You would expect “communication” to be the buzzword for a panel on relationships, public policy or workplace harmony. But mobile optimization?
Yet, talking meaningfully to your subscribers/members was one of the keys that came out of Making the Business Case, the first webinar in SIIA’s new Mobile Essentials series titled The Guide to Creating a Mobile Business.
“Talk to readers to see how they’re using your content,” advised Greg Krehbiel, director of marketing operations for The Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc. “Communicate with your customer service rep to see what he or she is hearing. How are your readers accessing your information?”
The webinar laid the groundwork for content providers to get started with mobile. Although the majority of B2B websites are not optimized for mobile, a growing percentage of your audience is connecting with you via a mobile device. In addition, an ABM study found that 75% of respondents would engage more with a mobile-optimized version of your website.
But Matt Kinsman, vice president of content and programming for ABM, and the webinar’s first speaker, cautioned publishers to take that extra step. “Before you spend all that money on mobile, understand what your customers want and how they want it,” he advised.
Kinsman pointed to Farm Journal Pulse, a magazine that has enjoyed great success with targeted mobile messaging. “They are doing a lot with iPad apps and advanced mobile strategies,” Kinsman said. “They have developed one of the aggressive mobile platforms in B2B by understanding what their customers want and how they want it. Because 97% of farmers take their cell phones with them every morning, the company recently launched text-driven mobile solutions, including text message updates and coupons delivered through text.
Both Kinsman and Andy Swindler, president of Astek Consulting, spoke of the importance of business plans and talking to your subscribers—instead of trusting generic statistics. “There is a pressure to go mobile, a fear of being left behind” that motivates some publishers, Swindler said. Instead, there should be a business plan that tells exactly what you are attempting to accomplish. “It’s really easy to go in the wrong direction,” Kinsman added.
Greg’s 10 Rules of Thumb
“What’s the purpose of your mobile product?” asked Krehbiel. “What’s mobile about it?” Here are 10 rules he believes you should abide by in weighing your decision to go mobile:
1. Be careful with generic stats. They show us there’s movement in a certain direction, he said. But it may not be your direction. “You want to look at what your customers are doing in the mobile space. The average mobile behavior probably doesn’t have and never will have much to do with your business.”
2. Pay close attention to what you do. What’s your behavior on mobile? Look at how you use different devices and what you use them for.
3. Data is not the plural form of anecdote. Do not confuse the two. Learn from your own experience and listen to other people.
4. Get your own stats. How many of your people are reading your emails on a mobile device? Look at time of day. Measure your traffic from mobile devices vs. paid subscription.
5. Going mobile doesn’t happen overnight. It happens in stages. Are your marketing emails or product delivey being opened on mobile?
6. How and when do your customers use your content? What’s particularly mobile about farmers? “That was genius what Farm Journal did,” Krehbiel said. That’s meeting your customers where they are.”
7. Distinguish mobile web vs. apps. Apps give readers a better experience, but you have to jump thru Apple’s hoops. And it’s not just about the experience; it has to fit in with your business model.
8. Tablet vs phone-sized screens. Know how they’re consuming your content. An iPad allows more engagement. Are you on an open-source platform that has mobile plug-ins?
9. Don’t listen to the geniuses. Remember the paperless office, the flying car.
10. Where are you earning your revenue? Don’t major in minors. Make sure you do a cost-benefit analysis. Increase that revenue to serve your customers better.
A case study
Swindler then presented a case study that Astek undertook for SIPA member EB Medicine. The goals were to get in touch with EB Medicine’s readers, understand what the true value proposition of mobile would be for them, and finally separate the mobile buzz from reader reality.
“Overall, they showed good growth in mobile traffic,” Swindler said. But he questioned if that was enough to justify a huge financial outlay. “Don’t let fear guide a critical decision. Anecdotes, buzz, a couple survey responses, is that enough to say this is a direction? They had done quantitative research.” But Swindler decided that they needed some qualitative research as well.
Astek spoke in-depth with five emergency room physicians—the EB Medicine audience—to truly understand what they needed, “rather than just get answers to survey questions.” They wanted to know “how they think, how they are using this technology. How are they using their iPhones in the emergency room? Would a quick reference guide help them do their jobs better?”
The findings were critical in guiding EB Medicine’s next steps. It made them think about their content differently. It helped them understand that they had more than one kind of reader. “It’s not enough to just say this is our readers,” Swindler said. “We needed a deeper understanding of that core value of EB Medicine.” They found that the best way to spread the word about their app would be one doctor telling another—and, if possible, hooking the residents, even if they couldn’t pay yet.
Engagement gets better
The final presenter was Jeffrey S. Litvack, senior VP & chief digital officer for American Lawyer Media. He said that with sales of smartphones overtaking PCs in 2012, 2013 would be the “tipping point” for mobile.
‘How did we approach mobile? We looked at what our users are doing,” Litvack said. “How are they interacting with us? Is it through the mobile Web, e-newsletters, mobile apps, digital editions for mobile devices?” He spoke of the decision to go either with responsive design—a scaling down of your site—or native—an all new-for-mobile site. ALM chose native. They were able to launch from Day 1 with a positive ROI by selling the ad rights to a sponsor.
Litvack said that with more readers opening email on their smartphones, the importance of optimization increases. That view may determine if the reader saves or deletes. Since the launch of ALM’s mobile optimized websites, click thrus have increased 120%. “That’s hockey-stick growth,” he said. “Very rare. We’ve had 144% more traffic coming from mobile and 40% in average click-thru rates for advertisers.” The mobile breakdown has been 2/3 smartphone and 1/3 tablet.
Though valuable, Litvack said that apps can be very expensive to build and maintain. He warned of going the Apple route, where you have to abide by their timing for both launch and updates. Apps can be effective, he added, but with almost a million apps in the app store, “getting noticed is very hard.”
He believes that engagement and the number of times people come back will always be higher through an app than on the desktop. “The users will be more interactive with that content. People will look at more pages, because it will download the information [easier] and make [the process] more a seamless.”
Lastly, Litvack stressed the opportunities that mobile offers for attracting print advertisers. “Digital editions resonate with print advertisers. They allow interactivity. You can sell them at print rate. Smaller screen sizes mean less content,” but less can be more. He also spoke of the importance of taking a different approach with mobile—from headlines to delivery. “Organizational and process changes are needed,” Litvack said. “Mobile is not a standalone channel; it’s part of the entire customer experience. And it’s becoming the predominant way for accessing your sites.”
The next big thing, Litvack pondered. “How mobile will be connected to cars.”
The second webinar, The Guide to Creating a Mobile Business, will take place Sept. 19. Sign up here.
Ronn Levine began his career as a reporter for The Washington Post and has won numerous writing and publications awards since. Most recently, he spent 12 years at the Newspaper Association of America covering a variety of topics before joining SIPA in 2009 as managing editor. Follow Ronn on Twitter at @SIPAOnline