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In Defense Of The Iphone

Here’s a statistic to put in your cap: 74% of smartphone users actually like geo-location services.

Understand of course that geo-location services are different than location check-in services. With the latter, you log into your account at a location check-in service and let your friends know where you are. Then, anyone can find you – including that stalker you’re trying to avoid.

Location-based services that users like are those iPhone apps that ask you where you’re located so they can show you how to get from point A to point B. For instance, you want to find Happy K Supermarket and you’re at First and Third. The geo-locator on your phone will pinpoint your current location and show you how to get to where you want to go per your request.

So why is this distinction important?

Well, if you own a local business and you want people to find you on their smartphones, then you can include a geo-location feature in your app to help them when they want to find you.

Let’s say you own a flower shop in Ayrshire. If someone wants to buy flowers for their Mum on Mother’s Day and they don’t quite know where you are, then all they have to do is log into your app, search for the flowers they want to buy, then ask for your location. The geo-location feature will ask for permission to pinpoint their location. When they agree, they will get directions from their location to yours. You will make a quicker sale.

Without the geo-location feature in your iPhone app, it’s possible that the customer might get frustrated if you are hard to find and give up. In that case, one of your competitors will get the business.

How To Encourage Geolocation Marketing

More and more people these days are buying and using smartphones. You can use that to your advantage if you own a business in Scotland. Simply encourage those smartphone users to share your location with their friends.

It’s called geolocation and it exists in a number of ways.

Some social media services like Foursquare allow users to share their geolocation with their friends. Facebook also allows users to disclose their location with their friends when they make a post. Some iPhone apps do the same thing.

Mobile marketing has come a long way. If you own a bookstore in Scotland, or any other type of business, you can encourage your customers to give away your location using an iPhone geolocation app. Simply place QR codes around your store in visible locations and encourage your smartphone-using customers to share their geolocation with their friends. Then watch as new customers walk in your door every day.

Another way to encourage geolocation marketing by involving your customers is to hold an event. Make it a social event. Provide punch and cookies at the event. Then, display your QR code in prominent locations around the social area of your store and encourage your customers to share their geolocation using their favorite service.

A version of the above scenario includes developing your own iPhone app where customers can automatically notify their friends when they arrive at your store location. This would be an ideal way to promote all of your locations through one app. Hold an event like the social event suggested above and near the beginning of that event have everyone take out their iPhones and your app and share your geolocation at the same time. Call it a geolocation party.

Mobile Is The SMB Growth Sector

I love this infographic that shows how small businesses are gaining new business using mobile marketing.

This isn’t actually news to businesses that are doing it. But if you’ve considered mobile marketing and haven’t jumped in yet, check out these stats:

• 1 in 5 smartphone users who searched for a business on their phone made a purchase online
• Over half of them called the business they searched for
• 49% looked the business up on a map

I can’t think of any better reason to develop your own iPhone app and to participate in mobile marketing to reach new customers and to communicate with existing customers.

Of course there is more than one way to go about mobile marketing. iPhone app development is just one of those ways. You can also use SMS or you can make your website accessible to mobile phones. In fact, I would say that creating a mobile version of your website one of the most important tasks to accomplish to pursue your mobile marketing success.

When you consider that 61% of the businesses currently online are not promoting themselves through mobile search, that means you can get a leg up on the competition. By beating your competition to the mobile marketing race, you stand a much better chance of gaining a foothold where it is necessary to compete for tomorrow’s business.

iPhones and PPC

There’s more to the iPhone craze than app development, though app development certainly is remarkable. And profitable. In fact, it’s a lot more profitable if you can successfully promote your apps and drive up downloads. One of the ways that is possible is through PPC advertising.

So why would you spend money to entice people to download a free app?

Good question. So let me answer it.

Your iPhone app has the potential to keep your target market connected to your brand. If you develop an app that is useful, entertaining, informative, and practical, then people will use it. They could end up using it a lot. And that means they’ll see your brand all the time. There’s no better top-of-mind awareness than that.

A recent blog post on Marketing Pilgrim shows that mobile PPC is on the rise and is now responsible for 25% of PPC advertising. And this is just the beginning of the smartphone adventure.

Whilst tablet usage is popular, it’s still in its infancy stage. Most people have not even thought about using a tablet. And smartphones are just beginning to catch on.

So, what about ten years from now? By then we might very well live in a world where everyone has a smartphone, a tablet, or both. That’s why now is the perfect time to build your iPhone apps and start promoting them.

You don’t have to promote your iPhone apps through PPC, but there are some reasons for considering it. Think about your ROI. Mobile PPC ads are still cheap and if someone sees your ad on their smartphone they can download your app right then and there.

Convenience. It sells.

We could talk about promotions all day long, but the first step is to develop your app. Learn more about developing an iPhone app today.

Why iPhone Apps Are Powerful Marketing

I’m not just talking about iPhone apps here. I’m also talking about smart phone apps. All apps. That includes Android apps too. They’re pretty powerful marketing devices.

So why are iPhone apps such great marketing tools? Follow me.

• Mobile apps can lead customers right to your door with detailed directions right to your place of business.
• They include built-in social sharing features that can go viral within minutes.
• You can include an events calendar that updates in realtime letting app users know what is going on with your business by the minute.
• iPhone apps are awesome communications devices which allow you to inform your customers on all sorts of things going on with your business including sales, coupons you offer, and new merchandise for sale.
• You can brand your iPhone app from the inside out.
• iPhone apps are downloadable from the iTunes apps store, which is highly trafficked and very popular.

iPhone apps are powerful marketing tools that can be used for information, entertainment and a host of other business communications purposes. By giving your customers a way to interact with your business through their iPhones, which can include dynamic social features, you can keep them connected to your Scotland business 24/7.

We live in an age of mobile marketing. It’s here and it isn’t going anywhere. So learn everything you can about this new way of reaching customers and take your business to the next level. You’d be surprised at how cost effective iPhone apps can be for your business.

Convert Your iPhone App To Android

Do you know who iPhone’s biggest competitor is? Android. It’s got a huge market share and since it is open source a ton of non-Google companies have adopted it for various devices.

Technology gadgets that run on Android

Smartphones

• Acer
• Motorola
• LG
• Samsung
• Sony Ericsson
• HTC
• Alcatel
• Bluelans
• Dell
• General Mobile
• Huawei
• Lenovo
• Pantech
• ZTE

And that’s just to name a few. More and more smartphone manufacturers are beginning to adopt Android as their operating system because it is open source, easy to develop applications for, and popular the world over.

Tablet PCs
Android is also popular among the tablet computer market. Here are a few tablet manufacturers that have adopted Android as the chief operating system.

• Acer
• Archos
• Nook
• Dell
• enTourage
• Motorola Xoom
• Samsung Galaxy
• Sony
• Vizio

Again, that’s just a partial list. Many e-readers also use Android, including Nook, Nook Color, and Nook Simple Touch; enTourage; Alex; and PocketBook.

Android has also been adopted among several netbook manufacturers and portable media device makers.

For a full list of technology manufacturers that use Android, go to Wikipedia.

So My iPhone App Can Also Be An Android App?

If you have an awesome iPhone app that has grown popular among your niche audience, you can turn it into an Android app and reach an even bigger share of your market.

There are countless devices on the market that are using Android and more growing all the time. You can expand your market reach with Scotland and beyond if you take your existing iPhone app and convert it to Android. There is no reason to be confined to one operating system.

Is It Time To Go Mobile?

An interesting article in Marketing Pilgrim shares a few statistics about mobile phone usage. Here are some rich tidbits:

• 5.3 billion people worldwide use mobile phones
• 1 billion are smartphone users
• The average iPhone user spends only 45% of his time making voice calls
• 80% of newsletter signups from Facebook pages are on mobile phones
• Mobile search grew by 400% last year
• 1 in 3 mobile searches are local
• 79% of smartphone users use their phones for shopping
• 33% of mobile phone users who access websites through their mobile phones actually make a purchase
• Mobile apps have a higher usability success rate than traditional CSS websites and regular mobile websites

Wow. These are some pretty interesting statistics. But what do they say?

Here’s my interpretation: Smartphones and mobile apps are where it’s at. If you run a local business, particularly retail, then mobile marketing is becoming much more necessary. Mobile phone usage is growing and will likely continue to grow. Local businesses can’t ignore it any longer.

Chances are, your competition hasn’t caught on to the mobile marketing opportunity just yet. So you should get in before they do. Beat them to the punch.

You can get started with local mobile marketing with a simple iPhone app. Start small and work your way up to a full-fledged mobile website. If you already have a nice website that is gaining in popularity for local users, then consider offering a mobile version of it. You can springboard your iPhone app from your mobile website much easier.

One thing is for sure, local Scotland businesses can’t ignore mobile marketing any longer. The time is now.

iPhone App Development: The Most Important Principle

When it comes to developing iPhone apps, do you know the important principles? What should you be looking at in terms of development.

I’d say the most important iPhone app development principle to master is simplicity. You’re not building rocket ships. You’re marketing your business and making a product that is useful to your clients and potential clients. But you want it to be something they will use and value. That takes simplicity in thinking.

In other words, I’m not talking about making it elementary to the point that you target preschool-age children. I’m just saying make it simple to use. That might actually mean the code is rather complex.

Users don’t want to have to read a 500-page manual just to be able to use an iPhone app. They want to download the app and start using it right away so you should make sure that your app is simple to use and intuitive for the end user. If it requires a PhD to be able to use on a daily basis, then users will abandon your app and go on to something else.

So I’d say the most important principle in developing an iPhone app for your target market is to make it simple.

5 Reasons An iPhone App Can Boost Your Business

An iPhone app is an interesting tool. It doesn’t sit on your website or do anything in particular that involves your website unless you program it to. But it can still be a useful tool for your business in a number of powerful ways. Here are 5 reasons you need an iPhone app and how you can use one to boost your business.

1. Branding. An iPhone app is a useful branding tool. Every time one of your users logs into the app they will see your company logo and it works as a top-of-mind awareness tool that you can use to build your brand.
2. Traffic. An iPhone app can be used to drive new and repeat traffic to your website daily.
3. Sales. Many iPhone apps result in an increase in sales for their companies. Your business could see an increase in conversions through an integrative iPhone app.
4. Mobile delivery. If you sell e-products or do business that requires mobile computing, an iPhone app is an essential tool for your business. Increase your branding, traffic, and sales through an iPhone app with mobile delivery.
5. Anywhere any time connection. With an iPhone app, your customers and prospects will be able to connect with you no matter where they are or what time it is.

So now that you have plenty of reasons to have one, why not see how you can move into development phase for your very own iPhone app?

iPhone Apps Are A 21st Century Opportunity

iPhone apps have become a big opportunity for a lot of websites and a lot of businesses. In some niches, they are more favorable than videos.

ASM Development has taken on a few clients for iPhone app development and overall it has been a positive process – for us and for our clients. We invite you to take a look at a few of our apps right now. These include:

• Homesure Properties – Lists all the rental and sale properties for this real estate broker. Updates are forthcoming.
• Glencoe Mountain App – Get instant snow reports from Glencoe Mountain, weather information, and a map of the mountain. Other features for skiiers and snowboarders are available as well.
• Animal Splat – A fun game app for preschoolers. It doesn’t all have to be about business, does it?

We encourage you to download these apps and see our style. Got an idea for your own iPhone app? Let us know. We can help you move your company into the 21st century with your very own iPhone app and mobile marketing strategy.

Don’t sit on the sidelines watching everyone else succeed. Your Ayrshire or Scotland business can be on the go and you can be in the know. Get an iPhone app today.