Are You On Screen?

Examining the importance of developing your own app for the future…

Mobile applications are the future present of engagement, marketing through apps has never been more profitable and as app development becomes more affordable SME’s are joining the app revolution. With the number of mobile users already surpassing desktop users it’s time to create content for much smaller screens.

The user behaviour on mobile devices is vastly different to desktop behaviour, however some SME’s are still overlooking the power of apps. Neglecting the all too important mobile user experience, focusing only on traditional website and desktop applications. As we become ever more mobile and abhore being tethered with cables, there is no standard format for content to be produced in anymore. That’s why an exponential amount of firms are usings apps to market directly to a faithful and consistently engaged customer base. Television brought ads into the living rooms of our homes before, now it is mobile apps that allow marketers to get into the very palm of people’s hands.

Mobile applications are the future present of engagement, marketing through apps has never been more profitable and as app development becomes more affordable SME’s are joining the app revolution. With the number of mobile users already surpassing desktop users it’s time to create content for much smaller screens.

The user behaviour on mobile devices is vastly different to desktop behaviour, however some SME’s are still overlooking the power of apps. Neglecting the all too important mobile user experience, focusing only on traditional website and desktop applications. As we become ever more mobile and abhore being tethered with cables, there is no standard format for content to be produced in anymore. That’s why an exponential amount of firms are usings apps to market directly to a faithful and consistently engaged customer base. Television brought ads into the living rooms of our homes before, now it is mobile apps that allow marketers to get into the very palm of people’s hands.

Envisioning exactly how you will engage with your customers through an app is a different matter entirely. It helps to focus on how applications function generally and then to how you might use those functions to connect with your end user. With apps you can instantly notify your customer/subscriber base with suggestions of products or services, physically alerting the user with an audible sound in the form of a notification.

You can target like never before with geolocational features; imagine you’re a retailer with outlets all over the country, when one your branches is having a bad week you can react by sending all nearby users a notification with exclusive discounts.

The app market is set to grow rapidly in worldwide. It’s puzzling then why some firms are still avoiding penetrating what is so obviously an opportunity for exponential growth. Research by Smart Insights, a mobile use analytics company, shows that the prime time for usage is 8pm – 12am in any given time zone. What’s more the research also shows that the devices most commonly used at that time are either mobile or tablet.

Of course there is a common sense explanation for this; during the day is when desktops are mostly used this is understandable as many people are in the workplace which is still dominated by desktop computers. In the evening when users are most likely to engage with your brand in the online sphere yet the least likely to be engaged with through a desktop at that time.

[intlink id=”1953″ type=”page”]Development of a custom app[/intlink] doesn’t cost as much as you think, this is because many web developers are now able to create one version of an app and publish it on multiple platforms such as Android, iPhone and Windows. Having that reach can really boost a good campaign to a great campaign, by scheduling updates to go out at the right time and in the right places it can be a gold mine.[3]