When it comes to B2B marketing, having a mobile presence is simply a necessity. The number of smartphone users has now passed 68% of all American adults. And 82% of executives believe their company’s mobile apps are essential to their business practices. B2B marketers work hard to run effective campaigns, but often struggle to know how to extend their efforts into the mobile universe.
Meanwhile, mobile product research has expanded by 91% among B2B buyers over just three years. It is more important than ever that marketers are able to implement a multi-channel approach that provides key content for their contacts and leads. Mobile marketing automation allows marketers to go into greater detail with better personalization for a larger number of prospects.
What Does Mobile Marketing Automation Mean?
Marketing automation is when content is set up to be published or sent based on specific actions for the user. Marketing automation usually includes sending out content that is part of your inbound marketing strategy. Mobile marketing automation targets the mobile audience either by publishing mobile optimized content or pushing content to mobile-only platforms.
Mobile marketing automation might include:
- In-app messaging
- Mobile-optimized emails,
- Text message marketing
- Mobile alerts
Content may be triggered by actions like:
- Abandoning a cart
- Moving into a certain geographical location
- Signing up for a contact list
- Making a purchase
These kinds of actions provoke a response from the automation program, sending multiple users personalized messages that are in direct response to their behavior.
Creating Personalized Automation
The difficulty with automation is the possibility that it could go horribly wrong. If your settings are not put into place appropriately, you could have responses sent out that make no sense or are obnoxious to the user. Automated responses may have the opposite effect of your intentions. They can make your brand seem less personal and put together than if you just didn’t even attempt to automate your marketing in the first place. Instead, make sure your parameters are carefully set to avoid sending out too many messages in a given time period to a given contact. And definitely set them so that you don’t send out messages for the wrong situation.
Take Advantage of Mobile-Specific Platforms
Lay Out the Welcome Mat
Fancy resorts greet guests with a fruit basket or icy bottle of bubbly. Fine dining restaurants lay out an amuse bouche in a delicious show of appreciation. How are you showing your customers that you appreciate their business?
When someone signs up for your newsletter, opts in for SMS messaging, or otherwise indicates they’re going to be with you long term, you can show your appreciation by sending them a message acknowledging their presence and thanking them for choosing your company. The best part? You can set up this thank you note to be automatically triggered the moment the sign-up or opt-in occurs.
Create Lists
Even though all your consumers are interested in your brand, that doesn’t mean they’re all interested for the same reasons. They don’t all want information about the same aspect, product line or service. Part of your sign-up form should be used as an opportunity to gather information. It can include questions about:
- Likes
- Dislikes
- Hobbies
- Income range
- Geographic location
- Industry of employment
- Household makeup, and so on…
By using that data to create different email or text message lists – consumers may be on more than one – you can better target certain automated marketing campaigns to the consumers you think might appreciate them most. This personalization can continue throughout the buyer-business relationship. 41 percent of people purchase more from retailers who send out emails that are customized based upon their past buying and browsing patterns.
Celebrate Shared Milestones
Everybody loves being remembered – especially on special occasions. Honor your customer’s subscription date, birthday or anniversary with an automatically generated email or text message that “magically” appears on the date in question. You could also include them in your own celebration when your business-anniversary comes around. What you offer is up to you. It can be as simple as a sweet note commemorating the occasion or you can include a mobile coupon that’s redeemable either online or in a brick-or-mortar store. In the end, the content of the message isn’t necessarily as important as the fact that you “remembered” to send it.
Don’t Just Talk At Them, Talk With Them
Just because some SMS messages are automated on your end doesn’t mean they can’t encourage a personal, in-the-moment response from the message’s recipient. Give consumers options for responding to texts and push notifications by linking to a support forum, activating short code responses, or attaching a poll or survey to post-purchase push notifications. Knowing they’re being heard can be incredibly satisfying to a consumer who might otherwise feel like just another number. The more connected a consumer feels the more likely they are to feel loyal and buy from you again in the future.
Purchasers are People, Too
It’s easy to get caught up in what mobile marketing automation means for you and your business, while forgetting what it looks like from the consumer’s side. It’s fabulous to know that you can send a message at 2am, but if you were on the receiving end would you want to get that middle-of-the-night alert? In the same vein, bulk messages can be convenient for blasting out information about a new campaign or product launch, but mass messages that don’t address users personally or that come too often can feel spammy. One-third of those surveyed feel that personalization is an important part of the future of marketing. And it doesn’t take a ton of experience to see that they might well be right.
Takeaways
With a seamless approach, mobile marketing automation can make your approach more tailored to your various contacts. Look for ways to get your automated content to supplement your personal outreach with lists that are better segmented and results that are carefully tracked and reported. Connect with your users in a way that they can appreciate, making them feel important to your company and interested in what you have to say.
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