Are mobile apps the right solution for you?

The answers
might really
surprise you!

Mobile apps are applications developed specifically to run on smartphones. Like programs you run on your desktop at home, mobile apps make things happen by accessing the functionality of the phone’s built-in processor. In fact, your smartphone is basically a handheld computer.

While mobile websites have garnered an increasing portion of the mobile technology spotlight, apps still maintain an important role in mobile marketing. So what’s the difference?

• Mobile apps can do more tricks than mobile websites because they take advantage of the built-in capabilities of the phone – like camera features, GPS functions, microphone and other capabilities that are difficult or impossible to access through website technology.
• Mobile apps usually respond much faster than mobile websites because they do not require a network connection to perform.
• Mobile apps can deliver superior graphics and animation because data for these elements is stored on the phone itself.
• Mobile apps can deliver a more robust and satisfying user experience because of their superior performance.
• Mobile apps tend to be more stable because of the stringent requirements of delivery vendors – like the Apple App Store for iPhone apps and Google Play Store for Android devices.

Mobile website capabilities are fast closing in on some of the advantages of mobile apps. And the two technologies are headed for a full-blown merger with the advent of “hybrid applications” that can take advantage of both approaches. Yet there is still an important place for mobile apps under certain circumstances.

• If your goal is interactive engagement with users, or to provide an application that needs to work more like a computer program than a website, then an app is probably the better choice.
• For the purposes of marketing, branding or customer service, apps can also be the better option. Good examples are the Starbucks or Target Stores apps.
• If you need something that will take data and allow you to manipulate it with complex calculations, charts or reports (think banking or investment) an app will be more effective.
• If you need to access a user's camera, GPS or processing power an app will still do that much more effectively.
• If you need to provide offline access to content or perform functions without a network/wireless connection then an app makes sense.

For many organizations, having well-designed, useful apps on a customer’s handheld device can enhance their image. They provide an innovative way of engaging customers — either by themselves or by calling upon the hardware features of users’ smartphones or tablets, such as audio and video, GPS and cameras.

Mobile Marketing Enterprises can help you decide what options are best for your business. Whatever is your choice, we work with many talented developers to deliver exactly what you need, to your specifications.