Aaron Sawitsky — November 22, 2017 — November 22, 2017
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It’s the middle of November, which means that we are deep into the annual RFP (request for proposal) season. Because so many companies issue RFPs around this time of year, we thought it made sense to take a few minutes and give you five insider tips for how you can craft the perfect mobile app marketing RFP.
Tip 1: Do It Right, Do it Once
There’s no denying that creating an RFP is time-consuming and there can be a tendency to view RFPs as busy work. However, it’s important that you resist the urge to get through it as quickly as possible. If you take the time to properly craft your RFP, you’ll end up selecting a mobile engagement platform that you can use for years to come. If you rush through the process, chances are you’ll end up with the wrong solution and you’ll be back creating another RFP before you know it.
Tip 2: Start With Your Goals
You should begin your RFP with an executive summary that lays out the reasons why you’re looking for a mobile app marketing platform. This allows the vendors to tailor their answers to your specific needs. Be sure that this summary answers questions like:
- What is our strategy for mobile?
- What do I need to make the strategy successful and how will a mobile marketing platform help me?
- What do I expect to accomplish with this platform that I can’t do today?
- What pain points am I currently facing and how can this platform help remove them?
- How do I expect my strategy and needs to evolve over time?
Tip 3: Get Everyone Involved
When you’re building an RFP, it’s vital that you get input from the employees who will be using the platform on a daily basis. They often have a unique perspective that should be reflected in the RFP. It’s also important to include all the teams and departments that will be directly or indirectly impacted by the decision. Far too often, we see RFPs fail because they were written without consulting key stakeholders. Common stakeholders are:
- Any team that will be sending messages through the platform
- The product team(s) in charge of your apps
- The development team that will be integrating the platform into your apps
- Your analytics team
Tip 4: Use your RFP to get free advice
Generally speaking, few people know an industry as well as the vendors who serve it. For example, here at Localytics, our employees have several hundred years worth of mobile app marketing experience. Your RFP can tap into this knowledge. By asking questions like, “How can we use your platform to create campaigns that increase our app’s revenue?” you can end up with some terrific ideas for your mobile marketing strategy.
Tip 5: Be specific, but not too specific
It’s important to find a balance between having open-ended and specific requirements in your RFP. Sometimes we receive RFPs where the demands are so specific that no vendor can possibly meet all of them. This generally happens when a company has gone beyond identifying their goals and pain points and developed what they believe to be the best solutions for their needs as well.
A better approach is to simply state a pain point or objective and ask the vendor how they can solve it. Often, mobile marketing platforms will be able to deliver the desired end result, although it might be in a different way than you envisioned. Leaving the requirements flexible wherever possible makes it more likely that you will find the right vendor for all your needs and speeds up the process as well.
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