Digital Mobile Marketing Academy

Without knowing the brief in detail, here are a few topline points...

Research – Even though them have the smart phones, research whether there’s a need for the apps your agencies are pitching. It’s real easy to produce something that already exists and come up with a weak copy of a stronger more established app.

Stats – Think about how many people you could reach. Look at the stats for downloads of other apps that are in similar sectors or appeal to your target consumer in a similar way. Be sure to do the math that it’s worthwhile re your return on investment.

Budget – Plan your marketing budget for the app as well as the development costs. Developing has become pretty straight forwards and the skills base is now broad. Budget for getting your app out there, raising awareness and driving trial. Include budgets for this in all your thinking.

Finally, don't forget the Nokia platforms. These guys invented apps even though it was Apple who got the PR and associated benefits. Check whether your consumers are using Symbian or other Nokia platforms and budget for your apps to be on all the platforms that have critical mass.

Best of sucecss for your pitch!

FMCG consumer brand for young guys: enough have iphones and androids to make us look at apps. 3 agency pitch coming up: Any tips?

Thanks Roger.

It's hard to judget whether £50k is great value or weak value as an app can be abything from a simple RSS feed to a deeply integrated connection into your CRM database. So given that caveat, here are ome quick thoughts...

Look at the audience penetration and the number of customers you're likely to reach. Only some of your customers will have smartphones, only some of thsoe will see your marketing messages for the app, and only some of those will be ready to buy / download. Let your knowledge of customer value drive your decisions and think through the actions you're expecting people who download to take, and how differently they're likely to behave.

Treat the first few projects as research and development, so invest significant time in the analysis. ...and let us know what you find!

iPhone apps: My agency is pushing for a £50k project for 3 apps but I'm nervous. We're a consumer brand and this would be our first time on iPhone. Any advice anyone?

What makes for a good SMS? Sounds silly, but 160 characters just isn't that much and there must be some best practice on this. Anyone?

What's the secret to good SMS campaigns. Short space and I'm uncomfortable writing in text speak because it's just not the way our customers communicate (they're 35+). Tips, suggestions, comments? Or do i have 2 abbrevi8 evrythg ;-)

I'm in a full service agency and we're starting to offer mobile: key question - how much should we ask the customer to do? We have lots of youth clients in the UK & Ireland and are looking at mobile games triggered from SMS messages with clicks to download. Good approach?

Here's a challenge: how do you get large volumes of SMS numbers that have opted in? We're a UK retailer. Answers of more than 160 characters please!

Use this space to add your links, comments or questions about mobile marketing. The forum is retrospectively moderated but if you have a private issue then email me directly Danny@DigitalStrategyConsulting.com