5 Reasons Why Your Company Should Create a Business App by Sarah Schmid

5 Reasons Why Your Company Should Create a Business App

MOBILESarah Schmid

APR07

Creating unique apps catered to your business is the latest buzz. But does it really make sense for your product and will you see the return on your investment? Get the 411 on why mobile apps are a great way to connect to your customers.

Order dinner. Hail a cab. Check your symptoms for that nagging cold. Thanks to apps developed by a range of businesses, all of these can be done from the smartphone in your pocket. Consumers have become accustomed to the convenience and immediacy of mobile apps, but 45 percent of businesses still don’t have a mobile app or a mobile-optimized website. If yours is among them, there’s no time like the present to start developing a mobile app of your own.

If you’re still on the fence about developing your own app, consider these five reasons why it pays for businesses to go mobile.

1. IT DRIVES SALES

When your customers can initiate and complete a purchase while they wait in line at the grocery store, you’ve just accomplished one of the hardest tasks in marketing: meeting your customers where they are. Rather than requiring them to sit in front of a computer in order to buy your stuff, an m-commerce app allows customers to make quick purchases from wherever they are. This is precisely why a 2013 comScore study showed that 55 percent of consumers’ time spent with online retail happened on a mobile device, versus just 45 percent on computers.

2. MOBILE BUSINESS APPS DELIVER QUICKER CUSTOMER SUPPORT

No matter how cheerful your on-hold music may be, your customers don’t want to listen to it while waiting for the next available agent. Instead, they’d rather get answers and information as quickly and efficiently as possible. That’s why services like Hipmob have made such a splash. Hipmob enables your business to provide in-app customer support and answers to FAQs. The result is a better experience for your customers and lower call volumes for your customer support staff.

3. BUSINESS APPS INCREASE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

It’s hardly a surprise that customers who can access your products or services easily are more likely to become repeat customers. But an app doesn’t have to have an m-commerce component to drive customer engagement. By providing valuable content relative to your business—whether that means recipes, travel advice, or tips for repairing a radiator—an app can deliver lasting value to your customers and help them see your brand as a trusted authority in your field. And with features like push notifications that chime updates from your customers’ pockets and purses, keeping your audience engaged has never been easier.

4. A GREAT BUSINESS APP CAN ELEVATE YOUR BRAND

Having an app can be a huge differentiator for your company, especially if you’re in a non-digital field. If, say, you’re a plumbing contractor, an app that allows homeowners to get a quick quote can lift your brand far above local competitors. Plus, having an app can help your company land new customers who are searching for answers or services online.

5. A BUSINESS APP IS A CHANCE TO GET TO KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS

If you’re still relying on uniques and pageviews to gauge your business’s digital performance, you’re missing out on all the good stuff. While normal web-based analytics allow you to see where and when your customers engage with your brand, mobile analytics gives you a next-level look at your customers’ behavior. By going beyond the desktop experience, you can see how your customers interact with your brand in the wild. This allows you to tailor your services, plan promotions, and deliver unexpected value to your customers wherever they may be.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Of course, not all businesses need an app. The costs of developing a mobile app can range from a few thousand to hundreds of thousands of dollars. If you’re unable to deliver value to your customers, this expense is hardly justifiable. You’ll need to have the ability to generate and publish content on a regular basis, as well as the IT resources to support the app on the back end.

Only you can determine if your business will benefit from a mobile app. But if the items above apply to your business—or if you’d like them to—an app may be the solution you’ve been looking for.

What has been your experience with creating business apps? Was it worth the investment? We welcome comments below.

Source: http://www.workintelligent.ly/technology/mobile/2014-4-7-create-business-apps/

7 Business Apps Every Professional Should Download by Kevin Purdy

7 Business Apps Every Professional Should Download

MOBILEKevin Purdy

DEC03

Smartphones have given today’s mobile workers the ability to not have to worry about having everything they need before they get moving. Which is great, until they end up in a conference, airplane, or other no-reception zone without the crucial One Thing I Need. Good smartphone and tablet tools don't just provide access – they think ahead and plan for contingencies, like a personal assistant. They’re the tools that can make your job a whole lot easier.

Which apps do this? We happen to have seven of them, linked and ready for installing. The best part: all of them, except one category, are free, and the one that isn’t free is notably less than a hamburger.

1. TRIPIT

TripIt is a personal assistant for travel, especially if you give it access to your email inbox and let it scan for tickets and itineraries. Afterward, you literally don’t have to do anything except open the app to see all the details: your confirmation number, your departure time, the address of your hotel, the distance to the conference center, and the website of the restaurant you’re supposed to eat at Friday night. Open it up at least once before you journey and TripIt will hold your travel details for offline viewing, in case you don’t want to spring for WiFi on the plane. (iPhone/iPad, Android)

2. QUICKOFFICE

There are all kinds of mobile business apps that claim to work well with Microsoft Office documents, but only so many offer only read-only access. Those that do offer editing tools often want to tie you into their own cloud storage schemes. Not QuickOffice. This app was recently acquired by Google, but it still works as a utilitarian open, edit, and save solution for quick views and adjustments. We’ve talked about the importance of information mobility, and this app provides a great way for mobile workers to access documents on the go. (iTunes, Android)

3. POCKET (OR INSTAPAPER)

Which app looks and works better is a matter of taste, but both Pocket andInstapaper do their jobs remarkably well. That job: take blog posts, news articles, and other content on the web (including everything at WorkIntelligent.ly – shameless plug), strip it down to just the text and necessary images, and save them to your device for reading when you have time. Big offices used to have such “clipping services” way back when, but they didn’t let you choose your favorite font. (Pocket: iTunes, Android; Instapaper: iTunes, Android)

4. AGENDA (OR FANTASTICAL)

It’s odd how unhelpful the default calendar on an iPhone or Android can be. With how much design has gone into the OS of each, how can something as simple as a calendar cause so many headaches? Why can’t you just get an agenda view of everything that’s happening today when you start it up? Why does entering the time and date of an event feel like unlocking a bank vault? My own fix is Agenda Calendar 4, which makes smart guesses about when you want to schedule things, shows your day in a well-designed glance view, and generally gives you more information and links from an event than Calendar. If you frequently use the iPhone’s Reminders function, you might instead tryFantastical 2, which ties directly into the iPhone’s alerts and reminders systems. (Agenda: iTunes, Android; Fantastical: iTunes)

5. CHROME

Chrome is Google’s own browser. Your iPhone already has the Safari browser, and your Android phone likely has its own default browser. So why would you bother to install a browser that shows the same web pages as either of these? One big reason: if you use Chrome on a desktop computer and sign in on both your desktop and phone with your Google account, you can see and open any tab you had open on your desktop browser when you left it. Or just start typing in a few words from the page you already went to into Chrome’s search bar, and Chrome should come up with it. It feels magical (and maybe a bit creepy). (iTunes, Android)

6. CLOUDCUBE (ANDROID ONLY)

Maybe you already feel backed up, cloud-connected, and ready to grab your files from anywhere. So cloud-connected, in fact, that you sometimes have a hard time remembering in which cloud you stored that certain file, and where you have room to put that next big one. CloudCube works with all the notable syncing services: Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, Box, SugarSync, and more. Move files between clouds, see what’s inside each account, and even sync folders between your Android device and your services of choice. (Android)

7. IFTTT (IF THIS THEN THAT) (IPHONE ONLY)

Wouldn’t it be neat if every time you took a screenshot of your iPhone, that screenshot was automatically saved to where you want it? Or if every time you completed a Reminder on your phone, it emailed the appropriate person to let them know, automatically? Or if you could see, on your phone, every photo you’ve been tagged in from Facebook? With IFTTT (short for If This Then That), that kind of two-step, non-thinking action is entirely possible. The hardest part is thinking up the “recipes” that you want for your phone, but after playing with the website a bit, you should get a real sense of just how many things can be done without your having to even think about it. Be sure to install this iPhone app so you can take full advantage of that set-and-forget productivity. (iTunes).

What other business apps do you consider critical to getting the job done either while on the go, or at the office?

Source: http://www.workintelligent.ly/technology/mobile/7-business-apps-for-every-professional/?utm_campaign=ContentSyndication&utm_medium=NativeAd&utm_source=Taboola&utm_content&utm_term=7+apps+business+professionals+should+download&utm_content=mashable

14 Social Media Trends for 2014 by Julia Borgini

With more and more brands hopping on the social media bandwagon in 2013, there are bound to be some shifts in the way we use it for business.

We’re seeing hashtags show up in print advertising and television commercials, and short-form videos like Vine and Instagram Videos becoming more mainstream. You might say social media is here to stay.

So it’s fair to ask what you can expect in the coming year in social media marketing. To answer that question, I’ve scoured some of the best lists on the web and gathered some of the top social media trends for 2014 for you.

Social Media Trends for 2014

1. The rise of social paid advertising.

All the major social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) now offer paid advertising, and they’ll continue to work on making it better. Just looking at some stats, it appears that brands will want to use it:

• Brands that use the retargeted ads in Facebook users’ newsfeeds report 49 times more clicks than right-hand sidebar ads.
• LinkedIn Sponsored Updates see a 45% higher engagement than posts on Facebook or Twitter.
• Twitter offers three different kinds of paid advertising: promoted accounts, tweets, and trends.

2. Specialized social media platforms and sites are going to become more popular.

For the same reason you target your business and marketing, soon you’ll be able to target your social media campaigns.

Some existing platforms like LinkedIn already let you target particular segments and audiences with your updates. However if you want to reach an even more specific audience, try looking at a niche social media platform. Some examples includeUntappd, Ravelry, Gentlemint, ThirdAge, and Meet Pips.

3. Google+ will become a major factor in social media.

Often an afterthought to many social media campaigns, Google+ will see an increased presence in 2014.

Google reports that over 300 million people visit G+ every month. It’s a big part of their search algorithm, it rewards sites with high SEO IQ, and when you add in Google Authorship, it’s easy to see why.

See how to set up your own Google+ Company Page here.

4. Brands have to think of themselves as publishers.

As quality content continues to be important, brands are realizing that they need to hire good writers to work along with their marketing staff.

They’re realizing the value in assembling a good team of writers, marketers, analysts, and designers. Working with their own newsroom-like departments, or outside vendors like Press Feed will allow them to easily create a well-rounded and robust content strategy that offers everything from social, mobile, and graphic content.

5. Employee advocacy will be formalized.

Forward-thinking brands will codify processes and procedures for their staff that will empower their employees to speak up for the brand (and not be penalized).

Innovative companies will use social media to gain valuable insight into what’s happening within their company, so they can make better future business decisions.

Clearly, social media proficiency is seen as a core business asset rather than a liability.

6. Social media jobs will change drastically this year.

It’s out with the Social Media Manager, and in with the SEO Specialist, Social Media Strategist, Online Community Manager, Social Media Marketing Manager, Social Media Marketing Coordinator, and Blogger or Social Media Copywriter (say Business Insider and Hootsuite).

7. Big business will use social media even more in their campaigns.

According to John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing, they’ll use it to create brand awareness, to hire new staff, drive lead generation, and ultimately, serve customers better.

We live more and more of our lives online, so it only makes sense that brands will continue their research into social media and how it can benefit their bottom line.

8. Hashtags will be everywhere.

You’ve already noticed them on-screen in television, and they’re quoted all the time in ads and news reports—now FB is using them too. Make sure you know whathashtags are and how to use them.

9. Pay attention to news trends and use them.

Gary Vaynerchuck calls this “trendjacking” in his book Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. It means you use a trending news topic, create social media content for it, and release it right away. It’s only useful for that period in time; however, it can be extremely powerful and compelling.

My personal favorite is Oreo’s You Can Still Dunk in the Dark during the blackout of the 2013 SuperBowl. But there are other great examples like DiGiorno’s live tweeting during NBC’s live broadcast of The Sound of Music, or some UK brands “celebration” of the Royal Birth of Prince George last summer.

10. Quality content will be even more important.

Ann Handley of Marketing Profs says it’s the foundation to all good content, regardless of content type. While I won’t quote the “should be retired” cliche about content and royalty, it is true. Produce only quality content, and you’ll win on social media.

11. Content must be relevant to be useful.

Consumers are easier to target in today’s market, so making the experience relevant will be important. That means using the right social media platform, hashtags and keywords, and producing the right compelling content to engage your followers.

Companies like ThinkGeekencourage users to submit Action Shots of themselves using the products, which is an easy way to measure the ROI of their products and social media reach.

12. Becoming more mobile.

As tablets and smartphones get more powerful, we’re using them more and more on the go. According to a Prosper Insights report, only 33% of mobile websites are “very good,” which means there’s a lot of room for improvement.

13. Brands will use more video, in particular, micro-video.

This is an extension of the fact that people like to consume video on their mobile devices.

The video platforms are becoming more reliable and brands are able to monetize them more easily. Video producers are capitalizing on this, and creating videos for brands that are of high quality and are highly entertaining.

The good news is that almost half of all video watchers complete the entire video, with a whopping 79% completion rate on those on auto-play .

14. SlideShare becomes a key influencer.

With over 60 million monthly visitors, and 130 million pageviews, SlideShareis one of the most visited websites in the world. Users can share presentations directly from the site, or embed them in their own.

It’s one of the easier ways to share content. It offers a unique relationship between content and distribution that brands and business should harness.

Source: http://blog.crazyegg.com/2014/01/22/14-social-media-trends-2014/