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Factors to consider in choosing an agency to handle your mobile marketing services

Posted by Sheera Eby on August 12, 2013

Mobile marketing is a focus for many marketers this year. According to a study J&C recently conducted, 65% of marketers stated they plan to increase spending on mobile marketing this year. Yet in the same study, we found that 1/3 of marketers admitted to not having a defined strategy for mobile.

 

 

Choosing an agency to plan and execute your mobile marketing activities can be challenging. Mobile marketing is a multifaceted discipline with a number of different aspects. Mobile-optimized email, SMS programs and mobile apps, to name a few. So what factors should you consider in choosing an agency to handle your mobile marketing services?

 

Here are 7 key areas to evaluate and choose a mobile marketing agency.

 

1. The tactics work within the larger marketing ecosystem.
Today, effective marketing programs are applied across multiple channels to create a unified and consistent experience. Most mobile marketing programs have interdependencies with other channels for success. The agency responsible for mobile marketing initiatives should have an understanding of what role mobile marketing communications play in the larger marketing communications lifecycle (the big picture).

 

Many mobile marketing programs have a drive online and in-store, and a dependency on other communication tactics. Agencies that have roots in direct response or a predisposition to understanding response components such as email and landing pages are generally ideal candidates to best understand how to leverage mobile marketing services for action within the larger marketing communications framework.

 

2. Agency provides strategy and thought leadership.
In today’s changing world, clients expect agencies to be on top of the marketing landscape. Marketing leadership expects agencies to understand best and next practice techniques that can positively impact their marketing objectives. Agencies are expected to identify strategies that apply to their clients’ industries and grow their individual businesses. Mobile marketing also has a number of regulatory nuances—ensure your agency has a depth of experience and understands this aspect of the business. An agency offering mobile marketing services should have proven thought leadership and the ability to drill down these practices in actionable applications that deliver response and results.

 

 

3. Programs are behavior-based.
One of the greatest advancements in technology is the ability to leverage behavior to increase the relevancy of communications. Relevancy is a theme we’ve seen in multiple communication studies, and is quickly becoming a consumer expectation. Strong SMS marketing programs leverage behavior to help drive additional engagement and behavior. If a mobile marketing agency talks about “mass blasts” and never discusses tailoring messages based on behavior, consider it a red flag.

 

4. Agency talks about driving response or action.
Response is the name of the game for most agencies today, and this certainly includes mobile marketing services. Whether it’s optimizing email and landing pages to increase click-throughs and conversions or leveraging behavior in a SMS program, an agency offering mobile marketing services should consider comprehensive optimization of performance on a tactic-by-tactic level, as well as how to infuse action into each touchpoint.

 

5. Executional excellence.
Technology has forced marketers to insist that their agency handling mobile marketing have strong operational skills. Clients should not treat executional strength as a commodity as it relates to mobile marketing services. Mobile marketing is still new and multifaceted, and there are many nuances to ensure executional excellence. Agencies offering mobile marketing services need to demonstrate a proficiency in operational expertise across multiple channels, devices and platforms.

 

6. Relationship and compatibility.
While the agency-client relationship doesn’t always feel tangible, clients perceive it as a critical component in the agency evaluation. Communication and commitment are as important in many relationships as the work itself. Chemistry and synergy can make the difference in the collective team delivering exceptional versus average outputs.

 

7. Accountability and measurement.
Marketers are under ever-increasing pressure to demonstrate tangible results and understand the best opportunities for generating a return on their marketing investment. And the results are readily available, because mobile marketing allows for intricate levels of measurement to gauge program performance. That’s why CMOs and marketing leadership should carefully scrutinize any agency offering mobile marketing services to ensure they have a culture of accountability and the proven ability to deliver measurable results.


Choosing the right agency to handle your mobile marketing is a critical decision, and that decision will affect the performance of your marketing programs and return on investment of your marketing dollars.

 

 

Topics: Digital Marketing

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