White Paper
Measuring mobile How to quantify the success of your mobile initiative
Kony White Paper • Measuring mobile
The mobile revolution has not only arrived, it is gaining momentum. As consumers continue to adopt mobile devices, tablets, and smartphones in record numbers, businesses are seeking to identify new ways to benefit from the always available, always connected advantages these devices offer. The trouble is that while the qualitative benefits of mobility seem obvious, translating those values into quantitative statistics that reflect return on investment (ROI) can be cumbersome. When it comes to convincing stakeholders of the value mobile offers, it is not enough to simply point to mobile’s promise of improved communications, streamlined efficiencies, seamless access to data, and increased customer service opportunities. Calculating the true advantages of mobile requires translating those advantages into tangible and quantitative values.
Part I: Setting the foundation: what’s the intended outcome? Regardless of company size, industry served, or services offered, the success of just about every mobile campaign is measured by how effectively it meets one of two intended outcomes. • Consumer engagement. How has it increased consumer engagement and improved customer satisfaction? • Operational efficiencies. How has it led to improvements in operational or workplace efficiencies? While on the surface these outcomes may appear qualitative, it is easy to uncover the measureable outcomes.
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Kony White Paper • Measuring mobile
Intended outcome #1: improving consumer engagement The travel and hospitality industries were among the first to aggressively embrace mobile, and for good reason. Considering the on-the-go nature of the industry and the changing demands of the customers served, mobile was a perfect match. Because customers were either traveling or located remotely, they were unable to rely on the support of their desktop computers. Instead, whether they were booking a hotel room, checking into a flight, or seeking updated travel information, they were turning to their mobile devices for real-time access to information. These early examples of mobile adoption were not driven by ROI. Instead, any early returns on investment were a happy coincidence, as businesses were simply scrambling to meet the growing expectations of the consumer. Because more and more consumers were carrying smartphones and tablets, the expectations and demand for a mobile experience was growing at an exponential rate — and companies, regardless of industry, needed to generate mobile apps just to keep up with the competition. An unexpected outcome: While ROI was not a planned outcome, businesses soon began to recognize that mobile offered a number of unexpected (but welcome) cost saving advantages. For instance, in the airline industry, customers were not only able to use their mobile apps to check-in or access travel info, they also gained the advantaged of mobile selfservice solutions. Through these mobile services, the airlines empowered customers with the tools needed to solve problems independent of a help desk or customer service agent. For instance, if a weather problem or other unexpected event occurred, the customer was able to re-accommodate themselves directly from their mobile device. This meant no more standing in line at crowded checkout counters, or waiting on hold for a reservation specialist. In the end, this not only made customers happy. It allowed the business to streamline resources – as gate agents, reservation counters, and ground specialists could be consolidated. Intended outcome #2: creating operational efficiencies Those identifiable advantages are not restricted to the consumer space. As savvy firms have come to recognize the power of mobile as an any time, anywhere corporate resource and productivity tool, it has become apparent that mobile’s ability to improve communication, increase access to data, and streamline efficiencies offers its own set of measurable metrics. The trick lies in identifying and defining those metrics.
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Kony White Paper • Measuring mobile
For instance, just like at the consumer level, the basic purpose of an enterprise app is task specific: users are accessing information, sharing information, or completing a function specific to their job responsibilities. A not-so-unexpected outcome: The difference is that unlike the consumer space, the intended outcome for the enterprise was entirely expected. Consider how a home healthcare agency is able to improve the quality of care for homebound patients. During home visits, nurses can use a mobile app to update patients’ medical records and schedule follow-up services. They make more effective use of their time and patients promptly receive follow-up information and services. In this example, the business achieved what it expected: the worker’s productivity increased, inefficiencies were avoided, and patient satisfaction was improved. These examples of measurable success can be carried throughout the enterprise. Whether the result is faster delivery of services, increased sales, or better customer satisfaction, the measurable advantages of a mobile initiative are clear.
Part II: Proving value and determining ROI While the above outcomes each have their own unique and clear set of intrinsic values, in order to gain true organizational buy-in and strategic alignment, those outcomes will need to be quantified - adding tangible numbers that illustrate ROI and value. Quantifying value by proving consumer engagement When the primary goal is to improve customer experiences and meet ever-burgeoning consumer expectations, a simple way of measuring success is to identify how well those customers are engaging with the mobile initiative. If consumers are engaging with a mobile app, this is an indication that the mobile campaign is positively impacting quantifiable measurements, such as customer acquisition, lead generation, retention rate, and resource allocation. For business-to-consumer (B2C) mobile initiatives, the KPIs (key performance indicators) and consumer engagement metrics to consider include: • Number of application downloads • Number of active users • Reduction in call volume
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• Number of users • Number of sales-ready leads
Kony White Paper • Measuring mobile
Evaluating customer engagement User acquisition This measures how much is spent per new mobile customer.
Lead acquisition This identifies the number of leads that can be directly attributed to mobile.
Example: If mobile expenses equal $10,000 and there are 2,000 total users, the user acquisition rate is :
Example: If out of 50 new leads, 10 of those leads are a result of mobile, the lead acquisition rate is:
$10,000 ÷ 2,000 = $5 per user
50 ÷ 10 = 20% acquisition rate
Why this matters: Now you can compare the costs of your mobile efforts directly to the efforts of other channels.
Why this matters: Now you can compare the costs of your leads from mobile against the cost of leads from other channels.
Retention rate This will identify if the mobile campaign is encouraging return customers and behavior. Example: If a total of 500 apps were initially downloaded and 50 app users were retained, retention rate is: 500 ÷ 50 = 10% retention rate Why this matters? Now you can determine the costs of retaining one customer through mobility.
Quantifying value by proving improved efficiencies For enterprise apps, proving the value of a mobile initiative’s intended outcome requires the identification, measurement, and analysis of KPIs. However, unlike a consumer facing app, those KPIs are not centered on customer interactions and consumer engagement. Instead, each intended outcome and KPI is related to specific user cases. Consider these scenarios: • A field service technician needs to access real-time information in order to resolve a customer complaint • A sales engineer needs up-to-date information about product capabilities to design a specific solution while on site • A supply chain manager needs information in real time in order to identify weak points and increase productivity.
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Kony White Paper • Measuring mobile
These scenarios identify specific use cases. By taking each of these qualitative end goals and applying KPIs, organization can then identify the value being added. Measuring enterprise mobility Use case
Objective
KPIs for measurement
Sales and marketing
For a sales engineer or marketing agent, the end goal may be to maximize sales and improve ROI, all while creating a more efficient sales cycle.
• Reduce in-office support and create less paperwork • Increase overall sales • Create additional up-selling and cross-selling opportunities
Field service
For a field technician or service provider, the qualitative goal may be to improve service while maximizing resource usage
• Reduce response time • Create less travel, paperwork, and reliance on internal resources • Improve first-time fix rate
Supply chain
In a supply chain, the qualitative goal may be to track and monitor products across the entire supply chain
• Minimize time to market • Reduce production costs by identifying supply chain problems • Increase efficiencies by integrating with other systems
Enterprise mobility by the numbers Enterprises who successfully measure mobility often discover impressive statistics, including: • 30% improvement in sales efficiency • 25% increase in service technician productivity • 40% increase in asset uptime • 30% reduction in parts inventory
Part III: Adding costs and revenue to the equation The final step in measuring mobile requires comparing the measurable KPIs to the mobile initiative’s total cost of ownership (TCO). Take note, calculating TCO requires the consideration of a number of factors that are directly unique to mobile. For instance, unlike online applications, which only need to account for a small number of browsers, operating systems, and platforms, a mobile initiative must consider the development, maintenance, and upgrade costs associated with an ever-evolving pool of devices, environments, and platforms.
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Kony White Paper • Measuring mobile
Overall, TCO associated with a mobile app will include: • Hardware • Implementation • Integration • Support • Upgrade cost The trick then becomes balancing these costs against identified KPIs and calculated ROI. Having carefully calculated TCO and ROI metrics on hand lays the groundwork to do more than just reinforce the mobile initiative’s qualitative value. Instead, businesses can better identify the strategies most capable of creating value, rank the apps based on the value they offer, and demonstrate how this value can be spread across multiple service areas through various applications. The result is a mobile strategy that offers more than identified costs; it offers identified advantages for each of the intended outcomes it is expected to serve.
About Kony, Inc. Kony is the fastest growing mobile application development platform (MADP) with 250 customers in 38 countries. Kony has deployed over 600 multi-channel applications, servicing over 20 million end users, and generating over 1 billion sessions with a completely integrated suite to design, develop, deploy, and manage the applications. Kony’s suite also delivers over 30 B2C and B2E multi-channel applications with a single code base, resulting in a lower TCO, faster time to market, and the flexibility to evolve at the speed of mobile technology. For more information, please visit www.kony.com or connect with Kony on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. © 2013 Kony Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.