How To Have A Future-Proof Mobile Strategy For Your Business

by Vishal Gumber, founder of Appsquare

The world of mobility is changing at a rapid pace – from new devices to new technology, it is ever expanding in scope as adoption rates continue to climb. In 2014, most businesses have realized the need to adopt a mobile strategy, be it in the form of mobile apps, mobile marketing or even just having a mobile website.

But in a rapidly transforming technology space, how do you ensure that your business’s mobile strategy stay relevant not just today but also a couple of years from now?

Read on to know more about having a future-proof mobile strategy:

Choose a flexible platform for mobile app development.

When developing a mobile app for your business, it is vital to identify the right platform based on your requirements. Whether it’s native, hybrid or HTML5, find the right platform that provides seamless integration into your existing enterprise IT and security infrastructure.

Assess the strategic impact of the mobile app development initiative on your organization as a whole. A high level perspective will ensure that this project not only gives your business a high ROI, but will also help you find the best way to keep it relevant to the organization even in the future.

For instance, if your business requires a mobile app only for your employees and you have a standard mobile device policy that allows only for one kind of smartphone to be used enterprise-wide, a native mobile app makes most sense for you. On the other hand, for customer facing mobile apps where you have no idea what kind of mobile device your app users have, HTML5 apps are the most versatile option.

Focus on user experience.

A mobile app is a great way to stay engaged with your customers and users constantly – something even your website cannot achieve. However, when deciding to undertake mobile app development for your organization, pay attention to the overall user experience you wish to provide with the app.

A mobile app is a new technology and a new tool for engagement, and you can fill it with many features. However, assessing what kind of experience you wish your mobile app’s users to have will help you create the perfect product that they need, and not just something that looks cool.

A mobile app that is extremely functional and useful will stay relevant over a longer period of time than one that is overloaded with many features that are of no use to the users.

Remember, there’s more to engagement than a mobile app.

As a business, it’s important to note why you must never put all your eggs into one basket. Sure, mobile apps are the current trend all around the world. But that doesn’t mean you pour all your time, energy and money into developing the mobile app and reduce focus on other engagement channels like social media, websites, traditional marketing, etc.

Consider a mobile app as just one more way to keep your customers engaged with your business and not as the only way ahead. As technology changes rapidly, it’s important to not forget about conventional marketing tools even as you innovate and stay on top of current trends.

Allowing the mobile app to be just another channel of engagement provides you more opportunity to continuously reinvent and remain flexible about adopting newer and trendier engagement opportunities.

A mobile strategy that considers the above and is well planned is more future-ready and more valuable to your business. When embarking on mobile app development, strategic planning goes a long way in ensuring maximum success for your business.

Vishal Gumber is the founder of Appsquare, a Sydney-based mobile app development company that has created over 400 highly interactive and engaging mobile apps and games.