10 Steps for Building the Best Mobile Marketing App

Here are the first 5 Steps for creating a great mobile marketing app:


1. What do you want to achieve

Mobile phones are used everywhere and all the time in your customers daily lives and can therefore support almost any aspects of a holistic marketing strategy. To develop truly successful mobile marketing campaigns you need to define what you need and combine this with insights of what your customers want.

Here are some examples of what you might want to achieve:

• Mobile app as part of a branding strategy to help position the make
• A tool to raise awareness of an upcoming release or the launch of a new brand
• Create a new sales channel to reach customers and drive sales
• Mobile app as an extension for an existing service
• Drive footfall to a brick and mortar store
• Engage customers at the POS and enhance the in-store shopping experience

An example of an insight associated with this could be that people that buy running shoes want to keep track of how far and for how long they run. You can guess where this may take you…

2. Get the whole picture

Mobile is a powerful channel, but it is not a standalone. To leverage from its full potential it has to be integrated into the general marketing strategy.

• Interlink between channels. Let channels “play” with each other, the more interaction, the more engaged the customer
• Cross-promote throughout all channels. Use NFC, QR Codes or links to connect mobile with OOH Media, Print or TV and vice versa. Create and benefit from synergies

3. Be relevant

Get to know your target group and create an app that is relevant for them. Follow the user’s journey and detect potential touchpoints. What needs do they have, where can an app fit in?

Most successful mobile marketing apps are usually those that either kill time or save time. Think about how you can make life easier for your customers or how to entertain them.

4. Be yourself

Don’t chase the latest buzz just to be cool. The most innovative app does not help achieve any goals if it is completely detached from your brand and what it stands for.

Have a look at your values, your positioning and your message and work out something around it. Create a logical connection between the app and its functionalities, rather than just “brand” the new Angry Birds.

Generally, be wise about branding. A little logo on the side would probably not even be noticed, a big one would be annoying.

5. Pick the right platforms

Not everyone has an iPhone or an Android. Not even everyone has a smartphone. Users of different mobile platforms skew distinctive. Sketch out the target group for your brand and match it with the user profiles for different platforms. Read about mobile user profiles here.

Keep in mind that the target group for your mobile app might just be a subset of your entire audience. If you have a disperse audience, a mobile site is mandatory.

(Blog post courtesy of Golden Gekko)