Do I need an app?
You’ll have read a great deal about “apps” over the last couple of years. They are all over the place, they’ve been the next big thing for quite some time now.
An app is a sort of mini-application or program which normally sits on either a mobile phone or tablet computer. The biggest markets for the moment are the Apple iTunes store for both iPhones and iPads, as well as the Google Android store for Android phones. They are also becoming common on desktop computers.
Why is this important?
Many businesses are finding the idea of having their own app is helping them to build their business. It gives them the opportunity to have their shop, their game, their front-end or whatever they want, in their customer’s pocket the whole time. It keeps the customer focused on them as a business rather than on the competition.
Take the Amazon bookshop app. You download it from either the app store or the Google marketplace depending on your phone. You decide you want to buy a book, or DVD, or whatever else Amazon happens to be selling, and you log onto the app. It links with your account on the standard Amazon site so you don’t have to set anything else up. You can search and buy books just as you can on the website.
In issuing this app, Amazon has made it easier for you to use its app than to go into a bookshop or to use your mobile device’s browser to check other online bookshops. If you’re anywhere there isn’t an actual bookshop and want to do some shopping, Amazon becomes the natural store of choice.
How do I get involved?
Presumably you’re not an Amazon sized company. That’s fine – many small media agencies will write you an app for a few hundred pounds.
The first thing to do is to assess exactly what an app is going to do for your business. Will your customers all have smartphones or other comparable devices, or would you be better off spending your money on more traditional marketing? Will your customers actually respond to a particular app or are they more inclined to use their phone to speak and text?
As with any market exercise, do your research first. Then get in touch with an agency.
Who’s done it?
Susan Friedmann was born in the UK and now lives in the USA. She is a professional speaker on making money out of addressing niches rather than broad-brush marketing. Her book, “Riches in Niches”, is a best seller. She freely admits the title doesn’t really work in her original British accent.
As well as the book and the speaking she has a website inevitably – and commissioned a small agency to write an app for her. It looks like a card file system; every time you open it up you get a different tip on marketing and narrowing your efforts down to a particular niche.
It makes it easy to read when you’re in a car (not driving!), on a train, wherever – and keeps the book and the author in your mind if you’re looking for a speaker or trainer.
Benefits of mobile apps
The benefits mostly centre around keeping your business in the mind of your customer for as long as possible. If you retail then having an app effectively locks the client into your shop because they are literally carrying it around with them.
Action points:
- Do an old-fashioned SWOT analysis on the idea of an app. Be ruthless – will your customers really respond?
- If you want to go ahead, ask what sort of an app you should have. Should it actually sell (in which case it should certainly be free) or carry content in its own right? There is still much debate over charging for content through apps – this isn’t a proven market yet.
- Approach a small agency and remember they need to understand your industry – ask what they’ve done that’s similar.
