To App or Not to App?
The mobile channel continues to grow as a valuable customer experience touchpoint. Nielsen reports that smartphone penetration in the U.S. is at least 28 percent and rising, accounting for 41 percent of new phone purchases in Q3 2010.
As customers do more with their phones, the mobile app market grows as well. Companies are clamoring to develop apps for the iPhone, Blackberry, Android, and iPad devices. But while the desire to keep up with technology is strong, there needs to be a strong strategy in place when deciding what mobile apps, if any, to create.
A new Harris Interactive study sheds light on the issues that arise when a company creates mobile apps just because they can. The survey, featured in today's eMarketer, interviewed 781 online adults who download and use mobile apps. The study found that many organizations and companies are failing their users as well as their own brand.
According to the study, 76 percent of mobile application users agree that all brand name companies and organizations should have mobile apps to make shopping or interacting with them easier. But 38 percent agree that they are not satisfied with most of the apps currently available from their favorite brand name companies/organizations, and 69 percent agree that if a brand name mobile app is not useful, helpful, or easy to use it results in a negative brand perception.
In addition, 32 percent have told others about a bad experience with a mobile app and 13 percent have avoided downloading applications from a brand name company or organization due to a previous bad experience with another app offered by that brand
This speaks loudly to the fact that it's better to stay out of the app market than it is to release an app customers don't find valuable.
But statistics show that marketers may be focusing too much on quantity over quality in the mobile app market. According to the State of the Apps Industry: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow, a report from Millenial Media, Digiday, and Stifel Nicolaus, the number of mobile applications being created by marketers increased significantly over last year. In fact, 83 of the 500 respondents say they created between 20-50 apps since 2009. With that many apps being churned out, marketers run the risk of providing a bad experience with at least one of them.
As with any customer touchpoint, it's critical to consider the customer experience and perspective before developing any new tool. This is especially important in the app market, where customer expectations are high and brands need to deliver or else ruin customer relationships.
Instead of keeping up with competitors, keep up with customers. Take a look at the needs of your customer base and figure out which apps, if any, are beneficial to your customers. It may be a less hip approach, but your customers will thank you in the long run with their loyalty.
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