Christian Louca, CEO at Tamome, argues the case for a strategic approach to mobile.

Last week, the IAB published a how-to guide titled: How to maximise your mobile strategy. I remember way back when we would have to build a client’s mobile site before we could run their advertising campaign. These would be simple landing pages – one or two pages at most – so that brands could dip their toe into the world of mobile at a basic entry level; no strategy required.

Thankfully today, mobile is taken more seriously, with 84 per cent of the UK’s top 250 advertisers using a mobile-optimised site, and 68 per cent possessing an app, according to the IAB’s 2015 Mobile Top 250 audit. Mobile is no longer an exploratory channel, and this creates a need for a real, strategic approach. Without one, the probability is that your efforts and investment will fail to deliver the ROI you were hoping for.

Indeed, brands and advertisers are ill-advised to rush headlong into the world of mobile without a clear plan. Unnecessary mistakes cost people either their job or a whole lot of embarrassment, not to mention money.

How many boxers do you see enter the ring without religiously studying their opponents, so that they can formulate a strategy on how to defeat them? Football managers meticulously analyse the opposition before they pick the team and formation. Even being a parent requires a strategy on how to raise the children, school them and finance their upbringing and education. We are constantly putting strategies in place – at home, work, for the weekend, holidays, for our health and wellbeing. Mobile is no different – it needs a coherent strategy to be put in place and executed with caution and flexibility.

Pointers for success
But how do you go about doing that? Here are a few key pointers:

• Create knowledge and understanding – do your research.

• Be familiar with the building blocks – what are the foundations that you need to build from? Mobile web platforms and applications can be built, but neither are necessarily relevant to everyone.

• Get to grips with the importance of technology and data – We live in a constantly connected world in which vast amounts of data are collated and aggregated to allow the flow of content. In this world, engagement, experiences and relevance are demanded every second of every day. Understand how technology and data can enhance your business and how to utilise and unlock their benefits for you as a brand and for your audience.

• Deliver experiences – Deliver the best possible experience to those that you want something from. Otherwise, do not bother them, you are wasting your time, frustrating the people you rely on and damaging your brand.

• Personalise – Engage with your audience on a personal level, keeping the messaging consistent and making them feel important across all touchpoints.

• Be seen and stand out – Develop a strong creative strategy to get your message across. But make sure that creative strategy is tied in with your media strategy. If not, you run the risk of limiting your ability to communicate with your audience. Should your creative define what roads you can walk down and which ones you cannot, you may not reach your audience effectively.

• Master your media campaigns – If you need paying customers to drive your acquisition strategy, look at the costs that could be associated with acquiring them through mobile search and display. If the cost to acquire a customer is greater than the return, you need to ask the question: “Is this sustainable and for how long?” It will be very damaging if you get this wrong.

• Focus on business goals – Define your KPIs and make sure they are realistic. Unrealistic goals will lead to disappointment and, ultimately, failure. Know your game plan. Learn what is possible and how to get there.

• Adapt to survive – This will be a challenging activity so having flexibility in your approach is key. If your foundations are not right; then be prepared to extend. Have a backup plan.

If you want to be the best at what you do, you need a strategy that encompasses all of the above. Follow these principles and you have every chance of success.

Christian Louca is CEO at Tamome