NEW YORK ? A SafeAuto Insurance executive at the 2015 Mobile Marketing Association Forum New York said novice mobile marketers should experiment with different approaches, including ones that are likely to fail, to accelerate learning.

The session, ?SafeAuto Tests, Learns and Grows,? which looked at how the auto insurer formulates its strategy to reach consumers on mobile, emphasized that in addition to getting comfortable with failing, new marketers on mobile should celebrate learnings, not results. The comment underscored how a number of marketers still are getting their feet wet in the fast-changing mobile landscape despite the attention paid to big successes.

?Start small,? said Charlie Kordes, vice president of marketing and customer demand and experience leader with SafeAuto, Columbus, OH. ?Hey, let?s just try two different versions. Once you answer that, you can expand it out,? he said. ?How this works across all your channels. 

?Push your organization beyond the urge to say, ?This is the one that will work,?? he said. ?Say: ?What is the next best one that you didn?t like? Because I want to tie those two together.? You have to fight a little bit.?

In the spirit of learning, marketers should let go of preoccupations with making arty campaigns initially to use their baby steps in mobile to gather knowledge that will shape future programs. 

?Try ideas you are confident will fail,? Mr. Kordes said. ?Evaluate objectively. Let your imagination go wild.?

As a provider of state-minimum private-passenger auto insurance for drivers in the United States nonstandard insurance market, a major part of SafeAuto?s strategy is using mobile to connect with financially strapped consumers whose primary Internet connection is via smartphone.

Undergirding the brand?s mobile-strategy formulation is a test, learn, grow philosophy.

One mobile-marketing pitfall is trying to run a campaign across all devices, without regard to the special quirks and strengths of each.

?We have put upon our consumer our notion of what successful marketing looks like on a device that they know more about than we do,? Mr. Kordes said. 

The brand has five sets of core customers who account for 62 percent of its quotes and 75 percent of sales. 

?Multi-testing helps you find out what works for each specific customer, each specific location and each specific market,? Mr. Kordes said. 

SafeAuto?s interest in sharing what it has learned in mobile goes back at least to late 2013 when it released its first mobile application to give policyholders easier access to insurance information.

The app let consumers view billing information, make payments to their accounts, pull up a digital ID card and call SafeAuto with one click. SafeAuto decided to roll out an Android app first after realizing that most of its customers preferred that platform.

Although SafeAuto came late to the game, the move reflected its realization that today?s world requires a mobile presence.

More marketers realize that buying car insurance is a significant pain point for consumers with one of the key challenges being the inability to conveniently compare quotes from different insurers in a single place.

Insurers? mobile programs generally have focused on making access to services easier and more personal, including features previously available only on desktop.

In June, GEICO, known for its low-cost automobile insurance, unveiled changes to its mobile application to allow customers to look at their policies, change coverage, view digital ID cards, pay bills, replace or remove a vehicle, submit claims and request glass repairs. 

Google?s recently launched insurance-search services points to mobile?s power to make the chore of auto-insurance shopping easier and simpler.

Initially available in California but expected to eventually roll out to a broader swath of states, Google?s free Compare Auto Insurance site collects information about the car, driving history and location then returns quotes and coverage details from different providers with links and contact information. The service, which has been offered in Britain for the past two years, continues the Web portal?s endeavor to remain top-of-mind as mobile siphons market share from the personal computer search market.

The SafeAuto session emphasized that marketers err in expecting consumers to respond to a call to action without considering the utility or function of their device. A campaign that asks the consumer to dial a phone number, for instance, may not work seamlessly on tablets lacking a call button.

?To be consistent at the cost of being relevant does not generate value for an organization,? Mr. Kordes said.