Recently (OK not that recently), I was lucky enough to hear Sienne Veit speak at the How Do Mobile Marketing Conference in Manchester. Sienne is Social and Mobile Commerce Development Manager at Marks and Spencer and had plenty of interesting insights to share about the challenges for brands like M&S working across new online channels, such as mobile. She was a pleasure to listen to and was clearly very passionate about weaving Mobile and Social into everything M&S do.
This isn’t the reason I remember her talk. The thing that really stuck in my mind was her use of frilly knickers. Or rather, her use of a great analogy, illustrating the M&S approach to introducing mobile marketing, and how it relates to the attitudes of their customers.
For the most part the typical M&S customer wants to pick up a plain pack of white briefs. They’re consistent, comfortable, good quality, dependable, great value for money and the design is rarely changed – women know exactly what they’re getting and they’re comfortable with that (I can’t vouch for the knickers but their plain white T-shirts are similar). But, every now and again, they’ll want to try something a bit different. Something that feels a bit special, a bit sexier and a bit more glamorous. Most of the time they just go for what they know, but having something else on offer means that when they are ready to try something new, they’re more likely to try it with the company that is trusted and delivers the basics so well.
So how does this relate to Mobile Marketing? For the most part M&S still relies on a trusted mix of traditional, established media (I consider website, email and display marketing in this mix). Their customers are comfortable with it – it works, but, they’re not afraid to try something new. Take mobile for example. M&S have trialled a number of approaches including SMS alerts (offers, vouchers and loyalty points), 2D barcodes (QR codes), WAP links to mobile web content, Twitter, Facebook and other social sites, and customer feedback services like Fizzback. Channels you wouldn’t instantly associate with M&S’s customer base.
If you think your customers won’t try something new, think again. M&S’s do.
Sienne’s talk was specifically about the use of Mobile and Social Marketing but there are similarities with all online channels. Your brand may well not be a big as M&S, or you may just be starting out online, but your approach should be the same.
- Get the basics right: Make sure you follow best practice, gain trust and have a foundation to build on
- Be useful: Your audience will be more receptive and loyal if they get something from you (advice, an offer, or maybe just an opinion)
- Unify: Have a plan to get your team thinking about online, integrating it into campaigns and making sure the technology can deliver
- Start with the end in mind: Be ambitious, and keep taking steps that are manageable
- Be pants: Offer the good, reliable and consistent, but don’t be afraid to try something new
And finally…
- Test, learn and refine: Make sure you have the right tools and systems in place to analyse your activity – learn from mistakes and build on what works.
But what will it cost to try something new? What will the return be? How can you be sure it will work? The simple answer is, if you don’t try it you won’t know. The beauty with online is that it is extremely measurable – you’ll quickly be able to see what’s working and what’s not – the most important thing is to test and learn.
So what was the last thing you tried out online?
You can read a Q&A with Sienne Veit on the econsultancy.com website.
