This article is by Lisa Nirell, who advises CMOs through peer group programs and speaking engagements. She is the author of The Mindful Marketer.
In a previous career, I belonged to a sales effectiveness "SWAT team." My employer—a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software company—would shuttle me to their top customers on a moment’s notice. The situation was tense because the customer was ready to pull the plug on their sizable software investment.
The Chairman of the Board or CEO had placed a multimillion dollar bet, and they were losing. As the triage team, it was our job to quickly find the root cause of low user software adoption, help the client recover their investment, and save face with their stakeholders. These stressful assignments taught me a lot about the human condition. It was like getting a Ph.D. in change management.
Today, CMOs migrating to a "mobile first" culture are facing the same trial by fire. These are four areas where marketing leaders fall short when designing and deploying mobile strategies:
Putting your company ahead of your customer. I've often heard CMOs ask "what kind of app should we develop? What features should it include?" This will send your teams down the mobile rabbit hole--it's too tactical and focuses on your needs, not your customers'. Instead, ask "what approach will bring out the best in our customers and stakeholders as we develop our strategy?"
Taking a holistic view of the customer must supersede your desire to be top-ranked Apple Store candy. SC Moatti, a seasoned Silicon Valley product manager, marketer, and author of Mobilized, offered some wise advice at our recent Marketing Leaders of DC meeting: "Mobile platforms are an extension of us. Your mobile strategy must take into account three customer aspects: their body (a desire to look good); their spirit (supporting meaningful work); and their mind (a design that fosters continuous learning)."
Abdicating the strategy to IT or a digital agency. During her years at Nokia, Facebook and Yahoo!, Moatti witnessed many partners do this. She could predict what would happen next. "The IT Director or agency would assess the number of platforms they needed to support. Then they would present the integration costs to the CFO. The price tag was so high, the CFO would immediately reject it."
Moatti recommends that the mobile strategy team remain part of the company, and that the CMO remain one of the key sponsors. "Let mobile team members become experts on specific processes, and prepare everyone to adapt and reorganize as the strategy unfolds."
Ignoring change-management basics. During our SWAT team assignments, our CEO expected us to be change agents, and to demonstrate the value of shifting from paper-based customer records to CRM. In the late 1990s, these companies were considered the most elite among peers. They threw unlimited funds and resources at their CRM initiatives. Yet the executive sponsors often assumed that a few memos and sales kickoff meetings would drive commitment.
In a society which often rewards activity over efficacy, it's tempting to write a few emails and assume our jobs are complete. That drives compliance, squelches constructive resistance, and ignores the longer, more rewarding path towards commitment.
In these cases, CMOs should leverage the power of their investor relations and internal communications teams to design a multi-touch, multi-year communications plan to guide the change process.
Finally, prepare a mobile crisis management plan. Anticipate systems crashes, team resistance, late adopter complaints, user grousing, and product shortfalls. How you respond--as well as the speed at which you respond--will make a big difference.
Boiling the ocean. It's easy to let scope creep undermine the best-laid mobile strategy. Two marketing leaders avoided this by starting small and wading in the metaphorical mobile pond.
In 2014, the Atlanta Hawks wanted to realign their brand with a new, younger, and more diverse audience. Peter Sorckoff, chief creative officer and executive VP of Brand, teamed up with Agency Fizz to create a winning mobile strategy. Together they designed a custom emoji/GIF keyboard that provided useful and easy access to their content and social channels. They were the first sports team to launch emojis. Their past 12-month performance was a slam dunk; season ticket sales have risen 500%, online retail sales grew 175% and TV ratings have improved 120%.
In another instance, an agency worked with the CMO of a top 50 beauty products brand on a mobile loyalty program. Using geotargeting, the program offered loyalists a free makeup session when they came within the vicinity of certain department stores. Loyalists raved, and cosmetics sales skyrocketed. More than 90 percent of the people who scheduled a free session purchased product. Makeup artists greeted customers by their name when they arrived at the store. Word of mouth mushroomed.
Keep these strategies top of mind as you unveil your mobile strategy. They'll ensure your teams and constituents avoid swallowing the bitter pill of digital disappointment.
