Mobile apps
are a very hot marketing topic right now.
With the sale of Instagram for $1 billion, who wouldn’t want to know
more! Founder and CEO of VizNetwork and
VizChef, Tom
Crawford is a communication, app development and cooking
expert. Crawford was the right person to
break down the mobile apps marketplace by category and function.
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| Tom Crawford |
By learning
from Crawford the purpose and value of apps, business owners attending LA2M on
April 11, 2012 became better equipped to decide if and why a mobile app made
sense for their company.
Generally
speaking, mobile apps are used for advertising, customer interaction, marketing
and fun explained Crawford. Business
owners can start by looking at what their direct competitors are doing with
their apps. Be sure to think in terms of
an app idea that will help your business be more successful recommended
Crawford.
Crawford used
existing Apple apps as examples to describe the purposes of mobile apps for
businesses. He explained that not all
companies need apps, by pointing out that 19 out of the top Fortune 25
companies have apps. Not all apps are
created by that company for that company, some may not identify the company and
others may be for customers and employees only, Crawford said.
Companies use
apps to push out information. Other
company apps are used to engage customers through relationship
interaction. Some companies also design
apps that are subtle marketing tools that employ fun or services to engage the user. Retail apps are also available, but Crawford
chose not to explore that category.
Some apps
operate like a product or event brochure Crawford said. The Ford Mustang customizer app allows the
user to design a completely unique and impossible to order Mustang that can
battle against other virtual Mustangs.
GE offers an app to help potential customers choose lighting through
interaction based on a photo of their room.
Trade shows can use apps for event navigation and product finders.
Crawford
pointed out that all of these are all about delivering company information. He also mentioned school sports stats access,
annual reports and other informational uses.
Customers
interact with companies through apps that allow bank account access and support
loyalty programs. Customers can schedule
auto service appointments, research investments, track airline points, order
pizzas and even have home improvement project questions answered through
company interactive apps. All of these
are intended to drive demand and entrench customer ties with companies
explained Crawford.
“Pain points”
are a good source of ideas for apps Crawford said. Users appreciate company created apps that
offer information like wine pairing, recycling locations, ski reports, stain
removal tips, language translation and recipes.
These apps are created by companies but don’t directly push sales of
their products.
Crawford
explained these types of apps are for branding and image building. IBM has a “Minds of Math” app that enhances
their image through association. Verizon
does something similar with a thought leadership app. Activities, games, photo albums and
sweepstakes are among the entertainment oriented apps available to mobile
users.
Crawford‘s
overview of the types and functions of mobile apps gave those attending a
framework to consider the pros and cons of developing a mobile app for their
business. In conclusion he advised, “Be
unique, be useful and do it right.”
To view the
entire presentation visit the LA2M event archive. You can follow Tom Crawford at @viznetwork or
@vizchef.
