School Assignment. Mobile Marketing Plan

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Mobile Marketing Plan for Dixie Knits
Nancy Brumfield
Full Sail University
IMK4410-O 01: Mobile and Emerging Technology Marketing
Dr. Sara Skidmore
January 29, 2023
Pitch Video: https://express.adobe.com/video/0uMXcQFXejIAR

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Introduction
Dixie Knits is a small yarn shop offering a variety of yarns, notions, and classes. This mobile
marketing plan includes specific goals for the mobile aspect of the business. It discusses a
concept for smartphone and smartwatch apps and how Dixie Knits can leverage emerging
technology to reach a larger audience. Along with developing new apps, there are also
suggestions to make to mobile website experience more user-friendly, creating a higher-quality
user experience. Time-saving automation tools are essential for small businesses, and this
report gives insight into low-cost tools that will do some of the mundane tasks, creating more
time for crucial tasks. The plan's goals are to engage mobile customers in new ways to increase
customer satisfaction, user engagement, mobile traffic to the website, and mobile revenue.
Goals
Businesses, regardless of size, need specific goals for their marketing plan because it gives
the marketing department direction and shares the company’s vision. Setting measurable goals is
how to determine if the marketing campaign is effective or underperforming and if changes are
needed. Without goals, there is no definitive way to measure if it is successful. The focus of the
goals for this mobile marketing plan is app downloads, increasing user engagement and
increasing mobile sales. Here are the specific goals:
• Increase user engagement by 10% in 4 months.
• 500 app downloads in 6 months.
• Increase mobile revenue by 15% in 3 months.
With these goals, Dixie Knits can measure the success of the mobile marketing plan and can
make an informed decision about whether or not changes are needed.

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Value Proposition
An enhanced customer experience.
This mobile marketing plan integrates new digital experiences to increase user engagement,
reach a wider audience, improve useability, and provide new ways for customers to engage
with your business.
Competitor Analysis
Joann Fabric and Crafts is a national big box chain that offers a wide variety of yarns.
The mobile website is easy to navigate, especially with a search bar at the top of the screen.
The landing page shows items that are currently on sale. Clicking on the menu bar, users can
find digital coupons to save money on their purchase. They also have a mobile website and an
app for both iOS and Android smartphones and tablets. The app is very similar in layout to the
website making it easy to navigate. On the app they have a loyalty program where users can
view rewards they have earned.
Hobbii is a yarn shop with a mobile website and app. Their website and app have the
same setup making it easy for returning customers to shop. On the mobile website or app users
can easily navigate to product sections. Hobbii also has a free pattern library full of projects
using yarns they sell. Users can download the patterns and save them to their devices for later
use. Hobbii also offers a monthly subscription plan. Subscribers get three free patterns
monthly, a 10% discount on regularly priced items, double points on orders, and a monthly
point bonus.
SWOT Analysis

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The strengths of Dixie Knits' mobile website are they offer yarn and needle brands not
available at other online stores. The color scheme of the mobile website is visually pleasing and
creates brand awareness. The mobile website is a responsive design that resizes to fit the
device used to view it. It improves readability and user experience.
Dixie Knits' weaknesses include navigation on the site, price, and a text-heavy home
page. All the yarn listed on their website is not available for online purchases. Instead, the
website asks users to call the store to make a purchase. Most people like the convenience of
ordering online and do not want to call to place an order. Dixie Knits is losing revenue by not
providing online ordering. Another area Dixie Knits can improve is making the website easy to
navigate. For example, when you click on the shop online page, it comes up with a menu of
options to choose from; accessories, needles, notions, and yarns separated by weight. The
image on the accessories tab is of knitting needles, so users click that box expecting to find a
selection of knitting needles, but there are no knitting needles for sale in this section. The item
for sale in this section is postcards. It can cause potential customers to become frustrated and
search other websites to find what they are looking for, resulting in lost revenue for Dixie Knits.
Lastly, the home page is text heavy, which can cause the customer to leave without exploring
the website because they do not want to scroll a long way down a page searching for the
website menu.
Dixie Knits has opportunities to increase online sales. Updating the website to allow
online ordering will expand the customer reach. The business would no longer be limited to
consumer in the Pensacola area, but can choose to ship within the country, continent, or
globally. Another way they can increase sales is by making it easier to navigate. When users can

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have a hard time finding what they are looking for on a website, they find another website that
it is easier to navigate. Another opportunity Dixie Knits has is to create an app. Creating an app
will enhance customers digital experience with the businesses, increase customer engagement,
improve referral rates, and increase sales.
Threats to Dixie Knits are the economy and yarn websites with lower price points. The
economy is tough right now, leaving a lot of people struggling financially, which means they can
only afford the essentials, so spending on hobbies is not in their budget. There are many
websites selling yarn at lower price points. Knitters looking to get the most out of their money
will shop at these stores, knowing they can get more yarn for the same money.
Assumptions
Assumptions made as a marketer for Dixie Knits include customer demographics,
devices customers use, their digital ability, and willingness to try new digital experiences. The
assumptions of customer demographics are that the majority of customers are women over 50
years old, married or widowed, who live in Pensacola and the surrounding area. They no longer
have kids at home, so they fill the void by knitting. The devices they use are smartphones and
tablets. They use tablets more often because they have a bigger screen which is easier to see
since they are older, and their eyesight has started to deteriorate. Customers would be willing
to download an app if they found it valuable. Being digital immigrants, they made need
prompts the first time they use the app to help guide them in navigating and getting the most
out of the app.
Devices

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Dixie Knits customers access their mobile website from Android and iOS-based phones
and tablets. The app will be developed for Android and iOS-based phones and tablets, with the
Android-based app, released first. The Android version should release first because 79% of
knitters are 40+ years old, and 53% of people in the United States over 35 years old use Android
phones. Six months later, the iOS version will release, reaching the younger knitters. Another
reason to release the Android version first is that “Android is the leading operating system for
tablets worldwide, with a market share of close to 60%, iOS has around a third of the market
share with Windows tablets occupying the rest of the market with a little over 10% share”
(Chowles, 2023). Users will access the Row Counter Smartwatch app from smartwatches that
are Android or watchOS-based operating systems.
Mobile App Wireframe
The Dixie Knits app is for current customers to instill customer loyalty and increase sales
while fulfilling the customer's wants and needs. It has a natural flow making navigation easy
without needing prompts to guide them to different sections. It also has a search bar at the top
allowing users to directly search the entire app by typing in the search bar. It saves them time
and the frustration of clicking through loads of screens to find what they want. Users can shop
for yarn, needles, and hooks and register for classes. In the yarn section, users can click the
filter to view by weight, fiber content, or color, making it easy to find the yarn they want. The
project section gives users access to patterns they can knit or crochet. The checkout process is
simple. Once a user has entered their payment information the first time, they can save it in the
app for future purchases, making it even easier to shop on the app. There is also a class screen.
On this screen, the user taps on the class they are interested in, and it explains what they will

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learn. It also has a form so they can register in the app. The rewards screen shows users how
close they are to their next reward, which can create trust and customer loyalty (Miller, 2022).
When a customer taps the home icon on any screen, it will take them to a screen with the
store's physical address and an integrated map that will guide them to the store using GPS.
Tapping the phone icon, they can call the store without leaving the app.
UI/UX Analysis

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User interface (UI) is how humans interact with a computer, website, or application and
can be graphical, voice, or gesture-based interfaces. It is essential to creating a good online
presence (Kumar, 2021). The interface determines how users interact with a mobile website or
app. A mobile website and app that is user-friendly and easy to navigate ensures users can
easily interact with the interfaces, which can increase traffic to your website or app. Dixie Knits
can enhance its mobile website by including a gestured-based interface. When customers view
yarn, a swipe function that lets them view each color of a specific yarn without needing to click
on each color will create a better user experience.
User Experience (UX) focuses on accessibility, ease of use, and visual aesthetics. It is
crucial to consider the user’s needs, digital abilities, and limitations to create the best digital
experience. Having a responsive design mobile website, where all the elements automatically
rescale based on the user’s device, ensures the website will improve the user experience,
visibility in search engines, and loading speed (Moreno, 2021). With a responsive design
website, there is no need to develop a separate mobile website for smartphone users, saving
businesses money on website development and maintenance. Mobile speed is a huge factor
impacting the experience. If pages load slowly, users can become frustrated and find another
company in the market that provides a better digital experience. Dixie Knits' mobile website is a
responsive design and loads quickly. They can enhance the ease of use on their mobile website
by putting the menu bar at the top of the webpage. When a user goes to the mobile website,
they scroll past a lot of text to get to the menu bar, which can frustrate users. The text they
scroll past is announcements. Using a pop-up box, the user closes ensures they see the
announcement. It also takes away the frustration of scrolling down the page to find what they

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are looking for. Making these changes will enhance the accessibility and ease of use for users
creating a higher-quality user experience.
Mobile Marketing Plan Measurement
Measurements that are critical to determining the success of this Mobile Marketing plan
and include the number of app downloads and active users, user acquisition, retention rate,
conversion rate. You can view the number of iOS app downloads in Apple Apps Analytics and
the number of Android downloads by doing a quick search for your app in the Google Store.
The number of active users is a key measurement because if customers download your app but
do not use it, it is not helping create an engaging mobile experience and may be a sign that
users have become frustrated trying to use the app or have lost interest in the app. The
retention rate tells you how many people use your app more than once in a specific time frame.
A good retention rate means the app is engaging. It also gives insight into what your audience
likes and how often they use it. User acquisition is a metric that shows you how effective
marketing channels are. It is crucial to deciding what channels your efforts should continue
using or increase your budget in and which marketing channels you should stop using.
Conversion rate is an important metric to track because it “can help define what features of
your mobile app are most welcomed by your users or testing the adoption of a new app
feature” (Pismennaya, 2023).
AI and Marketing Automation
Artificial Intelligence (AI) “uses artificial intelligence technologies to make automated
decisions based on data collection, data analysis, and additional observations of audience or

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economic trends that may impact marketing efforts” "What is Ai Marketing? A complete
guide" 2022). AI saves businesses time and increases
productivity because it reduces to need to do mundane tasks, allowing businesses to focus on
other needs.
It uses customer profiles and data to learn the best method to communicate with customers. AI
uses this information to send customized messages at the right time. It can use a customer's
past purchase history to predict what yarns they might be interested in and recommend
products. Chatbots are another way Dixie Knits can leverage AI technology to save time and
increase customer service. Chatbots give users immediate answers to basic questions instead of
sending the business an email and waiting for a response. Chatbots free up time, making
employees more productive in other areas that need attention.
Marketing automation is a technology that streamlines the process by automating the
tasks such as email marketing campaigns, lead generation, behavioral targeting, and social
media responses ("Marketing automation: What it is + A guide" n.d.). Dixie Knits can leverage
drip email campaigns and a social media scheduler to improve efficiency, save time, and save
money.
Using an automate email software, like MailChimp, takes some of the workload off the
business. Drip campaigns can be a set of welcome emails, reminders they have items in their
cart, product recommendations, upcoming promotions, etc. To do this the business needs to
set up the emails and consumer actions that will trigger each drip campaign. For instance, if a
new customer visits the mobile website and downloads a pattern, it can trigger a welcome
email campaign. This removes the responsibility to send emails to new customers from

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someone in the business, ensures no one is overlooked, and sends the welcome email and
follow-up emails in a timely manner. A standard MailChimp plan starts at $20 a month and
includes many features like customer support, prebuilt email templates, analytics, and so much
more ("Standard pricing plan," n.d.).
Social media schedulers are another way to save time. Social media scheduler tools
allow you to schedule media posts and offer content creation and analytics. It allows you to
create multiple posts and then choose a specific day and time to post it, as well as choose the
platforms you want it posted to. This saves times because the same post does not have to be
created for each platform separately. The cost Dixie Knits would incur for a social media
scheduler range from $25 - $50 a month.
VR, AR and Wearable Technologies
VR, AR, and Wearables are technologies Dixie Knits can leverage to stand out in the
market by offering experiences other businesses are not yet using. Offering these technologies
will increase consumer reach, customer engagement, customer service, and revenue ([x]cube
LABS, 2020).
Augmented Reality (AR) is an interactive experience that uses text, graphics, or sound delivered
by a smartphone, tablet, or smart glasses to enhance real-world objects ("Why every
organization needs an augmented reality strategy," 2021). Dixie Knits can create an elevated in-
store experience for customers in their stores with AR. Customers can open the app and scan a
skein of yarn with their camera to get information, such as the yarn weight, fiber, and yards the
skein has. It also gives users the ability to scan the yarn and give them a 3D view of how it

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works up in a specific project, like a hat, sweater, or blanket, giving customers confidence in
their purchase.
Virtual Reality (VR) is a 3D computer-generated environment where users interact with
virtual surroundings, making them feel like they are there in the virtual world (Burkhalter,
2022). Users are currently required to have VR headsets to experience this technology. Dixie
Knits can use VR to create a virtual store where customers can have an in-store shopping
experience from the comfort of their homes. They can pick up skeins of yarn and view them in
3D. They can add them to their virtual shopping cart and check out in the virtual store.
Providing customers with a VR experience will make Dixie Knits stand out in their market as one
of the first yarn shops to offer a VR experience. It also increases user engagement, conversion
rates, and retention rates and provides better customer service ("7 benefits of virtual reality
(VR) in eCommerce Business,” 2020). Creating a virtual store cost $25,000 to $400,000
depending on the complexity (Jain, 2022). While this is a big cost up front, it can save money in
the long run. With a virtual store Dixie Knits would not have to have a physical store and all the
costs, utilities, insurance, and maintentence that a physical store has.
Wearable Technology, or wearables, is an electronic device, like a smartwatch or smart
ring, incorporated into a daily used product worn on the body enhanced for tracking data
information in real-time (Casey, 2020). Dixie Knits can leverage a smartwatch app to increase
brand awareness. Offering a Row Counter smartwatch app that lets users keep track of their
rows with a tap on the watch face provides a solution to having to count rows repeatedly or
keep a tally on a piece of paper that could get lost. The cost to develop a smartwatch app is
between $16.00 to over $100,000, depending on the complexity (Dogtiev, 2023). A row counter

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app with little complexity would be on the lower end as far as cost goes. For Dixie Knits, the
increased brand awareness and standing out in the market far outweigh the cost of developing
the app.
Other Emerging Technologies
Metaverse is an emerging technology that will change the way businesses do business.
It’s a mixed reality where people can interact in real-world and virtual reality at the same time.
Providing a metaverse experience to create immersive experiences will grab the attention of
potential customers and engage them in a new way. Not only will it produce a unique 3D
experience for customers and potential customers. It will increase customer engagement. Since
this is a newer technology, it can increase reach since not many businesses are using it. Creating
a virtual store that offers virtual knitting classes using mixed reality allows users to be in the
virtual world and bring their yarn and knitting needles with them. It lets them see and use them
while in class. Offering this type of class will increase registration because people wanting to
learn who cannot make it to a class in person would be able to participate from the comfort of
their homes. It would also increase sales because those learning to knit will need to buy yarn
and knitting needles for class, plus yarn in the future for other projects once they have learned
how to knit. Creating a metaverse experience is costly, but the potential payoff is massive. It
will give you a vast reach to people not being marketed to, and the potential to gain new
customers because they have a new way to experience it is enormous.
Conclusion
Implementing this mobile marketing plan, Dixie Knits will increase engagement, improve
the customer experience, and increase revenue. Updating the website to add gesture-based

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viewing of products, adding online ordering, and removing some text off the home page will
improve the customer experience, improve usability, and increase revenue. Releasing an app as
an extension of the website with some added features will increase engagement and enhance
the customer experience. Leveraging AR, VR, and wearable technologies will elevate customers'
experiences with the business, as well as widen the business's reach for potential customers.
Dixie Knits can save time by implementing AI chatbots, email automation, and social media
schedulers, taking some of the mundane tasks off their shoulders, and providing them with
more time for tasks crucial to the business.

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