Many people believe 2010 is the year of the mobile app. A recent report from analyst firm, Gartner states consumers will spend $6.2 billion in 2010 in mobile application stores. The increasing penetration of smartphones, coupled with the recent release of the Apple iPad is fueling additional buzz around mobile apps.
It is interesting to note that, according to Gartner, free downloads will account for 82 percent of all downloads in 2010. Clearly, for most companies, they are not necessarily deploying mobile apps to generate revenue, some are instead using free apps to engage with mobile consumers and drive sales of other products or services.
eMarketer recently reported 64.8 percent of marketers and publishers said they’re planning to invest in mobile apps this year, according to a December 2009 survey conducted by DM2PRO and Quattro Wireless. Given consumers’ increased dependence and interaction via their smartphones, companies are finding the handset is an important part of their marketing and engagement strategy.
For a large company with excellent brand recognition such as Starbucks, developing a mobile application may be a profitable way to secure a presence on consumers’ handset while offering them timely and valued information such as promotions and coupons. But what about the small to mid-size business, does it make sense to develop a mobile app in an effort to secure prize placement on your customer’s handset?
As Wall Street Journal’s Riva Richmond highlighted in her December 2009 article, it really depends on the business and its objectives. For instance, a company needs to be clear on whether the goal is to attract new customers or engage with existing ones. “In general, businesses that rely on repeat customers, like restaurants and retailers, or have intense interaction with clients for some period of time, like real-estate brokers and car dealers, are the most likely to benefit from an app, said Greg Sterling, a senior analyst at Opus Research Inc.”
If you believe a mobile app is right for increasing loyalty and driving engagement for your business, here are some things to consider:
Understand Your Objective – Develop a plan outlining the business goals you are looking to accomplish and how a mobile application helps achieve those objectives. How will you measure or track success? How does the mobile app add value to your customers? How does your mobile app strategy integrate with other activities and initiatives you are executing?
Identify Available Resources – Understand what resources are available to create the mobile application. For most small businesses this involves securing budget to either hire a mobile app development firm or use one of the new DIY mobile app creation services, such as BuildAnApp (Disclosure: This is a solution developed by MobileOn, a Communiqué PR client).
Consider Going Cross-Platform – Know what platforms your customers are using and be sure to provide the application on those devices (e.g. Android, iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile). You do not want to isolate customers or create a second class of customers by providing an app for only one smartphone platform.
Keep Content Fresh – Give your customers a reason to use the mobile app on a regular basis. This may mean new coupons, compelling promotions or updated tips and tricks. Similar to a Facebook fan page, keeping content fresh will drive engagement and encourage your customers to spread the word about your app and your business.
As small and medium businesses weigh the pros and cons of deploying a mobile app to meaningfully engage with customers, keeping the above criteria in mind will help ensure any mobile app you build is a successful tool to help increase customer loyalty.