This sponsored post originally appeared in VentureBeat on May 7, 2013 and was written by Jeff Michaud, Vice President of Marketing, 3Cinteractive.

1. Develop intimacy with your customer’s “mobile profile”

In today’s mobile-centric world, different demographic and psychographic consumer groups will display varying expectations and demand for mobile interactions with your brand. This makes it critical to understand and segment your customer’s demand for mobile in order to build an effective mobile strategy that meets their expectations.

A simple way to build this profile is to conduct a customer survey to measure their satisfaction with the quality and quantity of your current mobile interactions. Combine this with survey questions that gather basic demographic data and you will have a solid base to begin developing mobile profiles of your customers. For a more sophisticated analysis of your customer’s mobile profile, Forrester, a global research and advisory firm, provides a comprehensive measurement known as the “Mobile Mind Shift Index” that will put you on the path to truly understanding your customer’s demand for mobile.

2. It’s not about inventing, it’s about improving

Too often today, line-of-business executives responsible for mobile get caught up trying to invent the “next cool thing” to do with mobile. This can lead to a lack of decisive action, or even worse, to a great deal of time and money wasted on mobile apps that don’t produce results. Remember, your business hasn’t changed because of mobile! Just like the Internet did, mobile improves the way you provide service, support, and commerce to your customers. A good rule to go by when thinking about this is “follow the money.” Meaning, take a look at all of the customer interaction points that drive revenue for your business – and apply the appropriate mobile technology to improve those processes.

So, don’t get caught up in all of mobile’s “bright shiny objects,” and remember, it’s not about inventing, it’s about improving. I think a quote from Gartner report “Cool Vendors Supporting Multiple Nexus Forces” says it best: “Mobile enablement was, and should be, subservient to clear business goals.”

3. Rethink what a “mobile app” actually is

In 2006, my firm deployed a mobile application using text messaging that drove a double-digit increase to our client’s bottom line. Two years later, we struggled to convince anyone that a mobile strategy was about more than an app you could download to an iPhone. Even today, we still fight against the “there’s an app for that” mindset. As great as native apps are, they are only one component of driving true, rich consumer engagement via mobile. Today’s devices support sophisticated mobile web apps, highly interactive messaging and voice apps, location services, mobile payments and more. A successful mobile consumer engagement strategy will encompass many or all of these mobile application channels to provide your customers with real utilities – and the tools to manage their relationship with your brand.

4. Integrate to automate “right-time” decisions

I am confident that in the near future, big data tools will allow brands to derive sophisticated consumer profiles and predictive analytics that will make contextually aware mobile engagement a marketer’s utopia. Until we get there, however, there are plenty of simple and highly effective ways to make “right-time” decisions about when, where, and how you engage your customers. Start by thinking of the customer event data you already have in your CRM and ecommerce systems and identify points where an automated, proactive engagement mechanism could drive a commerce event (i.e. when a prescription refill is due, when a customer is up for renewal, when loyalty point thresholds are achieved). Once you have identified these points, integration with a mobile platform can enable you to automate proactive notifications via SMS that will drive consumers to take a desired action leading to a commerce event. Remember, 95% of the time, text messages are opened and read within the first five minutes of receipt. This type of basic messaging application may not be sexy, but it can drive results – and you can do it today.

5. Determine ROI models, measure, and invest

Once you have identified the areas where mobile engagement can directly impact a commerce event, work to determine the ROI derived through that mobile engagement. With the right mobile partner, this should not be difficult. It is important to remember that the velocity at which consumer technology evolves has altered traditional budget processes. Marketers are making more and more technology purchases and obtaining in-year budgets based upon the ROI they are generating. According to the report “Breaking Out of the Funnel” by DemandGen, over 70% of budgets for technology purchases are allocated outside of the traditional year-end budget processes – most often after an ROI was proven. So, drive towards proving out these ROI models, and you’ll find that obtaining budget dollars to invest more in mobile will be easier to justify.

To recap, to make mobile consumer engagement drive measurable results for your business, understand your customer’s mobile profile; think business goal first, mobile technology second; rethink the concept of mobile app and open up all mobile channels; seek out where you can use mobile to drive “right-time” decisions around commerce events; and measure ROI on your mobile investments to get the budget you need to achieve your goals.

With the global mHealth market expected to reach $10.2 billion by 2018, healthcare organizations are increasingly investing in the power of mobile to create and sustain conversations with their consumers. We’re often asked by healthcare organizations, “How will we know if mobile is working?”

In this video our General Manager of Healthcare Solutions, Barry Hix, provides insight into the process required to determine the return on investment (ROI) for mobile. Healthcare organizations must reacquaint themselves with the critical metrics used to measure their business today, determine the desired consumer journey with the organization or brand, and ultimately, optimize the mobile deployment towards the desired journey.

To learn more about how to determine the ROI for direct-to-consumer mobile engagement in healthcare, download our white paper at http://bit.ly/12gTS5Y.

Did you know the fifth largest U.S. mobile carrier has over 20 million subscribers but doesn’t own cell towers? Mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) are shaking up the mobile marketplace as we know it. They’re filling in the gaps of top-tier carriers and quickly gaining subscribers who are attracted to their lower pricing options and creative marketing practices.

In this video, 3Ci’s vice president of channel sales talks about how traditionally MVNOs have successfully targeted niche markets. Plus, he shares insights into how the new wave of MVNOs will be data driven, riding the high-speed networks to create customized solutions for their consumers.

To request a platform demo or to find out how 3Ci’s cloud-based, mobile platform helps many of the largest MVNOs drive stronger consumer engagement and increase a customer’s lifetime value, please click here.

In December of 2012, California’s attorney general (AG) filed a lawsuit under the California Online Privacy Protection Act, which is also referred to as CalOPPA.  The suit against Delta Airlines is one of their most high-profile cases against a company claiming the failure to provide users of mobile applications a proper notice on specific privacy practices.  In short, the suit claimed that the users of the Delta app were not made aware of how their information would be used.  The primary focus of the act was originally websites, viewed by California as “online services”.  Any website collecting personally identifiable information (PII) that does not have a conspicuous privacy policy in place is fair game under this act (but it’s hard to imagine how many sites don’t have a privacy policy).

The new twist is that the California AG is now expanding CalOPPA to include mobile applications.  What may also be surprising to some is that CalOPPA has existed since 2004, but notification of mobile app inclusion began a year ago.  Since February 2012, Google, Apple, Facebook, HP, Microsoft, Research in Motion and Amazon have jointly agreed to privacy principles ensuring compliance with CalOPPA.  The California AG, Kamala D. Harris, is supported by a state enforcement and protection unit that reaches out to online servicers with warning letters to those found to be out of compliance.  The deadline to inform Harris as to when compliance will be met is a brisk thirty days, after which a fine of $2,500 per application download can be levied.  Let that one sink-in for a moment - per download.  So this is no small sum for even a moderately popular app.

Law firms and privacy bloggers are now buzzing about CalOPPA, because apparently the requirements are catching many mobile application developers – and their clients – off-guard.  Not all applications are in scope of course, just those that collect PII and/or location data.  To comply fully with the act, a mobile app must have a conspicuously posted privacy policy and details within the policy of how the information will be collected, used and shared.  The requirements of the act may appear simple, but more so for applications to be developed than those that already exist.   Where this becomes a complex business problem is the expectation of the California AG that the privacy policy should be inclusive within the app.  For those apps not in compliance, this means an update push and the attempt to pack lengthy privacy language into a mobile’s form factor.

AG Harris states on her website that “Protecting the privacy of online consumers is a serious law enforcement matter“.  The enforcement that is now taking place is going to serve as a serious wake-up call to all online service providers that collect information about Californians, i.e. – basically all providers.  This is not the first foray into trailblazing concerning privacy originating from California.  In 2003, the California Security Breach Information Act became a state law.  Commonly known as SB-1386, this law required that owners of any breached sites collecting PII of Californians were responsible for notifying all affected parties.  Massachusetts took this concept much further in 2010 with their Data Protection Law (MA 201).  The MA 201 law is designed to protect the citizens of Massachusetts by requiring compliance with a set of security standards for “every person who owns, licenses, stores or maintains personal information about a resident of the Commonwealth…”.  The law includes language on access control, encryption, firewalls, and awareness training.

So what would drive California and Massachusetts to have detailed security provisions regarding privacy and PII collection?  How does this impact my business and are these two the only states of concern?  It isn’t as if you are likely to refuse California, Massachusetts or any other state’s (or even country’s) business to avoid complying with these laws.  When it comes to addressing data breaches, there are multiple state laws with varying degrees of strictness.  In fact, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, all but four states have security breach notification laws as of August 2012.  The likely reason for such impactful state laws is the lack of a clear federal regulation to provide one singular, cohesive and comprehensive set of laws that meet even the minimal requirements of all state laws.

Cybersecurity legislation had an embattled run in 2012 with no resolution.  The 113th congress in 2013 is expected to pick up the topic and an Executive Order is likely to be signed this month.  Until then, states will continue to prepare legislation that protects their residents’ data regardless of the location of the online services provider.  Now that California is touching the third screen with CalOPPA, time will tell how soon other states may follow suit.  Now would also be a good time to review your mobile applications and the necessary privacy policies, before your letter arrives.

About the Author:

John Ceraolo is the chief security officer at 3Cinteractive where he directs the organization’s enterprise risk management, business continuity, and information security. Ceraolo has been leading security initiatives within global organizations for over 20 years.

The mobile revolution is upon us. Newer segments of mobile such as location based services (LBS) and mobile payments are changing the way consumers use their mobile devices. Companies are now taking a more holistic approach to mobile by incorporating messaging, voice, mobile web and apps together throughout the customer lifecycle. 3Ci’s VP of marketing discusses how the innovations of smartphones and their advancing capabilities have revolutionized the way businesses are approaching consumer engagement in the U.S. today.

About The Author:

Jeff Michaud is the vice president of marketing for 3Cinteractive. Michaud is responsible for managing 3Ci’s brand direction and market positioning, product marketing, customer acquisition and sales support, as well as oversight of its corporate communications.

Mobile phones began with basic features and built on these to bring us what we have today – a computer built around a phone. For the purpose of this discussion, “basic features” are phone calls, voicemail, and SMS. Much has been written about security and SMS, but you see little about the security of voicemail, unless you count the News International phone hacking scandal. This type of hacking involves a method known as pretexting, whereby the hacker calls a customer service representative and impersonates their victim using personal details in order to gain passwords into voicemail, email, etc.

Not something that the average person can do and nor should they try, considering that today pretexting can get you 10 years in prison. But what if it wasn’t that hard and little to no work was needed to gain access to voicemail? What about your voicemail?

One of the many beautiful things about a mobile phone is that in order to hear your voicemail, you usually have to push a button. You were likely advised by an SMS message that you had a missed call and from whom, etc. Gone are the days of bulky machines at home or the next huge technological advancement- calling a carrier phone number, punching in a few more digits and being forced to listen to your messages sequentially. Now, we can see a whole menu of who called, when and in any order we wish to play them back. That is, as long as we are doing this from our mobile phone.

Of course, from where else would we check our voicemail? Sometimes we might forget our mobile phone (a thought that strikes terror in many) and will want to check messages (remotely). Depending on the make, model and carrier, you can call a central toll-free number that asks for your cell number and password. Another approach is simply calling your own mobile number and pressing “*” or “#” during your voicemail message which interrupts the greeting and ask for a password. Note that you aren’t prompted for a password when calling from your mobile, so the added security required when calling from another phone is an excellent feature. The downsides are a) do you remember your password and b) do you even have one? Likely the staff at the store that sold you the phone set this up with you or in your excitement, you just left it as the default – not a good idea. Search on the Internet for your phone type and default voicemail password and you may be surprised to find this is what you have been using – but if you never typed in (remote access), then you wouldn’t know it!

By using the mobile phone feature to access voicemail, keying in the password was never required. This “set it once and forget it” complacency has led many of us to put our guard down and not put the same emphasis on the voicemail password as we do our phone locking PIN or desktop computer password. That little tidbit is not lost on attackers who can leverage default or non-existent voicemail passwords to their advantage. So what can you do? Fortunately you have several choices: disable/never use voicemail in the first place or set a strong voicemail password that you change occasionally. Most of us prefer to get a message so disabling voicemail is not a very popular option. Changing passwords on your voicemail can also be a little tricky, as the application will ask you first to type in your old password, something you may not know. Carefully review the procedures for your phone type before starting this process.

Knowing what is happening regarding the access to your voicemail is also an important although often neglected critical piece of information. Not all services send you notifications that suspicious activity is occurring with voicemail access attempts yet, but this should be something all providers offer. You’ll know something is not right when messages you haven’t already heard are either flagged as not new or there is an increase in the number of your callers telling you they left a message that you never received.

The News International scandal broke two years ago, but the risk to all mobile users’ voicemail is still prevalent if we don’t take the proper steps. Blog posts covered the topic back in 2011, but it never hurts to reiterate the steps you should take to avoid becoming a victim.

About the Author:

John Ceraolo is the chief security officer at 3Cinteractive where he directs the organization’s enterprise risk management, business continuity, and information security. Ceraolo has been leading security initiatives within global organizations for over 20 years.

Today, over 80% of the world’s population has a mobile device. For the first time in history smartphone sales outpaced those of PCs. And virtually every company, regardless of industry, is trying to figure out how they can leverage this phenomenon to better engage their consumers and employees.  But how did we get here? In this video Jeff Michaud, 3Ci’s VP of marketing, talks about the evolution of mobile and how the industry advanced from the early days of selling content such as ringtones to being leveraged by the enterprise to improve their business.

About The Author:

Jeff Michaud is the vice president of marketing for 3Cinteractive. Michaud is responsible for managing 3Ci’s brand direction and market positioning, product marketing, customer acquisition and sales support, as well as oversight of its corporate communications.