Using iPad Apps as part of your marketing mix?
85% prefer apps to mobile websites. There are loads of reasons why businesses want to build an iPad app.
Some companies simply want to make people more aware of their brand and any new offerings. Others want to build an app to create a new way for their customers to buy their products. Some use their app as an interactive product guide.
So, what do you want your iPad app to do?
It’s also worth putting yourself in your customer’s shoes and asking yourself what they’d want from your app.
You might think a snazzy new app that shows off all your products is the best thing. But what if all people want is an easy way of buying things from you on their iPad?
Stats are stats but there are some pretty compelling ones. For example, Compuware ran a study that showed 85% of people who own an iPad would rather use an app than a mobile website when making a purchase.
Should you charge people?
This relates back to what you want your app to do. Is it to inform, entertain or add value?
If you want your app to make money, there’s two ways. The first is to publish a free app and offer in app purchasing and/or direct people to your website to buy there. The other way is to publish a paid for app.
If it’s a paid app, you need to make sure there’s a really, really compelling reason for people to download it. Otherwise they won’t. It’s that simple.
Also worth bearing in mind that with any paid for app or in app purchases, Apple will take a 30% cut.
If you publish a free app and send customers to your own ecommerce website to buy things there, you keep it all.
And consider this. Once people get to a product, iPad users are four times more likely to buy than an iPhone user and 99.9% as likely as a desktop user. Pretty compelling!
How do you want it to look?
If you’ve got brand guidelines, stick to them. If people know your brand, they’ll expect your app to look familiar. Having said that, an app is a new way for people to interact with you so you may be able to stretch your brand a little.
And, what a way to interact with your brand it is. Global shipments of tablets are expected to grow to 383.3 million units in 2017. Compared to 72.7 million in 2011 - that’s an increase of 427%.
Don’t feel like you have to stick to what you know.
The way people use an iPad – swiping, dragging, tapping - are all different from how they’d interact with anything else in your marketing toolbox…so take advantage of it. Just make sure it’s easy to use for the device.
Most importantly, an app can look amazing. It can do fantastic things but if it’s difficult or confusing to use, people won’t. They’ll either leave it on their iPad and never use it again or, worse yet, they’ll delete it. So remember, if your app looks great and it’s easy to use, they’ll use it.
Written by SynergyDigital – specialist iPad App Developers.