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Mobile Website Vs Mobile Application: Offline Preference

by james96
12 replies
Hi Warriors,

While marketing to my offline clients, I discovered that they were more interested in mobile application than mobile website even though mobile application is more expensive to acquire.

If you have the same or contrary experience in your area, please post your findings.
#application #marketing a service #mobile #mobile marketing #offline #preference #website
  • Profile picture of the author MaxReferrals
    That certainly is the perception -- 'I need an APP.'

    But once it's explained the point of the app is to
    create engagement which eventually results in
    mobile visits, the conversation quickly can become

    "What good is the investment in the APP if the site isn't
    mobile optimized...?"
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    • Profile picture of the author Kevin Rayman
      Originally Posted by MaxReferrals View Post

      That certainly is the perception -- 'I need an APP.'

      But once it's explained the point of the app is to
      create engagement which eventually results in
      mobile visits, the conversation quickly can become

      "What good is the investment in the APP if the site isn't
      mobile optimized...?"
      Small Business owners often don't understand such details that they need to have a mobile friendly website in order to have an app.
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  • Profile picture of the author Nail Yener
    Originally Posted by james96 View Post

    Hi Warriors,

    While marketing to my offline clients, I discovered that they were more interested in mobile application than mobile website even though mobile application is more expensive to acquire.

    If you have the same or contrary experience in your area, please post your findings.
    I have been contacting business owners offering mobile sites in the past weeks and I got a few responses mentioning that they were having an app made for their business therefore they didn't need a mobile site.

    I tried justifying a mobile site over a device-specific app, but it is really difficult to change people's minds when they believe what they know is the best.

    Mobile apps could be great for large-scale businesses like yellowpages, etc. but is this the case for small businesses? Who would install an app for every business website they visit? How many people can that business target with a device-specific app? Why would the user need to update the app every time the business makes a change? The list goes on but my preference is clear: mobile sites.
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  • Profile picture of the author atrbiz
    I don't see why a "small business" would need a mobile application (android,iphone,blackberry), they might be confused between a mobile site and mobile app. Also HUGE difference in pricing.
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    • Profile picture of the author whoiskb
      I would imagine that most small businesses would be able to get away with just a well designed mobile website rather than an app. Try to identify what their goals are with an app and then show how they can accomplish the same with a web app. Also outline the cost difference.
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    Apps have a few disadvantages over mobile websites. Apps are device specific meaning you need a separate app created for the most popular devices (iphone, blackberry, android) and they are also a lot more expensive.

    I think a lot of business owners see all the big companies using apps so they figure it is what they should do and will bring them a ton of business. It just once again goes to show you how very little the average business owner truly understands about marketing and getting a bang for their buck.
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  • Profile picture of the author james96
    Opinons so far show that mobile website is good for small businesses while mobile application should be the target of big businesses. I believe it is a good idea for even the 'big shots' to combine both for effective mobile marketing campaigns.
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  • Profile picture of the author WAWarrior
    Small companies - mobile website is recommended. A mobile app may be a mobile website bookmarking utility, a mobile-based instant messaging client, Gmail for mobile, and many other applications. Below is a PDF Doc link to find out more.

    http://www.mmaglobal.com/mobileapplications.pdf
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  • Profile picture of the author Quentin
    I love companies that have apps or are in the process of developing apps as they convert really well to mobile websites. They already know the power of mobile.

    In fact I have started targeting them for sales.

    Mobile Websites can be initiated almost immediately and updates are also immediate. The other thing is that they work on a variety of different operating systems.

    Customers can turn a website into a app link on the mobiles or save into their bookmarks.

    Mobile websites can also help to promote the businesses app which is an added bonus.

    Q
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    • Profile picture of the author Russell Hall
      Originally Posted by Quentin View Post

      I love companies that have apps or are in the process of developing apps as they convert really well to mobile websites. They already know the power of mobile.

      In fact I have started targeting them for sales.

      Mobile Websites can be initiated almost immediately and updates are also immediate. The other thing is that they work on a variety of different operating systems.

      Customers can turn a website into a app link on the mobiles or save into their bookmarks.

      Mobile websites can also help to promote the businesses app which is an added bonus.

      Q
      That's really interesting Quentin.
      I like the way you've put a positive spin on this and are turning it into a real sales opportunity.
      I haven't heard too much of Local Businesses having apps made but would agree that it's only a part of an overall mechanism that is required.

      I'd agree with Nail Yener when he said "it is really difficult to change people's minds when they believe what they know is the best." but the thing is to place that seed of doubt in their minds that they need to look at the full picture or they could wind up wasting a lot of time and money thinking that they've found a simple cure-all to accessing mad volumes of web traffic!

      Best regards,
      Russell Hall
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      Mvlti svnt vocati, pavci vero electi - Many are called [but] few are chosen

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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    An interesting article on the use of Mobile Apps vs Mobile websites:

    Mobile Commerce - More money flows to mobile, Forrester Research finds - Internet Retailer
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    • Profile picture of the author Sondor
      Originally Posted by WillR View Post

      An interesting article on the use of Mobile Apps vs Mobile websites:

      Mobile Commerce - More money flows to mobile, Forrester Research finds - Internet Retailer
      An excerpt from the article: "In its "Mobile Channel Strategy: An Overview" report, Forrester says 40% of the 58 online business managers it surveyed plan to developed a mobile-optimized web site."

      The average local business does not have any sort of an 'Online Business Manager'. That tells me that they surveyed very large organizations.

      I'm really surprised that people are getting feedback from local business owners that they are investing in an 'app' but don't have a mobile website.

      Perhaps they don't know the lingo as well as we do, and are thinking they are having an 'app' made, when it's really just a mobile optimized website?

      We can probably blame Apple for the business owners confusion w/ their ubiquitous 'there's and app for that' marketing. People now associate anything that comes up on a smartphone as an 'app'.
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