If you don’t know it yet, smartphones are no longer just about making phone calls, smartphones and the variety of mobile applications that they are host to are all about about being connected in a variety of ways. Email, sms, mobile applications, Facebook, and Twitter are just a few of the ways. This trend is rapidly changing the face of marketing and advertising and if you aren’t at least researching how you can leverage the power of mobile applications, you are in danger of being left behind your competition.
One of the key reasons we promote iPhone applications, iPad applications, Android applications and native applications for other mobile systems are the superior response rates mobile marketing campaigns achieve. This gives you superior ROIs on your advertising dollars. Mobile marketing/advertising is far superior to that of traditional online campaigns with response rates that are often twice to 10 times higher according to an Opus Research report. In terms of ROI, that’s truly a staggering number that should not be ignored.
On top of the response rate one should consider the incredible growth in this market. Smartphones and mobile applications have a large and rapidly growing audience. According to a recent study by CTIA, there are more than 300 million mobile phones in the U.S., which is almost equal with our current population. Worldwide, there are more than 5 billion mobile subscribers and the rate of adoption for mobile is incredible, especially when compared to the current rate of growth for personal computers. Establishing your brand with quality build mobile applications now can pay off huge dividends for years to come as you can gain some serious leverage over your competition.
Smart phones are the one device that gives you constant access to your clients and potential consumers. Mobile phones are constant companions to modern consumers and provide an almost unlimited amount of ongoing content. Regardless of location or time of day, you can be available to your consumer base with an effective mobile application. In fact, 75% of people polled never leave home without their mobile phone (CNBC). You don’t see anywhere near those kinds of numbers with laptops or any other form of media.
Another big plus for content delivered via mobile device is that unlike with traditional methods of marketing/advertising, such as direct mail, online banners and e-mail, mobile campaigns are based on an opt-in or expressed user actions like browsing or downloading an application. As a result, consumers are significantly more likely to be engaged and responsive to your message. This is not something you find with other forms of media, as emails are regularly quickly deleted and ads in magazines or on tv are simply ignored.
Finally, smartphones give users the wonderful ability to personalize their device. This creates a real sense of attachment and ownership. Mobile phone numbers are tied to a person, where an internet connection is not. Demographic, geographic and device-type information tied to a mobile number gives you the ability to create highly personalized campaigns that will achieve remarkable results.
The first thing to think about when you decide to engage a mobile application developer is that good usability is even more important for apps than for web sites and other desktop experiences. It is crucial you engage a usability expert for custom built mobile application development projects. While usability is certainly important for every product, it is crucial for mobile applications where users have very little commitment and often, several other options. Basically your mobile application has to be the easiest and friendliest to use to stand out in this situation.
Many studies confirm that users regularly have several mobile applications that they’ve used only once or have forgotten downloading them at all. While well-done push notifications can help overcome this obstacle, they won’t take the place of excellent usability in terms of regularly bringing users back to your application. Beyond that, there is also a lack of focus. Whatever your customers are doing on their phone, your application is most likely not their primary activity. They may be dining and checking in or shopping and texting, but whatever the activity, your application will most likely have a secondary presence on their device.
What are the keys to building a successful mobile application?
1. Make it easy to touch and use. Your eyes are more agile than your fingers. Often you can see links but your fingers can’t select them, use larger touch targets that are easy to find and identify to make navigating your app easy for users. Opt for fewer commands and a few basic options on the first screen to allow users to get into your app quickly and from there use progressive disclosure to build the experience, rather than try to put every option up front. More screens are better, with each being simple and focused.
2. Don’t try to do too much. Usability experts are always very vigilant with design to keep a laser like focus on what is important. Often companies want apps to do everything, but when everything is prominent, nothing is prominent, so eliminate those items that are just nice-to-have and not key to the apps’ purpose. When it comes to copy on mobile applications, short is too long. It must be shorter than short. People will not use mobile for comparing large amounts of information. Don’t require a user to read much or remember things from screen to screen.
Enhance your brand with exceptional usability in the mobile application experience. Enlist usability experts to develop your iPhone application, Android application, iPad application or other applications for other system or you maybe just inviting one-star comments in the app store.
According to the respected research firm Gartner, smartphone and mobile device sales in the second quarter of 2011 are up an incredible 74%. Global sales of mobile devices to end users in general totaled 428.7 million units in the second quarter of 2011, for a 16.5 percent increase from the second quarter of 2010.
But it was the smartphone genre that really caught fire in terms of growth. “Smartphone sales continued to rise at the expense of feature phones,” said Roberta Cozza, principal research analyst at Gartner. “Consumers in mature markets are choosing entry-level and midrange Android smartphones over feature phones, partly due to carriers’ and manufacturers’ promotions.”
Google and Apple are the big gainers in the smartphone market according to Gartner. The combined share of iOS and Android devices in the smartphone operating system (OS) market doubled to nearly 62 percent in the second quarter of 2011, up from just over 31 percent in the corresponding period of 2010.
This growth has pushed the world of custom-built mobile applications out of the realm of being a good idea and into the realm of a necessity for any competitive business. Businesses with out a comprehensive strategy for growth that addresses custom-built mobile applications including iPhone applications, Android applications and applications for tablets will soon be left behind more savvy competitors that have embraced these markets.