Posts tagged ‘mobile apps’

April 16th, 2012

3 Simple Solutions for Creating a Mobile App for Your Business

As every business owner knows, keeping your customers close and keeping their loyalties aligned is a crucial part of ongoing marketing efforts. When you keep those already in the loop happy with inside knowledge and information, you can bet they’ll recommend your business and/or services to their friends. Honestly, there’s nothing better than having your own little army of satisfied clients driving new business to your door.

Fortunately for businesses these days, technology has made it easier than ever to keep in touch with existing and potential clients. Social media sites make it easy to maintain and grow those relationships in a genuine, authentic way. Yet there is still something left to desired with these sites for businesses that want to offer a truly unique online presence to their customers – mobility and customization.

That’s where apps come into play. The possibilities to add value to the business-client relationship are nearly limitless with a branded app. The app marketplace has exploded over the past year and there are now many options for businesses who want in on the app game.

A growing number of smartphone users are engaging with brands via mobile apps. Here are several tips you can use when developing your mobile app.

One of the most cost-effective ways to enter the app economy is for a business to build their own app. This may sound off-putting because of the assumption that it would take a lot of time, coding knowledge and money, or even all three put together. However, as Jamie Turner pointed out in his Entrepreneur Magazine article Nine Tools For Building Your Own Mobile App, “there are plenty of app development tools for ordinary humans, too.”

A quick Google search for mobile app development tools will bring up sites such as ShoutEm, MobileRoadie and InfiniteMonkeys, which harnesses the power of an app-building machine, enabling businesses to create their very own apps for no cost with a simple drag-and-drop platform that requires no coding or html knowledge.

Here are a few ideas of the features and feeds a business should consider including in their app:

  • Make it easy for clientele to comment on your business’ products and services using your mobile app. For example, inserting the feed of your Facebook stream will allow customers to “like” or rate your products and services as well as to “share” them with their own friends and family. This simple feature will allow you to quickly gauge what’s hot and what’s not in your store.
  • Use your app as a mobile suggestion box to collect comments from customers. Not only is this a great way of knowing first hand what people think about your business, it’s also an easy way to quickly gather important data. Plus, customers that feel like they have a hand in making your business successful will be more engaged and loyal.
  • Push out polls to the users of your app and give them a quick way to provide feedback and share their opinions. This is another great way to gather data without being too intrusive, like in an interview, or too complicated, like with a feedback form.

Data driven decisions are the heart of any business so gathering information quickly and reliably through a mobile app can really work to your advantage. Now imagine being able to do that with no monetary investment and a minimal time investment. Tools offered by ShoutEm, MobileRoadie and Infinite Monkeys can let you do just that and more.

About the Author: Kate Miller is a full-time blogger and writer convinced that she will actually manage to balance her time between her five incredible kids and her top-ranked Stolen Moments Cooking blog. She has recently been exploring the wonderful world of the mobile app economy with the Infinite Monkeys “make your own app” platform.

 

CategoryGeneral Marketing | Comment2 Comments »

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March 5th, 2012

How Coca-Cola Created a SmartPhone App that Keeps Customers Coming Back

I’m always looking for ways to keep my marketing programs fresh and engaging. One of the ways I do that is to study what the Fortune 500 are doing so I can incorporate their ideas into my own  campaigns.

The Coca-Cola Company is, of course, one of the world’s great marketers, so they’re a great company to keep an eye on. As you probably know, they were one of the first companies to fully embrace mobile marketing, so what they do on that front is very cutting-edge.

What follows is a short, 60-second video from one of my Pinterest boards that provides insights into what makes Coca-Cola’s mobile apps so engaging. It’s worth taking a look at the video to get a sense of how the pros use mobile to grow their sales and revenues.

You can watch the video by clicking the image below or by clicking here.

Source: youtube.com via Jamie on Pinterest

 

Posted by Jamie Turner, Founder of the 60 Second Marketer and co-author of “How to Make Money with Social Media” and “Go Mobile.” He is also a popular marketing speaker at events, trade shows and corporations around the globe.
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February 27th, 2012

Do You Need a Privacy Policy for Your Mobile App?

I was listening to NPR’s Fresh Air recently, and heard Terry Gross speaking to Joseph Turow about online privacy. I must admit, there was a moment of uneasiness.

Don’t get me wrong, the interview was fantastic.  But while we know that online and mobile marketing can be and often are practiced in a completely ethical manner, a wallop of privacy information can be scary to consumers, and there are always going to be bad actors.

On top of that, mobile comes with its own set of challenges – you may have heard of Apple’s recent misstepwith apps that access information from address books.

Does your mobile app need a privacy policy? We'd give that a thumbs up.

With so many regulations surrounding mobile privacy, how does one remain aware and compliant? To some extent, it’s no walk in the park – you have to carefully read available documentation, and even that may be outdated in a couple of years. However, there are a few general steps you can take to help you stay ahead of the curve:

Yes, your app needs a privacy policy.

California has recently cracked down on mobile privacy by seeking an agreement requiring privacy policies for apps. App developers claim that current legislation is murky on this issue, but this is a good example of why your business law professor always insisted that following the letter of the law doesn’t always amount to good ethics. The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) even published a framework that makes this pretty easy.

Privacy by default and design.

Design your mobile site or app to function without the need for information that may infringe on a user’s privacy. Maybe you want to display specials on your mobile site from a customer’s nearest retail location, but she chose not to share her current location. Why not give her the option to share a zip code instead, or simply do without this feature?

With PII (Personally Identifiable Information), keep it minimal.

PII can include, but is not limited to, a full name, driver’s license number or credit card number. It is important that you ask consumers for this information only when necessary, with minimal details, and keep it for the minimum amount of time required. Consider the potential harm that could be done to your consumers if your database is hacked.

Know the privacy policies of your partners.

This one may take a little legwork, but it’s important. You should be familiar with your partners’ approaches to privacy, including those of ad networks, data providers, email vendors, etc. You want to make sure that there are no conflicts – by partnering with a company, you should be in compliance with your privacy policy, and they should be in compliance with theirs.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, but if your approach to privacy is consumer-friendly to begin with, you won’t find yourself in hot water if laws change quickly. The MMA and W3C provide plenty of resources in this area, so be sure to check them out.

About the Author: Cory Gaddis is a regular contributor to the 60 Second Marketer and helps Mobilize Worldwide create mobile marketing campaigns for a wide variety of clients.

CategoryMobile Marketing, Mobile Website Best Practices | CommentNo Comments »

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August 14th, 2011

45 Best Mobile Apps for Business

By some estimates, there are more than 400,000 iPhone apps and more than 300,000 Android apps on the market today. That makes it very difficult for the average businessperson to weed out the bad apps and focus on the good ones.

Well, I have some good news.

I’m currently writing a book called Go Mobile with Jeanne Hopkins, who is the Director of Marketing at HubSpot.

In the process of doing research for the book, we’ve narrowed down what we think are some of the best apps to improve productivity, provide news and information and help you connect with customers and prospects.

Here’s our list of the 45 best apps for businesspeople. It’s not a complete list, so if we missed any of your favorites, let us know in the comment section below.

 

News and Information Applications

ABC News Mobile:  This application is for all those who love to be in the know.  You can receive text alerts about breaking news, watch video, listen to podcasts or read articles all on your mobile phone.

CNN Mobile: Interested in staying up-to-date on the latest news from around the globe? CNN Mobile gives you the ability to read the latest stories and watch CNN live on your smartphone.

Google Books: Interested in re-reading the Declaration of Independence or Dante’s Inferno?  Download Google Books to your smartphone and you’re ready to roll.  I’m reading Ben Franklin’s Autobiography on Google Books right now and it’s fascinating.

Google Maps: What would men do without Google Maps?  They’d have to ask for directions, which, of course, will never happen.  Fortunately, Google invented their Map app for guys (like myself) who are too stubborn to stop and ask directions.

There are hundreds of thousands of smartphone apps. Which ones are best for business? Here's our list.

The Huffington Post:  The mobile version of this popular news and opinion online newspaper features breaking news, blogs and original content.

Kindle: You can use your smartphone to preview books that you might like to buy later.  Clean and customizable, the app permits you to preview the first chapter, as well as to add bookmarks, notes, and highlights.

MobiTV:  Missing your favorite TV shows is no longer an issue.  With MobiTV you can watch shows whenever and wherever on your mobile phone.

NPR News: Even if you can’t catch all of the news from NPR at home or in the car, you can still start your day with NPR News for your smartphone.  You can listen to national news stories on demand, or allow the app to use your smartphone’s GPS to pinpoint local content.

Stitcher: This mobile application lets you get your news on the go by streaming up-to-date audio content about business, sports, politics and entertainment.

The Weather Channel:  The Weather Channel’s app and the mobile version of weather.com provide up to date weather information, text alerts, animated maps and more.

Windows Live Messenger:  You can chat with your friends on Windows Live Messenger on the go with their mobile application.

 

Productivity

CamCard: Let’s you scan business cards and automatically add that information to your phone’s contact list and/or your Outlook or Gmail account.

Evernote:  After you create a text note, photo or audio note, you can synch them to your pc or to the web.

Instapaper: Through Instapaper you can save Web articles you browsed on your iPhone for later reading, using a browser bookmarklet.  The Instapaper Website reformats your saved articles (sans Flash ads and clutter) for quick reading on the desktop.

Yammer: Yammer brings together all of a company’s employees inside a private, secure enterprise social network.  This enterprise platform lets businesses set up a Twitter-like service allowing for the open exchange of ideas, links, and documents within enterprise communities.

 

Financial Tools

Bloomberg Mobile: Use this app when you’re on the go to access financial news, stock quotes, company descriptions, market leaders and laggers, price charts, market-trends analysis, customized lists of stocks, and more.

CNNMoney: With breaking business stories and complete in-depth market coverage in a customizable format, CNNMoney provides real-time reporting of financial news and analysis, as well as data and charts.

Expensify: Takes some of the hassle out of creating expense reports by allowing you to report expenses as they happen while you’re on the move.

iStockManager: For continuous access to – and control over – your TD Ameritrade account, use iStockManager. You can get equity and option trading, streaming data, real-time balances and positions, news, and more on your mobile device.

XE Currency: Convert the currencies of more than 180 countries at up-to-the-minute rates. The app saves the last conversion just in case you may need to repeat it offline, too.

 

Organizers/Time Savers

1Password: To maintain your usernames and passwords on your iPhone in one place, try 1Password.  The mobile app syncs with the desktop version, as well.  If you wish, you can use it to store other personal information, too, such as your Social Security number and credit card numbers.

Barcode Scanner: Barcode Scanner handles bar codes – including 2D QR codes – and lets you look up the associated product or URL for instant price checks and comparison shopping.

Craigsphone: Search and browse Craigslist posts near your current GPS location, and bookmark relevant listings, with Craigsphone.  The app also has tools for posting your own listings with photos and maps.

PageOnce: Use PageOnce to track credit card transactions, check your bank account status, monitor frequent-flyer miles and itineraries, and get alerts when bills are due and itineraries change.

 

Utilities

Analytics App: Full mobile service for your Google Analytics data.  You can check everything from reports to specific data, and the tidy interface makes it even easier to navigate than the web-based service.

AntiDroidTheft: If you lose your phone, AntiDroidTheft turns on remote GPS tracking so that you can determine its location.  You can also trigger the phone’s camera to shoot an image that might help you locate the handset.

AndroZip: The powerful AndroZip File Manager works with archives, including 7ZIPhone, BZIP2, GZIPhone, RAR, TAR, and ZIPhone files.  You can use it to create GZIP, TAR, or ZIPhone archives, too.  Free.

Fring: Really cool mobile app that lets you place free calls or chat with anyone from your Skype, ICQ, Google Talk, MSN, Twitter, or SIP contacts.

SmrtGuard: Can remotely track – and lock – your smartphone if it goes missing.  The Pro version lets you perform automatic wireless backup and restore.

Soonr: Need to access your PC directly from the handset?  Enter Soonr, a free mobile client that brings remote PC access to your phone:  search files, view documents, check emails, run programs and more.

Talk to Me: Originally, Talk To Me translated only English, French, Spanish, German, and Italian, with its speech-to-speech functionality.  Now it has many other languages from which to choose.

Vlingo: Replaces every instance where you have to type on your smartphone with voice commands.  It covers your phone’s basic messaging functions, voice calls, Facebook updates, and personal notes.  On Android and BlackBerry, the app will even read your incoming messages to you.

 

Social and Location-Based Applications

Bump:  This is a terrific application that allows you to exchange contact information, photos, social networking information and calendar events just by “bumping” your phone with another Bump user.

Facebook: You can update your Facebook page on the fly with their mobile version.  You can even update your Facebook Places profile, which lets people know where you’re eating, drinking, relaxing or just hanging out.

Foursquare: Ready to “check-in” to your favorite restaurant, bar, mall or retail store?  If you do it enough, you’ll become Mayor or be eligible for discount coupons.

Google+: This is much like Facebook, only better. (Seriously.) If the cluttered atmosphere of Facebook drives you a little batty, click this link and accept our invitation to join Google+.

Gowalla:  Much like Foursquare, Gowalla allows you to share your location with friends, all the while accumulating digital souvenirs that may be redeemable for real life rewards.

Hootsuite: Using HootSuite, you can manage your Facebook and Twitter accounts within an elegant, clean user interface.  HootSuite stands out from other social network managers for its extra features:  You can schedule updates, set columns to monitor keywords and hash tags, and translate updates in other languages                  .

LinkedIn: Ready to exchange LinkedIn contacts just by bumping your phone?  Or perhaps you want read someone’s profile while you’re waiting for them at a restaurant.  If that sounds enticing, then this application is for you.

Loopt: Allows you to connect with your friends by sharing your location and status with friends.  With Loopt, you can find your friends on a map and view their photo and status updates in real-time.

Mass Text Message:  Text up to ten friends with just one click by downloading the Mass Text Message app and creating custom groups of contacts.

Qik:  A new, faster way to share videos with all of your friends, Qik allows you to record and instantly upload videos to the internet or stream live video straight from your phone.  You can also 2-way video chat or send  video mail.

Skype:  Verizon Wireless users can now use Skype through their phones with free Skype-to-Skype calling and IM without using their mobile minutes.  Users with other carriers can get a Skype To Go number that they can reach from any mobile phone.

Twitter: You don’t have to be sitting behind a desk to update your Twitter status.  The mobile version lets you stay connected wherever you are.

Yelp:  This application can give you restaurant reviews on the fly.  Better still, their augmented reality mobile application lets you look through your mobile screen and places tags with reviews over the restaurants on that street.

YouTube:  You can now check out the latest YouTube craze straight from your mobile phone.  You can search for and watch videos or record and upload your own videos.

Did we miss anything on our list? If so, just provide the name, description and URL of your favorite mobile phone apps in the comment section below.

 

Jamie Turner is the co-author of How to Make Money with Social Media. He is the Founder of the 60 Second Marketer and is also a popular marketing speaker at events, trade shows and corporations around the globe. His next book, Go Mobile, will be published by John Wiley & Sons in 2012.

CategoryMobile Marketing, Mobile Media | Comment1 Comment »

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June 8th, 2011

60 Second Book Review: The Third Screen by Chuck Martin

When I first grabbed The Third Screen (Amazon affiliate link) by my friend Chuck Martin, I thought, “Okay, I’ll take a quick spin through this over the weekend and write a review of it on Monday.” Now, 14 days later, I’ve gone through the entire book and dog-eared so many pages of good, useful information that it’s hard to know where to begin my review.

Chuck’s premise, embraced by most marketers these days, is that mobile media is the third big revolution involving a screen. The first two — TV and the PC — changed our lives dramatically. The third screen — mobile — is going to be just as important as the first two.

The Third Screen by Chuck Martin is filled with in-depth information about mobile media and mobile marketing.

The book is written to appeal to people who are taking a deep dive into mobile media. While there are plenty of tips and techniques to digest here, there’s also a lot of in-depth research and information about how people interact and use their mobile devices.

Case in point — about halfway through the book, Chuck talks about in motion research. “With in motion research,” he says, “you can look at your customers’ patterns of movement, including where they go and what they’re likely to do; that information helps you determine how to best serve them.”

Hmmmm. Interesting. Tell me more.

“Research using location and movement of mobile devices can provide marketers with additional insights and context about their customers’ behaviors. Following are some of the findings of the Mobext study (which tracked consumers using their mobile devices):

  • Those who preferred Dunkin’ Donuts were 33% more likely to dine out than those who preferred Starbucks.
  • Those who shopped at Walmart were 60% more likely to dine out compared with Target customers.
  • Of Target customers who dined out, about 25% went to a restaurant before going to Target, while 25% went to a restaurant afterward.
  • The average frequency of fitness activities for those who went to quick-service coffee or doughnut locations was 50% higher than those who did not visit those types of locations.”

The information above is just one example of the fascinating ways marketers are using the third screen to improve their understanding of consumers and their behavior patterns.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to get a superficial understanding of mobile media, this book probably isn’t for you. But if you’re looking for an in-depth book that’s packed with new and relevant information, you’ll want to take a deep dive into Chuck Martin’s The Third Screen.

If you like what you read today, you can have these blog posts delivered to your in box each morning by clicking marketing blog. Or, you can sign up for our free weekly e-newsletter by clicking marketing newsletter.

Posted by Jamie Turner, Chief Content Officer of the 60 Second Marketer, the online magazine of BKV Digital and Direct Response. Jamie is also the co-author of How to Make Money with Social Media.

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