For the second installment of our blog interview series, I sat down virtually 
with Tim Grace, who as Senior Manager of Consumer Products for Apartments.com oversees his firm’s mobile channel efforts.
For those unaware, Apartments.com is probably the leading online rental property search brand (the name alone is “golden” in terms of their target). They are a part of Classified Ventures, which consists of a group of advertising properties including Apartments.com, Cars.com, AparmentHomeLiving.com, and HomeGain.com. Classified Ventures itself is owned by five large media companies, so reading between the lines you can see the vertical integration going on here. I point out the chain of players involved because publishers, media companies and consumer online services are collectively leading the way with innovative mobile engagement strategies.
With text message integration and a popular iPhone application version of its service under its belt, Apartments.com clearly sees the mobile channel as a valuable extension of its core, proven online business model. Note that these are Tim’s thoughts alone and do not necessarily reflect those of the company.
Q – Unlike a retailer, consumer online services would seem to view mobile almost exclusively as a fulfillment or service channel as opposed to a platform for marketing. How does that impact such a business’ approach to mobile?
A – I think, in a best case scenario, both retail/e-commerce and service channels leverage mobile both as an extension of their core business and as a way to message to new & existing customers. In my opinion, any business with an existing web presence and some level of transactional goals should start out their mobile efforts aiming to extend their existing service/fulfillment channels there. This isn’t to say the outreach component isn’t important – it is. To me, however, it would be backwards to start developing an elaborate SMS notification or couponing program before ensuring your existing web content is fully accessible to mobile users.
Q – Social media like Twitter and Facebook are probably on your radar screen. How do you see social networking fitting into a consumer online business generally and in terms of the mobile channel specifically?
A – The phrase “mobile is social” is en vogue these days, largely due to the success of Foursquare and other location-based services. While that statement strikes me as a tad hyperbolic, I do agree that the two concepts are heavily intertwined. For consumer online businesses, I view social as requiring a two-pronged strategy: socializing the product and brand storytelling leveraging social tools and channels. Mobile can be powerful in both efforts. For most consumer online businesses, content sharing and collaboration among consumers are key opportunities to socialize the product experience. Making content more portable and tapping common sharing methods like SMS, email, Facebook messages/status updates, tweets etc. to pass information to trusted advisors is a great example of how mobile plugs into the social ecosystem.
Q – The iPhone seems to be the “go to” platform for mobile applications for all businesses. What about the iPhone makes it good for connecting with customers and how should online services approach mobile application development?
A – A heavy focus on the iPhone is definitely a double-edge sword for marketers and online product folks. The amazing level of innovation by developers on the platform opens up an array of unique opportunities to engage consumers, hence the boom of native application development, but it’s easy to forget that most Americans don’t own one. In my experience, online businesses should view iPhone app development as an opportunity to evolve their existing products to leverage experiences only feature-rich devices like the iPhone can offer. If your experience is search driven, how can layering in GPS or use of the phone’s camera add value to this process? Don’t simply build an iPhone that does exactly what your website does.
Q – For consumer-facing online businesses yet to embrace mobile, can you recommend some ways they get started?
A –The clear place to start for an online business new to mobile is to ensure you are not providing a degraded experience to mobile web users. Don’t be seduced by the improving quality of the WebKit browsers used by iOS, Android, etc. Your website doesn’t work on mobile, period. Determine what core features your users will need if they visit your site on a mobile device and deliver that as elegantly as possible within the browser. You will immediately see returns in your key metric performance by doing this.
Beyond that, I’d encourage online businesses to think about how features unique to mobile devices can deliver value to the bottom line. Would your customers be willing to pay more for a premium version of your product that sent them an SMS message when a product they love went on sale? Can you charge for a mobile application that offers a powerful (and unique to mobile) search experience that leverages mapping or photo search or bar code scanning? Mobile commerce isn’t the only way to monetize the space and I’d encourage online brands that aren’t strictly e-commerce to find ways to add value both to users and their balance sheet in mobile development.
Q – My last question is a bit cliché, but gets the heart of what’s needed for mobile to succeed as a business and marketing channel: What will it take for 2010 to be considered the year of mobile among consumer online services businesses?
A – At a recent conference I heard someone say that we should stop trying to pin down whether this is the “year of mobile” and embrace the idea that this is the “time for mobile.” From my vantage point, I think online businesses have reached the point where they know mobile is important and that they need to invest in a strategy there. The Google/Apple arms race that has emerged in the past few months has certainly helped raise the mobile profile, but I feel confident in saying that the tipping point has already been reached. The challenge moving forward is more or less one of education. Marketers, product professionals and developers at these online businesses do need to avail themselves of all resources possible to help them navigate what is a complex landscape.
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