So, our feature packed new App has launched available both in the iTunes store but also the other 97% of Smartphone users by texting VICHY to 51500. The app features: a skin consultation, a product selector tool, store locator, product barcode scanner, customer data capture forms, online to through the door sampling and plenty of brand communications.
It’s free to customers and I’m happy to report I delivered the project in under 90 days. Not bad at all.
Since launch I’ve picked up on a number of bugs and areas that need tweaking but on the whole am pretty happy with this project.
For me it was a natural step to do something significant in the mobile channel this year. Not so much due to the column inches mobile has been getting or because of all those industry speakers who coined this Year of the Mobile. No, the straw the broke this camel’s back was when I saw GSMA and Comscore’s report for Internet Access via Mobiles for December 2009. Just under 16 million people accessed the Internet in that month via their mobiles. 16 million is just a little short of a quarter of the total population. That’s a staggering amount of people. As you can see the report is made up of data supplied by the network operators, compiled by the aforementioned companies so it’s very reliable.
What’s even more interesting about this report is that it doesn’t included native apps i.e. those apps that are downloaded and run locally on someone’s mobile. Considering there are now app stores for Nokia, Vodafone and numerous other network operators as well as handset manufacturers its clear to see this isn’t year of the mobile but more like decade of the mobile.
The demand for mobile presence from a brand is clearly there but I believe there are a few key things to consider before allocating budget for mobile in 2011:
- One of your main priorities should be ensuring your brand’s content is accessible via mobile. A quick check on some of my brands sites and you can see the flash homepages don’t work on iPhones therefore creating an immediate barrier to mobile visitors
- Find your customers. If there are in a retail outlet go and speak to them and tell them your plans. Ask them what they think. I’m not advocating focus groups here for various reasons. Just good honest 1-2-1 conversations
- Pick your suppliers and developers carefully. This area is still in its early days so ensure you review past work and take up business references
- Set realistic deadlines. Development of app and mobile sites is still in it’s infancy so expect there to be plenty of bugs and errors that will need fixing
- If you develop an app and if you publish in the Apple App store login in and read the feedback on there. It’s free market research
- Don’t try and do it all in one go. Plan a phase 2 of development containing a wish list of all the things that miss your development cut off date or aren’t deemed crucial to it’s initial launch. It will only delay the project and speed is of the essence here.
- Prepare a first class launch plan. There are over 150,000 apps in the Apple App store so you’ll need something to stand out. Ensure it integrates with the rest of your activities. Telling your existing customer base is a must. If you can, and you have retail outlets try to get some coverage there. It’s mobile so people will use it everywhere, not just at home or work.
- Target by mobile. I’m a big fan of Google Adwords and their content network. You can target by mobile in your Adwords account so ensure you’re covering the bases
- My final tip is to get it out there and see how it goes down. The beauty with Digital is you can put things out there, monitor, report and test at a relatively low cost.
The explosion in use of the internet on mobile and the uptake of apps are huge indicators as to the potential of this channel. We are still in the early days of learning exactly what we can accomplish in this area. I think its less like Year of the Mobile and more likely to be Decade of the Mobile.
Decade of the Mobile Related links:
Vichy Skin Health Mobile App on Apple App store
GSMA and Comscore’s report for Internet Access via Mobiles for December 2009
Filed under: Mobile, app, app suppliers, app tips, apple, iphone, leo miller, mobile, mobile advertising, mobile usage
