Want to learn to make donuts, there’s an app for that. Want to track your bicycling miles, there’s an app for that. Want a cyber stapler, there’s an app for that. Want to access your bank account, yup, app.
The proliferation of available mobile apps has certainly muddied the waters of mobile application usage in the digital marketing mix.
First we should differentiate between the primary app purposes:
- Revenue Generation through App Sales
- Brand Penetration or Awareness
- Acquisition or Retention
When trying to determine if your digital strategy should include a mobile app you have to first define into which of the primary purpose categories it will fall.
Excluding Revenue Generation is easy, as typically app development with the intent of revenue generation through app sales would be a stand alone product development with its own business plan, funding sources, marketing plan, etc…
As for Brand Penetration or Awareness, unless you have a large budget to burn that doesn’t call for a strict “ROI on digital spend”, I would say this type of app is out of the mix.
That leaves Acquisition or Retention. Apps that fall into this category might include features that interact with a web channel to complete the transaction funnel. Because of the necessary integration with existing web channels, it raises the question, “If my app requires my website and most modern mobile browsers render websites, what benefit is an app giving me over my existing website or mobile website?”
From what I see, a lot of companies ignore that question and forge on with an app that simply replicates the mobile version of their website without any concern for the cost vs. incremental return.
As an example lets look at my bank’s mobile app. Their app for android is a simple account access tool (I imagine it’s the same for other platforms as well). It requires a login and account selection in order to view my balance and history. This is the EXACT same flow and functionality that their mobile website offers. Why did I download and install the app and why did they develop it?
The PROS of this approach are that they can market their mobile app, but couldn’t they just as effectively marketed their mobile website. The CONS are that now they have an app, most likely across multiple platforms, to manage and keep up-to-date along with their websites. If their goal was to use the app for general brand awareness or penetration then perhaps it can be a justified expense – just don’t count on a truly measurable set of metrics to justify the spend.
I am not against adding apps to the marketing mix, however, I believe that they should be weighed against a mobile web approach and treated the same as any other channel, with a set of defined and measurable success metrics that justify the spend and fit into the overall digital strategy.
Now back to my donuts!
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Matthew Kapusta is an experienced Digital Strategist and online marketer, he creates multi-channel digital strategies and tactical execution plans that produce measurable results and maintain a favorable ROI across multiple channels.
