Over the last year or two there has been a flood of apps appearing for everything from content delivery to music instruments, building tools, games, weather apps, calculators, e-commerce and of course social media.

However much kudos you might get from saying you have one, apps can be challenging to produce so they should make sense for your particular business. If your market is going to be looking for your product while out in 'the real world' and/or you can make use of mobile devices core capability (such as GPS) to add value, then it might be worth it.

For example:

• Entertainment – think trailers, show times and reviews
• Recreation – rain forecasters, wind metres, tour and event schedules, ticket purchasing, locations and maps
• Travel – maps and schedules, organisers, location guides
• Sport – exercise monitors, food diaries and community building/social apps
• General business Apps – event timetables, financial management tools and calculators and of course shopping apps

Mobile Apps are harder to develop and test (than a website) due to the multitude of device manufacturers and the increasing number of operating systems – iOS, Android and Windows Mobile - all which have different technical specs and interfaces.

You could decide to develop an App just for the iPhone, but Android powered devices actually outnumber iPhones by 3 to 1. (source)

And Apps are costly to develop – think tens of thousands of dollars to start. This is why you have to think about whether you will get a return on this investment

Pros:

• If it solves a problem for your customer and leverages it's unique characteristics, it can encourage loyalty and drive revenue
• Being smaller and lighter, it can be faster than a responsive designed website (no extra code to load) – handy if bandwidth and speed are an issue

Cons:

• Can be a costly waste of time and resources if not relevant to your business or your customers needs
• Could alienate non-smart phone users if you get distracted from optimising your desktop experience

Thinking about it?

Think beyond gimmicky marketing Apps and ask yourself what is going to be useful for your customers.

Talk to a specialist App developer – preferably one that has expertise across platforms and can show you previous work that has been a success in a relevant (if not the same) industry

We asked "How is someone supposed to scan a moving vehicle?"

Ok, we could do it when they stop – like when they're parked in a carpark. Yes, carparks have lots of targeted foot traffic don't they? And why would we scan it – just because it's there? I think not.

In case you've been wondering and don't know, QR code is a Quick Response code. They contain information a bit like a barcode, but usually the information is a destination. Scanning the square of seeming meaningless squiggles using a QR code reader on your mobile device will result in a visit to a website or app with (ideally) targeted content relevant to where the code was published.

QR code mistakes

Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Here are some surprisingly common mistakes:

1. Assuming people know what a QR code is and want to interact with them
2. Assuming everyone has a smartphone with a QR Code reader, and not including the actual URL for those that don't
3. Not telling people what to do. You don't have buttons on your website that just say 'click', so in the same way tell people what to do with the QR code and why, such as "Scan here to buy" or San for special deals".
4. Not having a dedicated, mobile optimised landing page. You are wasting people's time if you send them to the front page of your site after following your instruction to 'Scan to find out more'
5. Putting a QR code on everything from brochures to product packaging – including places where they can't be scanned like moving objects, clothing and signs above chest height. This article gives some prime examples that just leaving you asking – why?.  We saw another prime example driving down the motorway - a QR sign on a billboard. If using my cellphone while driving wasn't illegal I would have taken a photo.
6. Doing it just because you can. Don't be a show-off, if you don't need to do it, don't. If it is just going to add another step or complicate a task that could have been accomplished by listing the information, then don't do it.

Good uses of QR codes

QR codes used in the right way of course can be powerful. Providing more context specific information than you can fit within limited space and making it easy for people to access.

If you're going to invest in creating a QR code, use it to provide something valuable and unique like an exclusive discount or special offer, location specific information, a free download, etc. There has to be a "why" otherwise you're going to have a frustrated customer who, having taken the time to scan your QR code, finds it has wasted their time.

Some scenarios where QR codes would be useful:

• On business cards – to direct people to more information, such as your resume or an exclusive offer
• On print information, use the QR code to provide people with more detailed information, thus reducing the size (and cost) of the print ad
• In museums, art galleries and tourist information boards – to provide a lot more context sensitive information – ie that relates to that specific piece or place.
• On wine bottles – do you try and scribble down the name of a wine you've particularly enjoyed? Scan the QR code to find more information about the label and the wine, bookmarking it for future reference.
• On advertising – signs, posters and billboards. Scanning a QR code could take someone directly to a web page or app that allows them to book, buy or order the product or service on offer. Good for Real Estate agents who can provide additional details of the property in question.

If you are thinking about QR codes for your business, the guidelines about what to do are pretty much the opposite of the mistakes listed above:

• Start with a plan with desired, measurable outcomes
• Develop the creative with a purpose and a clear call to action with your code
• Develop a landing page in response to EACH QR code
• Think carefully about placement

For some interesting examples of use or QR codes Check these out

Have you implemented a successful QR Code campaign for your business or your client?  We'd love to hear about it and can profile it here!

A mobile-friendly website is one that is easy to use on a smartphone or tablet. Easy for many people means not having to struggle with tiny text. Pinching and resizing text, and trying to use navigation designed to be read on a PC sized screen in not fun.

But it can mean so much more than that.

First - why would you want to have a mobile friendly website?

The use of mobile devices – smart phones and tablets - is growing. Smartphone use in New Zealand is at 44% of households and not showing any sign of slowing. As more people access the web when and from where they want to using iPads, mini tablets and smartphones, the need to accommodate them will become more pressing. 

People will demand an optimal experience regardless of how they are accessing your business information and services.  They want it made easy to find your contact information, book an event, buy a ticket or product. If not they'll go somewhere else.

The challenge of using a smartphone to access information on a website that is not mobile friendly came home to me when I had to access the Civil Defense website from a west coast beach on my phone with it's tiny 3.2 inch screen.  If it had been a real emergency, the website would have been no help whatsoever as I struggled to read and navigate through waaayyy too much information.  All I wanted to know was whether that was a real Tsunami warning, or just a drill.  (Fortunately, just a drill!)

So there are two main ways to go if you want your site to be mobile friendly. Each has their pros and cons:

1. A dedicated mobile website.

This is a separate version of your website that visitors are redirected to if they access your site via a mobile device. The site is specifically designed for small screens so it minimises the amount of content in a clean, uncluttered manner.  And it is very focused on providing you a way to do the things you would typically want to do via a mobile.  If relevant, it will help you along by using GPS location information.

Pros

• Built for smaller screens and touch screen devices so generally easier to use
• Easy and quicker to develop
• Can focus on the specific needs of a user in the mobile context
• Can build a mobile site without redesigning your existing desktop site

Cons

• There is no standard screen size for mobile devices so may still not deliver an optimum experience (a minor point)
• Maintenance costs can be higher because you have two websites with dedicated content to look after
• SEO efforts have to be increased to cature for having two sites
• Two sources of visitor analytics data need to be consolidated
• Reportedly, problems with device detection can led mobile users to the full site and vis-versa

2. Responsive design

Responsive design means the layout of a web page based is on the size of the users viewing area that the site detects. So it's the same or similar content, but organised differently.

When building a responsive site you have to test every page at the different device resolutions and make decisions about each piece of content and whether it's relevant and usable for that context.

It's not about going minimal and limiting the text on your pages.  Content is essential for SEO, establishing thought leadership, providing add-value information, reducing customer enquiries etc.

Pros

• Single source of content makes it much easier to maintain
• All content can be made available to a user if they want it. So the experience they have is similar regardless of which one of their devices they are using at the time.
• Design is flexible to respond to a range of screen sizes including laptops and TV browsers
• All content can be leveraged for SEO purposes – a single url for all pages makes it easier to share and link back to .

Cons

• The need to consider all device configurations can actually led to a poorer user experience as compromises are made to fit all scenarios.
• The code overhead (the whole site is downloaded regardless) can cause problems on a device with a slow mobile internet connection, particularly with complex functionality and/or long pages and large file sizes
• It is more expensive as the whole process is more complex.  There is more decision making and testing required. Purchasing a template that is already responsive and working within it's structure can save time/money and the top template developers for systems like Joomla! and Wordpress are offering very nice responsive designs.
• A longer more complicated design process can leave business owners struggling. Liquid layouts were all the rage a few years back until developers realised how difficult they were in the real world of client provided content.

Responsive design is a great choice when the only defining factor is the users device – in other words both desktop and mobile device users are trying to do the same thing and want the same content.
A separate mobile site will enable a more focused solution and acknowledges that mobile is not just a subset of the traditional web, taking into account where the user is and what they are doing, as well as mobile enabled functionality like GPS.

Which one to choose?

It may come down to resources, as the responsive design option is more time and resource intensive and potentially more costly. Ultimately think about your audience and what will better suit their needs.

Generally speaking, a responsive design is more flexible in that it's catering to a wider range of user scenarios.  We are seeing websites that are responsive but that have had corners cut.  They look nice on a smartphone but just get bigger on a PC without adding anything.  It means very limited rich content for those accessing the site  with plenty of screen space.

Look at your website statistics - how many people are using mobile devices, in particular smartphones to access your website?  If it's only 3% should you be making that investment now? Or should you work on your strategy before leaping in?  If it's 20% the need might be more urgent.

Also look at browser use, as not all browsers support the technology needed to make responsive design work.  If a large portion of your audience is using Internet Explorer 8 or lower, you need to think about a design that degrades gracefully (which means it doesn't fall in a screaming heap of gibberish code, but kinda-almost works, just without a few of the flashier elements).

If you want to read a side-by-side comparison, Smashing Magazine does an excellent comparison of the US presidential campaign: Presidential Smackdown

Website Magazine published an article 'Responsive Design: Not so Simple' with a mobile site developers perspective.  It was interesting to read the commentators that disagreed with the sentiments, although I think some of them missed the point - responsive design is not a bad option, but it is hard to perfect. 

1. Treating desktop and mobile users the same.

Mobile marketing works best when you take a different approach and provide shorter, more focused content that takes into account the context in which the mobile visitor is in. The mobile version of your website should be more than just a shrunken version of your desktop.

2. Failing to consider what's different

Failing to take into account the limitations of mobile devices such as:

• bandwidth limits
• small screens
• no mouse
• no printer
• no hover ability.
• Fingers are a blunt instrument so links and buttons too close together will lead to frustration as the wrong one is clicked on.
• Forms are hard,so don't ask for a lot of information to be typed (or more correctly pecked) into your order or registration forms.
• And just because everyone has a mobile device, remember it's not the same device.

3. Failing to consider what they can do

Conversely, failing to take advantage of mobile devices capabilities.  In particular the location awareness ability and the increased likelihood that the user is looking for instant gratification.  Whether it is to find out a departure time, a handy cafe or to buy something - they want it then and there.

Calls to action and ways to help them achieve these goals are a must.

4. Not optimising your website for mobile

Having your QR code, app or mobile ad link to the desktop version of your website (either due to lack of planning or lack of a mobile version of your site) is a mistake.

The visitor is on a mobile device – they don't want to struggle their way around a full-screen website, scrolling forever to find what they want, after waiting for what seems like forever for the page to load. Even worse if your site uses a lot of Flash, as this won't work on most mobile devices.

5. Jumping too quickly onto the mobile marketing bandwagon.

There is a lot of advice about how your website should be optimised for the mobile user, how you should be targeting Adwords etc.

But don't jump in and start developing an app or launch into a responsive re-design of your site without knowing what approach you are going to take and why.

What percentage of your market accesses your services via mobile device? For us (as an example) only 3% of visits over the last 6 months have been via a smartphone, and this is not that different from many of our client's websites, who are predominantly service based businesses.

Mobile has more advantages for some industries than others, so think what is going to best achieve your objectives by meeting the needs of your audience.

6. Buying into QR code mania

QR codes get a special mention in this post QR Codes – when they work, and what mistakes to avoid

And the rest

There are many others, including not promoting your mobile offer, failing to test and forgetting about privacy and security.

Mobile marketing is everywhere and you could miss out on some huge opportunities if you aren't or don't embrace this channel, so don't let this list stop you doing it, particularly if it makes sense for your industry. 

Just don't jump straight into the execution without a plan that includes what, why, how and when.