The Mobile App-trap

If it’s not the latest news about Facebook, or jaw-dropping valuations of businesses such as Skype or LinkedIn, I suspect you’ll be mostly hearing about the incredible explosion in mobile and tablet usage and yes, of course the very latest must-haves in app development.

Like many you’ll probably be enthusiastically working out how your business can benefit from this new-found ability to nuzzle up close to your customers, and like many you’ll probably also be picking your way through the pitfalls and confusion which ensues.

The recent episode of UK TV show The Apprentice in which the teams had to create a mobile app, is a great illustration of some of the challenges to be faced.  Lara O’Reilly summarises these challenges nicely in her article “Brands Should be Fired up by Apprentice App Task” in Marketing Week . Her summation ultimately says that knowing your audience, understanding their needs and then describing your product concisely will be key factors in creating sticky content. But the challenges don’t stop there.

In order to really crack this nut, businesses also need to:

• be clear how an app will help achieve goals and objectives
• take an active role relating to decisions such as the platforms, operating systems or source code
• be confident their agencies truly understand technical and legal implications
• develop the mobile app as a part of an integrated communications strategy
• understand the true costs of development and ongoing management and maintenance
• put in place a framework for tracking and assessing success

Even without considering all the above points in more detail the legal complexities of app development alone and the ever changing world of policy make this a potential minefield for developers and brands. With security and privacy currently high on the agenda, knowing what constitutes personal data for example is crucial. A European paper is expected shortly which will change the status of geo-locational information from general to personal data; as a result all such information will then be subjected to stricter regulations. And development aside, should you wish to sell advertising within your app once it’s up and running, understanding your liability as a publisher and not falling foul of the recently updated ASA regulations is crucial.

The great news though is that there are people out there who can help guide businesses through this complex development process and lead them into the kind of world where they can seamlessly engage with customers on their own terms and where individuals themselves could even earn money on referrals simply by carrying a phone in their pocket.

If you’re keen to get a comprehensive overview on the mobile market place drop us an email at info@ubaglu.com – our experience is grounded in delivering integrated strategies, and not only that we’ve worked with leading App developer Nation1 to produce a free 50-page paper bursting with facts, figures and examples from the market place.  It should give you the background information to help you get started and ultimately avoid the app-trap.