Marketers, for different companies, are today inundated with options of making their company reach out to the audience. The major task, however, is to make a selection of those platforms which fit into one’s budget and are effective in helping the company achieve its marketing goals. Two of the most compelling mediums, used lately, are mobile site and mobile app. Both of these run on the mobile platform and are intended to tap existing and prospective customers on the go.
Many marketers tend to confuse themselves in the selection. While both of these marketing tools differ in their deliverables, the selection shall depend on one’s objectives. Let’s unravel a few facts about the two to make the process of selection slightly simpler.
Mobile App- Let your customers fulfill their task
A mobile application is that marketing tool which helps your customers in fulfilling various tasks. Apps can be downloaded on their smart phones and can work with or without an access to the internet. Take an example of a restaurant. It can develop a mobile app to allow its customers to check out the menu, book a table or even make a home delivery order. On the other hand, a bank can float an application to assist its customers in depositing money or checking their balance through their mobile phones.
Mobile friendly site- A fusion of marketing and information providing
A mobile website is nothing but the mobile version of a company’s website. Like its desktop version, a mobile website also fulfils multiple objectives. Firstly, it provides information about the company, its products, latest happenings and much more to the existing and prospective customers. On the other hand, it can accommodate many ‘Call to Action’ buttons to encourage site visitors to take up the company’s services or buy its products. Moreover, it can also offer contact details of the company to the prospective customers.
Mobile Website and mobile App compared
TARGET AUDIENCE: We have already gauged that a mobile application is meant to help customers fulfil an objective. A mobile friendly site, on the other hand, can do much more. Hence, the target audience of the application is the existing customers of the company. On the other hand, a mobile site targets not only the existing customers but also the prospective customers and all other stakeholders of the company.
OBJECTIVE: The objective of a mobile app is to simplify customers’ interaction with the company and assist them in easily consummating mundane tasks. It also strives to escalate customer loyalty by keeping them satisfied. A website, on the other hand, aims to keep the visitors informed about various pertinent details and market company offerings. It is a face of the company.
REACH: In terms of the company’s reach, a mobile website will work better as it will also be discoverable on the search engines.
Therefore, depending upon your objective, you can decide to develop an application or a website for the mobiles. Ideally, a combination of the two works the best.
