We are in the midst of a mobile revolution. Consumers are becoming savvier with their mobile devices and are expecting more from their digital experience. Traditional desktop activities — such as entertainment, shopping or banking — are now being experienced on tablets and smartphones.
According to Forbes, the world has gone from 0 to 60 billion mobile apps downloaded in just the last four years. Other research shows U.S. consumers are spending 1.8 more time in apps than on the web, thereby opening new channel and revenue opportunities.
With these opportunities come certain challenges, especially for brands trying to enter the mobile ecosystem. Many mobile apps turn out to be disengaging, inconsistent and limited. Research shows that 25% of apps are deleted after their first use and over 50% of mobile apps do not break even!
Some of these apps are simply versions of print products that are updated periodically. In other cases, apps are run on white-label platforms that demand a second cut of revenue (after Apple, etc). They sometimes get the job done, but force organizations to cede control of their products/brands.
As mobile apps continue to become the dominant channel for customer engagement, organizations cannot just sit on the sidelines. Thanks to the emergence of new technologies, we can now provide personalized, contextual and engaging apps that deliver a smarter mobile experience. In this competitive mobile marketplace, organizations need to take control over their brands and build a robust platform to create smarter apps.
To stay ahead of the competition, there are five important factors for organizations to consider in their quest towards smarter apps — development, control, features/functionality, performance and monetization.
Development
Organizations often make the mistake of taking an ad-hoc approach toward mobile app development. Rather than being developed as a strategic and holistic platform, apps are developed on an "individual" basis by various departments in an organization. This has an adverse effect on delivering an engaging digital experience.
Further, apps frequently rely on data housed inside an organization's content management system. Other times, important updates need to be reflected in the app. A comprehensive app strategy needs to consider how these apps can be integrated with the organization’s knowledge base, and kept upto-date with relevant and fresh content.
In many cases, the cost of app development can be substantial — and can be a deterrent to those looking to get a foot in the door. Some organizations, fearful of the headaches that stem from supporting these various platforms, have shied away from native mobile apps, electing instead to deploy simpler, cross-platform compatible HTML5 designs that compromise user experience for operational efficiency. But strictly HTML5 experiences are also inconsistent, frustrating and limited.
As seen, creating apps for multiple mobile devices and brands is increasingly difficult as organizations look to minimize app development costs, while still providing a rich user experience. Organizations need smarter development approaches that help them achieve economies of scale and give them the tools to develop a portfolio of apps for all their brands on a single platform — helping keep control of your customers overall digital brand experience.
Control
Organizations need control over a customer's user experience, back-end and admin management tiers, and overall costs. The spotlight today is on how to improve individual elements that together create the best mobile user experience. Apps need to be responsive to user preferences, habits and situational data such as geo-location, time of day and weather.
Additionally, users are now more willing to share data with apps if they believe this will result in a better experience. Mobile apps need to be able to respond to this data in a manner that rewards users for providing their information. Organizations need to be able to control the use of this information with A/B testing and optimization. They also need to extend their control over targeted content delivery with the aid of advanced AI algorithms to transform the everyday app into a much more personalized and smarter app.
The nature of a mobile app deployment process can be slow and cumbersome. Instead, organizations should be able to configure their mobile apps on the fly without having to republish to the App Store or Marketplace. Organizations will benefit from having a platform that allows rapid deployment of content that is fresh and relevant.
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Source : cmswire[dot]com
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