Published by: Mobilozophy LLC 13119 Linebaugh Ave. Suite 102 Tampa, FL 33626 Toll Free: Fax: 813.448.1053 Copyright 2011 No part of the contents of the publications may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of Mobilozophy LLC. Mobilozophy is a registered trademark of Mobilozophy LLC. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Do You Need Your Own App or Website? Or Both? This is the biggest question facing businesses right now you re not alone. So how do you figure out which way to go? First you need to understand the differences between mobile apps and web. Then get your head around how people use apps and how they use the mobile web. The next step is pinpointing what your customers both current and potential will get the most out of. And voilà the answer materializes! The difference between mobile apps and websites Sometimes people battle with whether to build a mobile app or website, and because they don t really understand the ramifications of each they lean toward apps. Apps have gotten all of the hype and are sexier so it s a logical choice, right? Not necessarily and making the mobile app versus website decision this way can cost you thousands and ultimately be a failure. The difference between apps and mobile websites is this: Apps are downloaded software developed to run on specific phone platforms such as iphone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows. Platform agnostic, mobile websites are sites that optimize for easy viewing and navigating on mobile devices offering a positive user experience. How people use apps and how they use mobile web With apps, generally people go for the amusement value. Games are the most popular with weather, social networking, navigation, music, news, entertainment, banking, videos and movies and shopping following in the top 10. With mobile web, people primarily search for information whether that s product details, pricing, store location or corporate information. Regardless of which mobile marketing channel people prefer, they re using both more. By 2014 mobile use is predicted to overtake desktop use, according to Morgan Stanley research. And it s not just those with smartphones who can access the web; those with features phones and tablets can, too. So this growing number of mobile marketing users, on a growing number of devices, will be surfing the mobile web more and downloading more apps.
Currently, the audience for mobile web is demographically diverse enough to create marketing opportunities for all types of products and services. Per Nielsen research, the mobile Internet audience is not overly concentrated in high-income households. While 24% of mobile Internet users have household incomes of $100,000 or more, 26% have household incomes of under $50,000. What this means is that a lot of people are using apps and the mobile web, and they are people of all income levels and demographics. What are some of the differences between apps and mobile web that me and my clients should know? The chart below lays out some of the important factors to consider when making the app-versus-mobile website decision: Factor Apps Mobile Web Internet access No -unless downloading Yes unless the content is cached Installation and updates User experience Audience Reach Apps must be downloaded and updated as needed Flexible and feature-rich in using animations, video, graphics, video and also can access the device s hardware such as GPS and camera and runs faster. Limited reach to smartphones or tablets No download required use a mobile browser type in URL or clink on a link More limited, HTML5 offers the same graphics and animation capability as well as closing the gap on speed Available from any mobileweb enabled device and tablets with WIFI Compatibility problems Platform dependent Platform independent Search Users can search online Users can search online Share and tweet Easy Easy Pricing Development Distribution Maintenance More expensive (must build apps for each platform) Apps must be customized for each platform You have to get app stores approval, which takes time Must maintain individual apps and resubmit for approval Less expensive Need just one version No approval or wait time Maintain one source and no approval needed
I get apps. I get mobile web. But what do my target markets want to get? This section could also be titled Where do I start? because we re going to talk about making the app-versus-mobile web decision based on your target market. Call them your core consumers, your clients, your potential brand ambassadors. Whatever you call them, your mobile-app-versus-web decision needs to revolve around them. Start by knowing who are your best customers, and who are the people you want to see more. Then determine what they re doing on mobile now, and what they re likely to do in the near future. Start by analyzing mobile usage trends which is something we can help with. Merge that with the trends you see in your best customers, and you ve got your strategy. Questions to consider Who is your core consumer, and how mobile are they? What are their demographics? Age, sex, income, children at home all play a defining role in how people use their mobile devices. Note that research shows that women tend to be heavier social networkers than men, and usage of mobile web and apps doesn t skew as young as you might think. Where do they live? Smartphones are more popular in major metropolitan areas because carrier competition lowers fees and service is generally better. Trying to reach rural residents through an app strategy isn t realistic; a broader reach mobile tactic like a mobile website may work best here. What are their psychographics? Are they early adopters using an ipad to surf the mobile web, or are they more conservative in their device and usage choices? What do they do on mobile now, and what will they be doing soon? Are they heavy texters? Do they play games and share them with their kids, or are they hard core mobile gamers interested in virtual goods? Is social networking their number one mobile phone activity, or are they more into e-reading?
Also to consider: What is your purpose entertainment, mcommerce? What is your budget? What do you want to achieve brand recognition, downloads, website visits, increase in sales? How will network performance affect your chosen platform? Network satisfaction is the largest driver of overall satisfaction with mobile Internet; luckily 3G and 4G networks have brought huge improvements to the consumer experience of mobile Internet. If you choose to build an app: Will you build for Android, iphone, Blackberry, Windows, or all of them? Keep in mind that some apps are more difficult to build for than others, with Android being easier than iphone or Symbian. Will you need to get it approved for an app store, like itunes? Will your app be free to download? Or will you sell it? In the 12 months ending April 2010 there was an 11% drop in people purchasing games for a fee, and a 67% increase in downloads of free games. Easy to see where this is going, right? How will you market your app? If you choose to go with a mobile website: Know that you can t just optimize your current desktop site to display on mobile. Mobile sites need to be easy to navigate and provide a mobile-friendly user experience. Mobile web isn t just about sitemaps and wireframes. The back-end is critical, but you should think about it in terms of customer lifecycle and how customers will actually use your mobile site so it will help them and consequently you every step of the way, from awareness to retention. Putting it together to make a choice Once you ve answered the questions on the previous page you ll have an answer: app, mobile site or both. And remember: Choosing app over mobile web or vice versa isn t a permanent decision. Your mobile website can be converted to an app, so to speak, using a program like PhoneGap. And if you choose app first, add a mobile site later. Mobile sites provide audience lift added reach over home PC traffic. For the 200 top websites accessed via desktops and phones, Nielsen reported that mobile traffic provides an average 13% audience lift over desktop traffic alone meaning if a website attracts 100 visitors using
desktops then the traffic from mobile phones adds another 13 unique visitors to the site s total audience. If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice. Taken from the Rush song Freewill, this nugget of truth applies as much to our mobile-app-versus-web conversation as to anything. You may feel that it s early enough in mobile marketing that you don t need to do an app or a mobile website you can just wait. You ll let the competition educate the market, and then jump in next year. While the wait it out strategy is tempting, it puts your brand and your business at risk. How? Because as device capabilities expand, network speeds improve and the amount of content available over the mobile Internet increases, consumer adoption of mobile Internet continues to increase. Which means awareness and adoption of mobile marketing channels is accelerating. Which means waiting to do an app or mobile website gives your competition time to forge mobile relationships with your market. When you finally wade into the mobile waters, that market is set in its ways with someone else. Simply put, take the time to figure out what s going to be best for you, because your competitors are. But you don t have to go it alone we re here to help. We ll help you figure out what strategy best fits with your business and as you test your program offer suggestions so you can tweak your program for achieving best results. Taking this purposeful and relevant approach to mobile marketing will counter the competition s efforts and expand awareness of your business. So let s get started! Contact us now: Tel: Web: http://www.mztxt.com/1jn http://www.mztxt.com/1jo Email: sales@mobilozophy.com Our Mobilozophy: Connect. Engage. Convert. What s yours?