The Mobile Meeting App Trap

My entire business focus is internet marketing related. A big portion of my energy is focused on meetings and events and helping our corporate and national and state association clients be more efficient online. In the past few years we have focused on mobile and more and more meetings are beginning to understand the value and benefit of a sound mobile strategy.

As exciting it is to see new groups, especially state associations, add a mobile strategy to their repertoire, it is painful to watch the mistakes they make when they first dive in.

I have attended so many conferences where the website are not optimized nor is the mobile solution relevant. I will not argue with many association marketing managers main point that you must slowly introduce technology to certain target audiences, especially old school and less tech savvy state associations, but my main point is that you walk a fine line when doing this. If you introduce a mindless, contentless mobile app template such as the free solution #FSAE11 recently launched, you can minimize the opportunity and therefore turn people off from not only from using it for this years event but from seeing the value for future years.

I have taken huge flack for coming off negative to those who planned or organized the #FSAE11 mobile app solution, but the truth is I am very excited they have a solution out there, but less impressed with the strategy itself. The pitfall I see taking place is that with the growing pressure to go mobile many of these group managers are taking the short cut so they can simply checking it off the meeting event check list. Perhaps it is a free app, or maybe they bought a scaled down version of copied template from an app factory, but the reality is these apps are NOT impressive, they don't have dynamic content that has the opportunity to bring the user back again and again.

The partner #FSAE11 selected for mobile in 2011 will NOT allow them to grow their mobile strategy in 2012, yet they will most certainly be looking for a new partner if they wish to have a mobile strategy in 2012 that runs 365 days a year, vs 60 days that covers before, during and after the conference.

Also, if your attendee base is less tech savvy than most, it is important that you spend more time building your strategy to cater to these users. Case in point, a tech users conference could provide a simple mobile website versus a native app, because the users of the conference are savvy enough and have the right devices to understand how and when to access the mobile web. On the flip side, a less tech savvy state association user might greatly benefit from a native app that works flawlessly no matter where that person is at the conference and no matter what device they are carrying.

Bottom line, and the basis for my tweets. You will find after this #FSAE11 conference that very few people will use the app more than once. Analytic data will show that people looked and never came back. This because they will see that mobile is available, they will go as far as downloading it, they may look once and they will say, cool, but will not be impressed enough to to use the app everyday of the conference as should be the intent.

This has been the trend with these scaled down mobile solutions such as the one built for #FSAE11 by the “app factories.” However on the flipside, if you provide a native solution with rich dynamic content that is geared towards a 365 mobile communication strategy, not only can you monetize it to pay for itself through marketing with partners, but you get loyalty with your audience (even the less tech savvy) today and in the future.

Mobile solutions are extensions of your brand and when you develop a free or simple mundane mobile strategy it degrades the brand it tells the world that whomever is giving the group guidance is this area of marketing are more focused on price than actually being serious about developing a sound mobile strategy.

The trap is to enter mobile with a cheap solution so you can check off the list so that you can say we engaged and offered mobile for this years event. This in my opinion is a big mistake and my focus with my clients (work with many associations and corporations) is to tell them what they need to hear not what they want to hear.

CEO and board member levels tend to appreciate this more than feeding them what they want to hear only to find out it was not the proper advice.

You can develop a first time mobile strategy correctly, one that can be monetized, one that offers an intuitive and fast navigation, one that has a great looking interface and provides rich dynamic content and encourages the attendee, the user to not only download it- but to use it days, weeks and months before, during and after the conference dates. If you are serious about mobile and expect that your attendees use the app- don't fall victim to the mobile app trap.

Bryan Bruce

Founder, Your Brand Voice

bryan@yourbrandvoice.com