Mobile Apps: Navigating The New Landscape

Mobile apps today are what websites were in the 90’s. The honest truth is that no one cares anymore that you have a website. They have simply become a normal cost of doing business. In today’s market, a mobile presence can give your business a leg up on the competition.

Mobile apps allow people to digest more and more online content from mobile devices. This trend will only continue to rise. Within the next two to three years it is easily feasible that, just as websites, mobile apps will become just another part of doing business. For the time being, they are a great marketing tool and are changing the way companies advertise and do business. Mobile searches are on pace to exceed pc searches in 2013. Mobile marketing revenue exceeded $30 billion at the end of 2012, nearly double from 2011. It is easy to see why.

Winds of Change

Mobile app browsing is faster, more relevant, and readily available. As competitors try to undercut each other in the tablet and smartphone market, they will become accessible and affordable to more people. The introduction of new tablets like the iPad Mini, has exploded the number of tablet users from 34 million in 2011 to nearly 70 million in 2012. It is estimated that by 2017 there will be 5.2 billion mobile users.

The explosion of mobile app use is way fundamentally changing the way we do business. The smart phone has become the new personal computer. The uncertainty during the recession has only added to the trend. Freelance businesses have risen by 70% in just the last few years. More people are working from home and on the road, so the smartphone is the ideal place for commerce. Mobile users are now more likely to make purchases after researching the product on their device. As consumer habits develop and change, marketing must adapt.

Mobile Apps Data

User behavior is being monitored closer than ever. Mobile marketing is beginning to harness the potential to optimize campaigns based on performance. Mobile marketing is ideal because you can target individual consumers. From the moment a user lands on a site, to the second they close the page new technology can track every move. Millions of data points provide mobile app marketers with a wealth of knowledge on user behavior that wasn’t previously available.

Mobile Apps Using Targeting

All of this data is being collected with one purpose in mind; to get the ideal product in front of the ideal customer. Understanding demographics, behavior patterns, and their sources allow marketers to be more successful. The ability to target, create and track mobile marketing campaigns allows for a better understanding of your ideal audience.

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