The challenge nowadays is widening the customer base especially now that communicating and interacting with them transcends across different platforms. Smartphones and tablets are part of these platforms.

Businesses can benefit from mobile applications. From the productivity app for salespeople to the CRM and other attribution platforms, they are various ways to integrate mobile apps into the business process. Here are some benefits of having an app or two in the business.

Mobile apps for businesses speak simplicity.

After the mobile business app is configured and ready to download on mobile phones, existing customers will have have a chance to gain news, updates, and company policy. They also have access to exclusive products and services because the brand uses the app to have a deeper connection with its customers.

Having an app is a form of marketing as it lures prospective clients. Downloading the app entails interaction. The apps allow new customers and consumers to explore what the business can offer.

Hence, the app must be easy to navigate. Prospects must be able to have a full experience on the site or app without too many distractions. It’s easy for any person to discard the app if it isn’t user-friendly. It only takes five seconds for an individual to veer away from the screen.

Mobile business apps convey convenience.

Convenience works in both ways, that is, for the business and the customers. Business apps become a lucrative profit stream when those who download it conduct their affairs on it.

On the other end, prospects will only download the app if they think it contains the information that he or she needs. Content is still king even on the mobile platform. Therefore, businesses have to be very particular with the information presented on the apps.

Mobile apps manifests directness.

A business mobile app will tell you what to do, how to do it, and why you should do it. Okay, these may be common sense, but it is always a welcome idea that a business mobile application can actually remind the customers of the newest items in the store, retail branches, sale dates, etc. These are all possible with just a tap on the screen. Can you imagine how many people will come rushing to your store when your business mobile application reminds them of a ‘buy one pair of shoes and take 1 for free in 12 hours?’

Mobile apps for businesses display diversity.

A mobile application proves to be an effective marketing avenue. Based on a recent study, mobile messages are more successful than email messages regarding open rate. The latter has 22% success rate while the former has 98% success rate, which means that mobile platform can grow the business faster than email platform. Not to mention, companies can take advantage of such by sending promotions-based mobile messages. For instance, the message may contain information on a recent promotion with downloadable voucher or gift certificate redeemable at the physical store.

Mobile apps for businesses can attract, convert and retain customers. The benefits above are proof to the value-added of mobile applications. As more people are tuning into their smartphones for their social activities, mobile apps become a profitable venture for companies.

These apps must have clarity, simplicity, and convenience. They must provide ease to end users and information to its stakeholders. When all of these are present in the app, the only thing left to do is to wait for prospective clients and customers to get attached to the bait.

The post Why Businesses Win With Mobile Apps appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

Staying productive at work is never an option. It is a must. It’s what keeps us doing tasks at our best by using our time wisely. It’s different from being busy, though they’re more often used interchangeably.

There are so many techniques and strategies that one can learn from various experts in different fields, but the gist of it all is how one can finish something up in a particular span of time. Over the years, technology experts have conducted studies on how to use advanced tools to support employees at work. Thus, the birth of mobile apps and software a lot of us use nowadays to automate our business process.

Despite the varied options we have, there are still a lot of professionals who continually struggle in the tools’ usage. Today, we’ve consolidated the most common functions one can enjoy from these tools (specifically the apps), and how you can make the best out of them.

Collect tasks

Most, if not all, productivity tools work on the assumption that you can’t get started with any job in the absence of a ‘task list.’ This list doesn’t need to be scheduled but covers all the things you expect to accomplish in the next days or weeks.

Decide or suggest the next steps

After you’ve consolidated a particular lineup of things to accomplish, most productivity tools then give suggestions on how to achieve these things or which should come first. Of course, they can vary on the style, and some may even offer options to disable the suggestion feature. Generally, though, it helps users save time in having to deal with

Organize things into categories

How else can tasks be efficiently organized than by arranging them into categories? This is exactly why some productivity tools allow users to create individual folders that represent a particular category and can contain different tasks you have for the whole week.

Generate a doable to-do list

While you can control the things you want to accomplish at a specific timeline, some tools save you the hassle by creating a to-do list out of those things you have listed on the app or software. Unless you explicitly program the tool so that you will have full control over the list, some competent tools are capable of creating to-do lists based on your priorities.

How can professionals maximize the apps’ usage?

First off, you need to understand that not all apps will fit your preference. There are tools which might be equipped with all the functions you need, but don’t have that user-friendly interface you expect.

To experience the change and benefit these tools can give you, it’s best to keep in mind the following:

• Limit your options to two or three. Meaning, choose the best three out of all the potential picks.
• Stick to those with a user-friendly interface. Do away with apps that have complex navigation and functions.
• Explore the features accompanying both the free and premium versions. Some apps may be free but doesn’t give you access to more advanced features unless you pay them. Others allow few premium features to be used even in their free versions. Make sure you have explored your options first before paying for anything.

No one is entirely exempted when it comes to experiencing those random downtime at work, and items like the productivity apps for salespeople are created to help us lighten the burden of ever-growing ‘to-do’ lists.

Identify your needs, be specific in the areas of work you’re having a hard time at and choose the best tools to help you manage your time well!

The post 4 Things Most Productivity Apps Do and How to Make the Best out of them appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

The situation leading to the update

Reaching people at the mobile device level has a solid foundation. According to Facebook, mobile app developers had already witnessed immense success with the social giant’s mobile app ads. The main reason? Facebook is highly capable of targeting mobile app ads precisely. Facebook even reasons high quality installs and engagements are only possible through “reaching the right people with the most relevant messages.”

This leads to enhancing the mobile targeting services specifically for app developers. Any developer would be able to reach mobile device users based on the specific device they use. Apart from the platform, that is iOS and Android, it is now possible to target based on device such as Apple, Samsung and HTC whether the use is on Wi-Fi or not. This was not possible before since mobile targets are limited on either Android or iOS and minimum OS versions and Wi-Fi-only users.

Benefits of mobile app ad device targeting

Along with the announcement, Facebook listed some of the benefits of the new feature.

1) Generating app insights at the device level

Facebook allows the developers to identify which devices will work best for the app through its App Insights, so the developers may target these devices. If the app is specifically made for iPhone 5S, it will be possible to target only those iPhone 5S users.

2) Eliminating wasted app marketing spend

Facebook also allows for filtering out the devices that are no longer compatible with the app, reaching optimal device-app balance. This also means reducing development time since the developer only needs to build apps to devices which they think best suit the app.

3) Gaining greater return on investment (ROI)

Facebook made it in such a way developers may reach the most number of relevant users. These are the people who can find the app and appreciate the compatibility of the app to the device they currently use. Facebook optimizes bids since developers and app marketers may bid per device separately.

The article dares to add another benefit which is creating more device-targeted apps. Not all developers make apps to market and sell them through Facebook. Given the opportunity though, developers may slightly reverse the development process by deciding which device to target first prior to developing a mobile app. This means you can only target the app development based on the most number of Facebook users who own such device. Device selection will be a fundamental part of the process.

Some restraints according to Facebook

Facebook goes on to caution, however, that the developers should not go too narrow with their audience. For instance, they can choose to develop mobile apps suitable for all iPhone users regardless of the device model they are using now. Facebook provides an option to target all iPhones and all iPads, for instance. In-depth understanding of Facebook’s mobile device targeting option is a must therefore.

When marketing the mobile app on Facebook, the developers should also customize the ad in a manner that it will resonate with the target audience. For example, Facebook mentions there is no need to create an ad for all devices. Bundling the group is possible. Also, the rule of thumb is targeting an estimated size of 500,000 users at best for an ad.

In sum, Facebook is giving all developers worldwide an opportunity to create mobile apps that device users will find value in. Such an opportunity also creates several benefits that highlight obtaining greater returns. Developing an app is no joke, and unless you cannot recuperate the investment (other than creating it for fun) in developing one, it is pointless to create an app in the first place. Grab the opportunity!

Source: Facebook | Search Engine Journal | Simon Blog | Be Tuned Solutions

The post Facebook Now Targets Users Based on Device Used appeared first on Internet Marketing Reach.

The problem with businesses today especially startups and small businesses, however, is taking matters on their own hands, building a mobile application through free platforms online. In the end, they themselves discover several issues along with the platform used and the apps itself.

These issues might have not materialized if the business chose the right platform for its app and the right app development team right from the start. Web designers and developers are equipped with the appropriate tools. They also have access to the most efficient platforms, two of the widely-used are:

1) Content management framework

These frameworks are much like content management systems albeit being more flexible. The frameworks provide essential mechanisms for app developers to expand the app’s functionalities. Examples of these frameworks are Drupal and WordPress 3.

2) Web application framework

These frameworks are more flexible than content management frameworks, and the apps developed through these frameworks can have more functionalities and better performance. The frameworks are codes-based which means only the experts can use them to develop custom app development. Web app frameworks are actually designed to enable quick application development even those performant apps. ‘Performant apps’ is a term that Microsofties create to excellently performing applications. Examples of these frameworks are Ruby, Cake, Zend and CodeIgniter. Evidently most web app frameworks are PHP.

Important factors to consider

In developing an app, visions are changed into initiatives which are then changed into digital success. Choosing the most suitable platform doesn’t deviate much from buying a house or car. Due to profound ramifications, businesses cannot afford to waste resources by taking these essential factors into account.

Platforms supported

A crucial step in understanding the mobile usage of your target market may be required. Are they more into Android or not? Are they using Apple, Blackberry or windows phone? Are they using smartphones or tablets? The answers to these questions will be at the frontline of business-based app development.

Resources and tools used

For complex apps, template-based platforms are a no-no. The goal is creating apps as quickly and cost-efficient as possible for Objective-C and Java, among other coding languages. Remember that app development, management and update can be a costly endeavor. Crucially, the app platform can put forth resources that offer the most versatility and code reusability and thereby much better cost-effectiveness.

Cloud scalability

Crashes are unavoidable especially with dense traffic. Such a problem can be addressed by cloud servers. Eventually, the apps will get more traffic. The more users are using the app, the more the app may croak. App development platforms offering cloud scalability can certainly adapt to your business growth.

Analytics integration

Monitoring, analyzing and tracking app usage is critical so you’d know where the application is headed. Customized tracking, for one, gives any business distinct advantages in gathering useful information that can be transformed into valuable business insights. These can improve the results of app-specific usage as well as the operation in general.

White label solutions

Leveraging resources of the platform is also critical. App features matter in a way that the platform must be mature enough so it may handle different aspects of the app lifecycle. Fortunately, we no longer have to deal with merely buying a product that lacks post-purchase support.

In the digital era wherein businesses are given the choice of the right tools to use given the unique circumstances, making a mistake is unnecessary. A business that is in the process of choosing the right platform for its own application must not lose sight of these important factors. These are the basics that can guide you in making an informed decision.

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