Concerning Mobile Marketing, Which Is Best For Business, A Mobile Application or Mobile Website?
The methods to reach consumers have evolved but the harsh reality is that even in 2012 less than 45% of businesses utilize a website to market their products and services. Only 5.8% have made a mobile version of their business site available for easier viewing. When you consider the fact that 98% of people access the internet via their mobile device it becomes clear that most businesses are failing to interact with their base. Mobile websites or mobile applications are two of the best options to optimize your marketing campaign.
You may have heard the hype over mobile apps and mobile websites but few comprehend that the market has shifted and the future of your business could be at risk! Consumers have changed the way they make their purchasing decisions and how they search for companies to do business with. When the business prospects have dried up it is time to fish in a new pond or risk the growth of your company.
One of the greatest efforts of any company is to acquire new customers. If you are committed to increasing your brand and generating new sales it is vital for you to be where the customers are at. The problem is the old methods of gaining attention are no longer as effective. Mobile Marketing Has Taken Over! Whether is in at school, work, or in the bathroom, smart-phones are used all the time and in every place imaginable. When you compare the budget spent on media versus the time consumers spent with that media, mobile demolishes them all.
TV ads don't have the same punch because while watching a program, 86% of people are either using a mobile app, on the internet, communicating over social networks, or texting. Let's not forget that people also use commercial breaks to go to the bathroom. No matter if it is the internet or print version of the Yellow Pages, local mobile search is now the first method used to locate and gather information on a company. Mobile coupons allow you to engage with your customer and cause an immediate reaction. So now clipping coupons out of newspapers and magazines is a thing of the past. We have the option to use our iPod or listen to commercial free services like Pandora so radio ads are not as cost effective. I'm not saying these methods are dead in the water but they are no longer cost effective since no one is listening.
In two years mobile users will dominate the market place. Your business will be over looked if you don't adapt to the changes in the market. While standard advertising is declining, mobile advertising is on the rise. 2012 will be the first year that more money will be spent on mobile advertising than newspapers and magazines. As mobile marketing increases so will mobile commerce. From 2010 to 2011, mobile commerce showed a 91.4% growth in sales. It is projected that by 2015 m-commerce will reach $31 billion.
The long standing debate is whether it is better to have a mobile app or mobile website. There are pros and cons to each. Many prefer mobile apps because they are more socially interactive. As of December of 2011 when comparing minutes used per day, 72 minutes were spent web browsing versus 94 minutes on a mobile app. A major issue is that the mobile apps have to be configured to each individual operating system (Android, Apple, Blackberry, and Windows). So if your app is only designed for Android devices you ignored other smart-phone users.
Others favor mobile websites because it does not matter what smart-phone you own. One disadvantage is that mobile websites do not have push notification capability. The owner of a mobile app is able to send a free message, push message, to all the customers that have the app loaded on their device. As mentioned previously, more time is increasingly being spent on mobile apps so you have to determine where your budget will be best allocated.
Being that the two complement each other it would be wise to have both. A mobile app and mobile website account for 85% or m-commerce revenue. When combined, the top five retailers increased activity by 59%. Much if not all of the content from your current website can be used to construct your mobile app or website. In cases where you are completely offline your mobile presence can be designed from scratch. Knowledge is wasted if it is not acted upon. You have dedicated time and energy into business. Now is the time to adapt to the times so you can reach your audience with these new tools of communication.
This article was written by Aaron C. Padgett, owner of Strategos Mobile Marketing Solutions LLC. For more information on the benefits of mobile marketing you can go to http://newbusinessleads.strategosmms.com/ or visit http://www.youtube.com/StrategosMMS to view past videos.
Category Article Application, business, Concerning, Marketing, Mobile, Website, Which
