Are You Reaching Your Mobile Market?

Mobile marketing is a worthwhile marketing investment – with 74.6 million people using smartphones in the US, the audience is ready and waiting for engaging and inspiring native apps. Not only must apps delight, they must be cross-platform. According to the latest figures released by Score.com, Apple claims a solid 26% of smartphone users, while Android owns 36.4% and RIM is creeping up with 25.7% of users. Brands need to reach all platforms to reach all audiences.

Who’s Missing Out?

Facebook and Starbucks have both enjoyed success in the mobile marketing arena. Facebook has released native apps for iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android, and Starbucks has created the Starbucks Card mobile app for iPhone and BlackBerry users. But both companies are missing some key audiences.

Facebook has thus far ignored the iPad audience. They are losing hundreds of thousands of downloads, and more pressingly, as more and more un-endorsed apps are created and marketed, Facebook risks the brand’s reputation. Starbucks, on the other hand, is neglecting the Android market. One former employee has built an unofficial “My Coffee Card” app for Android, which has recorded more than 160,000 downloads, but just as with Facebook, this is an un-endorsed app, and Starbucks is not getting the proceeds.

The MEAP Solution

Building an app for one OS at a time is comparable to doing your laundry one piece of clothing at a time. Don’t waste time, money, and resources building an app for each individual OS; use a mobile application development platform, (MEAP) to build native apps for all of the leading mobile operating systems. Starbucks and Facebook are solid brands, and they could improve their profits by creating cross-platform apps. How much more so could your company gain?

 

What other brands are ignoring a segment of the mobile market by not supporting all of the leading devices?