Sunday, August 21, 2011

4 questions to ask before developing a mobile app - iMediaConnection.com (1)

 4 questions to ask before developing a mobile app - iMediaConnection.com

More than one-fifth of the people on Earth now own a smartphone. The rate of smartphone adoption is increasing at an extraordinary pace, bringing with it a crop of users eager to download mobile applications -- and lots of them. The average iPhone user has downloaded an astounding 37 apps onto his or her device, and with more than 150,000 apps to choose from in Apple's app store, users downloaded more than 3 billion apps in the 18 months following the store's opening.


With these kinds of numbers, savvy marketers would do well to ask themselves the question, "Do I need an app?"
We haven't seen a frenzy like this since everybody needed a website. Unfortunately, frenzy can often be accompanied by its close friends, folly and foolish. Too many marketers today are creating apps just to create apps, not because of an audience want or need, or because an app would fit well into their overall brand experiences. Too many apps are being created by brands big and small to simply allow companies to be able to say that they have an app.
All the world's a stage, but not all the world needs an app.
Consider the opportunity an app presents carefully, and don't underestimate the role -- whether positive or negative -- a mobile application can play within your digital strategy. The current volume of apps is so great that it truly seems like there's an app for everything. There's an app to calculate your tip, one that you can use as a flashlight, an app giving you access to the complete works of William Shakespeare -- even an app that teaches you how to develop apps. There are good apps and bad apps, useful apps and those that are not so useful. App stores are filled with apps that provide no value to the customer; remember that these types of apps can actually harm your brand. Harm your brand, and you risk losing a lifetime of loyalty.

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