There is no doubt that mobile internet usage will continue to rise in the current decade. According to a comScore report, we are now past the Mobile Tipping Point, which means that your business is lagging if mobile doesn’t feature as an integral part of your business’ strategy. The question no longer is “Should we go mobile?” Instead, it is “What more should we do on mobile?”
Mobile marketing has actually come as a blessing in disguise for brands. With the internet on their fingertips, potential customers now want to be informed about what is happening around them constantly. And it has become easier to connect with them. Users are ready to engage with brands that add value to their lives, whether through their own products or recommendations.
An interesting insight that the report also offered was the segregation of the amount of time that people spend on mobiles devices. In 2014, men and women spent an average of 30 hours each month on mobile apps (up from 23 hours in 2012) while they spent a mere 3-4 hours each month browsing the web on their smartphones. The number of hours spent on the mobile web has reduced from 2012. And a whopping 48% of their time browsing the web was spent on search engines?
What does this mean for your business? It means that responsive websites and blogs are good, but customers are more on the lookout for apps to engage with your product. Even I look for an app to download the moment I reach a product’s website through search engines using my mobile phone. And since I’m on it for more time than my laptop, obviously I prefer an app to browsing the web, especially considering that many websites (including even the Moz blog) are still not responsive. Unbelievable!
Businesses are investing heavily in building apps and encouraging customers to start downloading and using them. They are incentivizing users with discounts and other benefits when they start using an app versus visiting the website. True, building an app is more complex. It involves designs, algorithms and simplicity if you want to encourage the user to stay on it. Experts say that the jury is still out on using mobile web versus mobile apps. However, I believe that apps are larger revenue generators and modes of conversion today as compared to websites (even responsive ones). And this number is only going to increase with time.
Let alone ignore, you can no longer afford to pay less attention to the mobile strategy for your business. In fact, mobile apps have to drive your strategy. Give your potential customers an incentive to download the app and start using it. Add another reward for sharing the app and spreading the word about it. Work towards user onboarding through apps and ensure that they the apps are easy enough for users to navigate without having to refer to the help section. Yes, factors like minimum battery usage, simplistic design and storage of data are basic hygiene. These apps can also be used to ethically ask for personal information from customers and use it to add more value to them, something which will further encourage them to engage with you.