you-love-your-iphone-literally.html?_r=0
Constantinides, M., Gregg, B., & Salsberg, B. (2013, June 19). Metz, R. (2013, March 25). Amazon’s head of mobile interfaces.
Mobile shopping’s data goldmine. Harvard Business Review. MIT Technology Review. Available at http://www.
Retrieved January 11, 2016, from https://hbr.org/2013/06/ technologyreview.com/news/511821/amazons-head-of-
mobile-shoppings-data-goldmine mobile-interfaces/
Duncan, E., Hazan, E., & Roche, K. (2014, March). Digital disrup- Nerthiaume, D. (2015). Beacons at your command. Chain Store
tion: Six consumer trends and what businesses need to do now. Age, 91(3), 20.
BUSHOR-1296; No. of Pages 9

Planning and implementing effective mobile marketing programs 9

O’Kane, B. (2013). 2013: The breakout year for mobile measure- Sanders, S. (2015, April 21). Google’s new search algorithm stokes
ment. International Journal of Mobile Marketing, 8(1), 86—94. fears of ‘Mobilegeddon.’ NPR. Retrieved January 11, 2016,
Oracle. (2015, March 25). New Oracle consumer study challenges from http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2015/
retailers to adapt to modern retail marketplace. Retrieved 04/21/401269739/googles-new-search-algorithm-stokes-
January 11, 2016, from https://www.oracle.com/corporate/ fears- of-mobilegeddon
pressrelease/retail-marketplace-032515.html StrongMail. (2013). Mobile marketing survey 2013. Retrieved
PR Newswire. (2014, June 4). Geofencing and iBeacons: The death November 26, 2015, from http://www.strongview.com/pdf/
knell of the roadside billboard? Retrieved from http://www. StrongMail_Mobile_Marketing_Survey_2013.pdf
prnewswire.com/news-releases/geofencing—ibeacons–—the- Wagner, D. (2015, July 21). Elephant Bar, Paytronix zero in with
death-knell-of-the-roadside-billboard- 261802651.html geofencing. Information Week. Retrieved January 11, 2016,
Rifkin, G. (2015, December 30). Enter a shoe aisle, feel your phone from http://www.informationweek.com/it-life/elephant-bar-
buzz with a personal deal. The New York Times. Retrieved paytronix-zero-in-with-geofencing/d/d-id/1321385
January 15, 2016, from http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/ Watson, C., McCarthy, J., & Rowley, J. (2013). Consumer attitudes
31/business/smallbusiness/shopadvisor-lets-retailers-target- towards mobile marketing in the smart phone era. Interna-
shoppers-by-location-and-interests.html?_r=0 tional Journal of Information Management, 33(5), 840—849.