Promoting User Adoption Of Mobile Data Services

BY MARK HOPPER

With U.S. phone penetration reaching 60 percent and the ever-increasing competition for voice revenues, operators are finding themselves embracing data services like never before. The challenge, of course, is migrating these users over to new data services that generate new revenue streams while helping operators create a truly branded experience that will provide maximum return, reduce churn, and increase average revenue per user (ARPU).

To migrate such potential users and get them to both adopt and use data services, operators need to truly understand how their users are interacting and experiencing their data services.

By employing a simple, four-step feedback method, operators can examine both tools and behavior and fine-tune their service to respond to the needs of their users. But before delving into this method, exploring the key impediments to adoption of mobile data services should be considered.

IMPEDIMENTS TO ADOPTION
Today, there are essentially four key impediments that are keeping subscribers from using new data services:

1. Price Sensitivity: With much of today's marketing strategy focusing on price, users have become wary. They have been trained to look for a deal or expect that today's price will be cut tomorrow as competitors enter the market. As a result, data service offerings run the risk of being labeled "too expensive."
2. Handset Variability: A subscriber's experience varies greatly depending on the handset they are using. Some handsets are particularly user friendly (while others are not) and customer success can be directly related to who's using what device.
3. Service Awareness: Most subscribers are initially attracted to some aspect of your service -- from dial tone to photo messaging. But as they come on board, how they learn about data services varies by each individual's experience. Uniformly creating and sustaining awareness of existing and new features has been a tremendous challenge.
4. Service Implementation: In survey after survey, users describe their difficulties in using new data services. These difficulties add up and can have a significant negative impact on ARPU with the fact that user frustration leads to a failure to adoption and usage.

Individually, these impediments can have a significant impact on your service; together they can kill any revenue generating opportunity that exists. Understanding when these impediments occur and working to remove them is essential for the success of mobile data services.

CASE STUDY: HANDSET VARIABILITY AND PICTURE MESSAGING
A mobile operator has deployed picture messaging, but there appears to be a significant, varying degree of usage by handset. The key is finding out why this is happening, and if there is a possible remedy that may correct this issue. By examining usage by handset, one can develop an informative plan to address this issue, all backed-up by data. The analysis may show that such under-performing handsets are hindering repeat usage of the service, thereby impacting potential revenues.

How does one accurately determine a solution, considering the uncertainties and issues that end users experience when using new data services? Through our work with various operators, we recommend a simple four-step method for not only remedying this situation, but for remedying all mobile data adoption issues such as price sensitivity and promoting subscriber awareness of services.

FOUR STEPS TO ELIMINATE THE OBSTACLES
Operators need to approach the issue in a methodical way to examine the particular service in detail and identify possible issues or needed improvements. The key in performing this analysis is for operators to examine the service, ranging from brand/product positioning, marketing strategy, to technical usability/performance of the service. In all likelihood the information that's available will help identify where problems exist, without having to survey end users. For operators wishing to maximize adoption, usage, and revenues, we recommend a simple four-step process.

Step 1: Measure
Establish a plan for what you want to measure. With the picture messaging case study, it is clear that certain handsets are under-performing. The key is finding out the timing, extent and magnitude that these handsets are under-performing. To do this, you should identify the key metrics, generate the results from the deployed service, and then import it into a tool that will allow you to begin data-mining the service, focusing on usage by handset.

Step 2: Study
Now is the time to use your data to generate hypothetical solutions. It's likely that certain user segments will follow predictable usage patterns. Using metrics and available benchmarks, we can see how the handsets are performing and determine whether we have a problem with certain picture messaging handsets. What is key during this process is not to jump to conclusions, but rather let the data speak for itself. Often during this stage, the data reveals information that we didn't expect which leads in a new direction and a new set of hypotheses. The possible outcome in our situation analysis is that the under-performing handsets actually perform on par with other handsets for picture messaging in the first month of usage. However, over time, users stop using this service more so than with other handsets. The question is why, and what can be improved?

Step 3: Optimize
To tackle this next step, a set of basic hypotheses must be developed for examining the deployment of picture messaging and identifying where service enhancements can be made. This may include any aspect of the service from marketing and billing to devices and software configuration. With reference to our case study, we discovered that the usability of a certain handset was not rich and intuitive, and thereby it resulted in more churn on the service in comparison to similar competitive handsets. Operators need to collaborate with the manufacturer, and share this kind of data to make it clear that revenues are not being optimized and that other handsets models are performing much better than their handsets over time.

Step 4: Repeat
Finally, this is an on-going process. As you roll out such changes to your service, you will need to continue to measure the effectiveness of your actions and keep fine-tuning your service. The goal is to ensure that you are maximizing return on adoption, usage and revenues by service and to understand where the bottlenecks or problems may exist in the future. In the case of our situation the handset manufacturer improved the usability and was able to quickly produce new shipments of handsets that end up delivering the same results as other comparable handsets. The results were that users generated more long-term usage, and thereby more revenues to the operator.

WINNING SUBSCRIBERS WHILE CREATING A BRAND
Mobile data services are a great opportunity for carriers to distinguish their service and create real brand value for their subscribers. This will become even more important when the FCC mandate called "local number portability" takes effect, allowing consumers to keep their phone numbers when switching service providers. Like other consumer models, delivering brand value directly correlates to customer loyalty - and customer loyalty means less churn and greater ARPU with lower marketing expenses.

We believe this four-step process of analysis is essential for identifying opportunities for improvement. By optimizing how carriers are deploying mobile data products and by analyzing the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns, the process will not only improve usability and promote subscriber adoption, but it will also help carriers realize a better long-term return on their investment.

Mark Hopper is the director of product marketing for Mobile Products at Openwave Systems. He manages the global product marketing team for all mobile product lines including media download, provisioning and location. Openwave Systems leads the effort towards mobile data adoption and usage. Through emphasis on services for examining data adoption and usage, the company provides state-of-the-art tools and analyses that cater to the interests of mobile operators and their data services. For more information about adoption services, and the company's approach to assisting mobile operators maximize their returns on investments in data services, please visit http://www.openwave.com/us/services/adoption/index.htm.

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