SMMS – Digital Marketing Consultation Services for Small and Mid-Sized Businesses

In order to give you the best perspective on social media and digital marketing topics and trends, I’ll periodically invite other industry professionals to participate in Q&A blogs.

Today’s blog features Jed Singer. He is VP of Product Marketing for MEG.com, the only mobile marketing automation platform that delivers engaging experiences across all mobile channels: web, social media, native mobile apps, and in real-world locations via iBeacon technology. Jed has led successful social and mobile engagements for brands across many verticals, including P&G, HBO, MasterCard, AB-InBev, and Toys ‘R Us.

Q: For those who don’t know, can you define mobile marketing in a few sentences?

A: “Mobile marketing” encompasses all of the strategies and tactics that an organization may use to create a better experience for their customers and users across all devices, namely smartphones and tablets, but also including digital-out-of-home and emerging technology like smart watches and augmented reality (e.g. Google Glass). With the tipping point behind us, all customers are now mobile customers, and our sales and marketing experiences need to be tailored to the context of a customer’s device.

Q: What’s the importance of a mobile app to a brand’s digital marketing program?

A: Depending on the brand, a native mobile app (iOS, Android, etc.) may be a crucial digital asset. Successful apps tend to skew toward one of three key value props for users: fun, utility, or savings. I want to either waste some time having fun within a branded app experience; or I want the branded experience to help me do something more efficiently or effectively; or I want the app to help me save money or reward me. For media companies and publishers, a native mobile app is the key to over-the-top service, as we saw with HBO’s recent announcement.

Q: How does mobile marketing fit into an overall integrated digital marketing program? For example, what’s the tie (if any) to web, e-mail and social?

A: Mobile marketing should be incorporated in two ways, both of which are strategic to the business. First, mobile channels (like the mobile web, native mobile apps, SMS/MMS, mobile advertising, and in-store/on-premise experiences via Bluetooth LE or NFC) should be assessed, goals created, and objectives assigned; then, campaigns can be planned and digital assets or properties (like native mobile apps) can be developed, maintained, and measured. Second, the marketing department should apply a mobile lens to all other digital channels. How are mobile users interacting with our email campaigns, with our social marketing, with our native ads (et al) and how can we create a better buying experience for our on-the-go customers?

Q: At what point does it make sense for a brand to consider a mobile app?

A: Once the marketing team determines that they have a truly special concept (fun, utility, or savings), they accept the time and monetary investment that comes with launching and maintaining a native mobile app, and they have qualitatively or quantitatively determined that a market for this experience exists. There is nothing more defeating than spending a million dollars on a native mobile app, only to realize that the app doesn’t add value to the customer, the app cannot be maintained effectively, or that there is, in fact, no market for this experience.

Q: Let’s say a brand is moving forward with the idea of a mobile app, how should they get started?

A: Internally check the three boxes above, then consult a mobile app developer to determine requirements, UX, cost, and timing.

Q: If a brand is looking to reinvigorate their mobile app, what can they do? What consumer trends are we seeing from top downloaded apps?

A: Totally depends on the business vertical, however flexibility is crucial, and the tools ecosystem enables this. Use analytics platforms like Artisan to A/B test designs, content, and calls-to-action within you native mobile app to determine what’s working and what’s not. Use engagement automation platforms like MEG.com to trigger context-based messaging and experiences within your app. Use mBaaS platforms like Cloudmine to rebuild and run your apps more efficient by leveraging the cloud.

Q: From a marketing perspective, how do you keep a mobile app relevant and top of mind for either B2B or B2C audiences?

A: An app is like any other marketing channel, and it therefore needs to be maintained and supported with marketing and advertising. By staying flexible (mentioned above), you’ll be future-proofing your apps, and by effectively positioning, marketing, and advertising your apps, you’ll maintain relevance.

Q: If a brand is looking to launch a new mobile app, what are some general marketing tactics they should consider?

A: A top-tier mobile app developer, like Stuzo, should be consulted at the outset. They can generally help the marketing department ensure that a mobile app is the right piece of the puzzle to move marketing goals forward. Once the app is built and launched, it should be marketed as you would any other branded digital property, with a dedicated set of launch campaigns and lifecycle campaigns until it has been sunset.

Q: What is the difference between a mobile app and a responsive design website that can be pulled up on a mobile device or tablet? Is one better than the other?

A: This depends on the business’s strategy and monetization structure. For many publishers, investing in a responsive web design for mobile consumers is sufficient. For other businesses who have more taxing features and functionality (HBO GO, for example), a native app is crucial. The difference, functionally, is that the native app is downloaded to the user’s device, and it has access to data and device features, like push notifications, contact lists, and the device camera. A website being explored through a device’s mobile web browser does not have this richer functionality.

Q: If a brand is looking to put a paid mobile promotional plan into play, what tools should they look to?

A: As mentioned above, promoting a native app should be done in much the same way as any other owned digital property. Many advertising options, like Facebook ads, offer you the ability to use a 1 click/tap download call-to-action, which will boost your CTR and drive down your cost of acquisition.

Q: In your opinion, what is the future of mobile marketing?

A: The internet of things is rapidly approaching, and the industry is lighting up about beacons. Top beacon manufacturers, like Estimote and Kontakt.io, are shipping thousands of beacons each day. The way businesses implement beacons on-premise and in-store will forever change the relationship that the brand has with the consumer.

Recommended links to check out:

Connect with Jed Singer on social media:

Twitter – https://twitter.com/jedsinger
LinkedIn – http://www.linkedin.com/in/jedsinger

I’ve yet to really see a blogger or social SME cover the topic of SMMS tools, from a usage and best practices standpoint; so I figured, I would in this blog.

For those unfamiliar with the term, SMMS = Social Media Management System. For a brand’s social program to be effective and mature as needed to support business needs, tools are needed to help free of the tactical execution to be able to focus on strategy (especially if it’s a one-person show).

There are so many SMMS tools out there today, that it’s hard to keep track yourself. I’ve always relied on local social media get-togethers, as well as Internet social media groups to get the low-down on the standout SMMS tools. In addition, I rely on research conducted by Altimeter Groups and Forrester Research. Both groups offer a both paid and unpaid research on a vary of topics, including SMMS tools.

Before we dive into this topic, let’s cover the functionality most SMMS tools should cover:

Content publishing
Community management/CRM
Contents/campaigns
Social advertising
Employee advocacy
Social listening
Social analytics

Most SMMS tools today offer all of the above, with the exception of comprehensive social listening and social advertising and employee advocacy (very few offer it today as a business would need it to be executed).

The tops in terms of SMMS tools are as follows:

Adobe Social – This is a great tool with awesome analytics and ROI tracking; however, you have to be a social superstar to use it. I would not currently recommend this product for large-scale roll-out for a global or regional company, because the user experience is just too difficult or can seem as such for social beginners or intermediates.
Sprinklr – Again, I love the analytics, ROI and brand influencer/CRM tracking of this tool; but it was built by IT guys, not marketing or UX folks. The overall user experience is not meant to serve audiences, from A-Z. It’s meant for social expert level.
Shoutlet – This is my go-to tool for most social programs. It has a user experience that can serve anyone with any level of social expertise, and it has fantastic social ads, advocacy, CRM and analytics functionality.
Spredfast – This is a good tool, and definitely improvements have been made to made it more user friendly. It’s definitely worth giving a second look, if you haven’t given it a first look already.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud (recently renamed Social Suite) – Fantastic concept, but execution is poor and user experience is not realistic. This is a visionary tool, but fails to really deliver on basic functionality. This is not a tool that keeps it easy in terms of assisting with the execution of a social program.

In terms of social listening, Crimson Hexagon, Sysomos and Radian6 are really the heavy-weights right now in this area, but there are other tools that are coming up on their heels like Brandwatch, Datasift, etc. Currently, your brand will likely need support from a SMMS tool and a listening tool, because the listening functionality of the SMMS tools is not ad advanced and many do not cover monitoring of external brand mentions on, for instance, Twitter or on blogs.

Many smaller and mid-sized SMMS tools are being eaten up by the bigger ones. I suspect large-scale mergers between the bigger SMMS tools in the coming years (2-5 year time frame) as well. We are already seeing some of this – due to the needs, algorithms and APIs of the social networks constantly changing and improving.

Of course, selecting a SMMS tools or social listening one should be based on first an internal audit of what you need to support your brand’s social program (every brand has different needs). After this, come up with a checklist you can provide to sales folks at these SMMS and social listening tools – and then get started with the demo process.

This blog is my opinion; but, it’s based on my experience with these tools, demo’s of the products, feedback from colleagues and research from Altimeter and Forrester.