marketing Archives - Blog Mobile Roadie

The Final Step: These Three Techniques Will Elevate Your App Above the Competition

If you’re part of a mobile app development company with a new release – or even just a recent app creator – you’re probably riding pretty high. After all, you’ve just invented what is undoubtedly the best thing since sliced bread (or at least Flappy Bird). Your app should fly off the virtual shelves.

But there’s one problem. Since the inception of the Apple App Store in 2008, the number of apps offered has grown from 800 to 1.5 million. With this oversaturation of the app market, there’s a good chance that your invention might get lost in the crowd.

With this in mind, app developers need to understand that creating and bringing products to market are only half the battle. As any Clash of Clans player knows, there’s no point to building a mega-village if your army isn’t strong enough to defend it. Without an effective way to interest and retain customers, your creation is similarly vulnerable.

These three methods are all easy and incredibly effective ways to increase visibility, profits, and total sales.

BE INTERACTIVE

According to a recent study by Media Dynamics, Inc. the average consumer is exposed to 362 advertisements per day. Of these advertisements, an average of 12 will make an impression and trigger a conscious response. So how do you create advertising that’s memorable? Move away from flashing banners and towards an immersive, engaging advertising experience. Mobile app development is a cutting edge field – there’s no reason its ads shouldn’t be the same.

The ability to have a conversation with a consumer is extremely powerful. It allows you interact with him or her on a level that would be impossible with a simple sidebar or banner advertisement. In our age of increasingly short attention spans actively engaging consumers is an absolute must. Facebook’s Canvas ads, which allow consumers to experience a sort of mini-site within the advertisement, have been shown to drastically increase ROI compared to conventional advertisements.

THINK BIG

If you want your app to start turning some serious profits, it only makes sense to seek out the deepest pockets. By targeting your app towards larger entities and businesses instead of consumers, you significantly raise your potential for sales. According to a 2015 report, 43% of apps developed for enterprises pulled in $10,000 or more per month. Only 19% of apps targeted towards consumers met this standard.

If you’re at an app or software development company that’s already created a consumer-targeted app, don’t despair quite yet. As it turns out, there’s a significant amount of overlap between apps targeted towards enterprises and those aimed at consumers.

Specifically, the top five categories in both consumer and enterprise apps include those focused on utilities, education and reference, and business and productivity tools. If you’re not already targeting the biggest players, it might be worth your while to brainstorm on how to adjust or scale your product in order to meet their needs.

GIVE ‘EM A FREE TASTE

Unless you’ve created something truly revolutionary, chances are that a free alternative to your app exists. No need to feel bad; before Facebook there was Myspace and before Googling on Chrome the original Internet Explorers Asked Jeeves. Some of the greatest breakthroughs in technology come from improving on an existing model. But with so much competition, sometimes being the best simply isn’t enough. Even if you’re a great app development company or developer, you’ve got to get recognized.

One easy way to gain recognition is offer your app free for a limited trial period. The boost in installs and – knock on wood – positive reviews will show consumers that you’re the real deal. With this proof on your side, customers will be more willing to drop a few bucks on what you’re offering. Alternatively, a more basic free edition of your app, with teasers compelling users to upgrade to the pay version is another route to profitability.

Now that you’ve got some tools at your disposal, go ahead and show the world what they’ve been missing in the world of mobile app development. After all, there’s nothing worse than unrecognized genius.

Millennials Make Mobile A Must For Hotel Marketers

Personally entitled, professionally lazy, technically gifted, and socially progressive are just a few of the labels applied to Americans born in the final 20 years of the 20th Century.

Volumes of market research have been devoted to determining exactly how true those descriptions are, but there’s at least but there are at least two attributes that aren’t up for debate:

1) Millennials embrace mobile devices and engage with them more than any other group

2) Millennials are now the largest generational segment in the U.S., representing more than a quarter of the total population.

As a result, catering to this pivotal customer segment has become a business priority for modern marketers. And for those stationed in the hospitality industry, smartphones open up a crucial line of communication.

TECH GUIDES TRAVEL EXPERIENCES

As anyone with an Instagram account can attest to, smartphones play a major role in how Millennials discover, coordinate, experience, and share their travel adventures. It’s no surprise, then, to see recent research from Oracle confirming hotels as a hub of mobile interaction.

Prior to arrival, 55% of Millennials have browsed a hotel website via smartphone while 45% have directly reserved a room using a smartphone.
Once at their destination, 24% check-in via mobile while 84% connect their device to the hotel’s WiFi during their stay.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT REMAINS

The hospitality industry at large deserves credit for embracing mobility faster than most, but there is still plenty of work left to be done.

One of the more interesting findings from the Oracle survey revealed that just 12% of Millennials had ordered hotel room service via mobile device.
Initially, it might be tempting to explain that statistic as more a matter of luxury than technology – that Millennials balk at the cost of room service. But when framed against the fact that 39% of Millennials have ordered food delivery via smartphone in other contexts, it seems to suggest hotels may be fumbling an important opportunity.

That suspicion was confirmed by Millennial hotel workers themselves, one-third of which felt their employers “made bad use” of technology. Perhaps worse, only 15% indicated that their employers were receptive to staff feedback on technology issues.

WHERE DO APPS FIT IN?

The sum of those survey findings could feel discouraging to some, but for hotel marketers ready to embrace change, it has all the makings of an attractive opportunity for revenue growth..

The most powerful way to turn mobile into a competitive advantage is through the development of a dedicated app. When everything from booking rooms and massages to discovering attractions and directions can be accomplished from a single, portable interface, guests can’t help but be converted by the convenience. Every time they open a device with the hotel’s app installed, they will be greeted with the hotel logo introducing them to services they may not even have been aware of. And by integrating smart social media features, you’ll give loyal guests a stage to sing your praises and convince prospective customers. Thereby a mobile app becomes a way to engage customers prior to arrival, upsell them on services during their stay, and gives them an opportunity to advocate for the hotel brand following departure.

But hotel app development cannot be approached with a “build it and they will come” mindset. Considering that just 13% of the surveyed Millennials have used a hotel app to facilitate a trip, promotional efforts may still be the weak link in app strategy. As a result, hotels need to make sure any app they do create becomes the focal point of mobile marketing efforts moving forward.