Mobile

Today it’s easy to assume there is a mobile app or website for anything you need. Businesses are compelled to represent their brand, products, and services in the mobile space in order to keep up with competition, maintain market share, and attract new customers. Increasingly there are stiff penalties for ignoring your mobile presence with your customers and prospects.

Developing one or more mobile apps is a smart choice for many companies. Apps help you engage directly with consumers, perform market research, and enhance brand loyalty. Because of the specialized skill set required, many businesses find it more cost-effective to hire a specialized app development company rather than going it alone.

Moving into web and mobile app development is a strong business decision for many companies. Building apps lets you interact directly with your customers in exciting new ways, and can strengthen brand loyalty among consumers. It gives you a new channel for getting your message out, and even lets you learn more about your target market.

In my previous 2 articles, I provided an overview of both mobile websites and native mobile apps, as well as discussing the benefits and drawbacks of each. These are the two main pieces of a mobile strategy and understanding them individually is crucial to crafting an effective mobile app development plan. But, knowing how and when to combine these technologies is what sets the top mobile players apart.

In my previous article, I discussed the benefits and shortfalls of creating a native mobile application. This installment will cover the pros and cons of making a mobile website. A mobile website differs from a native mobile application in that it is not installed directly to a phone or tablet, but is viewed in a mobile web browser. These websites also differ from websites seen when browsing on a computer, in that they are visually redesigned or reorganized to better fit a smaller screen. Given that users spend more time browsing on mobile devices than traditional computers, we need to be creating websites with this in mind.

Mobile is no longer the future. Mobile is here and it has arrived with a ring. Mobile is so here, in fact, that even the most entrenched old-age companies are clamoring for Android and iPhone apps. And that is fantastic! But, it is very important that companies consider all of their options before investing a moderate amount of effort and capital into a native mobile app.

This is the second part in a two-part series on mobile engagement. The first part can be found here. This second article will expand on the first by describing how you can utilize social features to create mobile engagement.

Geofencing is a popular option for modern mobile applications.  The concept of a geofence is simple; draw a virtual boundary around a point on a map, like a fence around a yard, which can then monitor when a mobile device crosses the boundary.