TheAppsWorks

31/07/2013

Why an App rather than social media?
An App is not a silver bullet for all your marketing problems. It is a marketing tool which is appropriate for some businesses and not for others. It complements, rather than replaces, social media. Like all tools it needs to be used with intelligence and skill to do the job effectively.
Many businesses rely on social media such as Facebook and Twitter to reach customers. It's a great idea. What can an App do which these media cannot? What's the difference between them?
A customer invests very little by signing up to your group on social media or following you on FB. They probably follow a lot of businesses which they "quite like" and dip in and out. Your messages are competing with all the other things going on in these media. You can't be sure you have the customer's full attention.
Any messages you send on social media are general (unless you send a specific message to a specific user). They can't be targeted according to the geographic location of the customer or their behaviour. You don't know when they will be read.
You cannot run loyalty schemes from social media.
You've guessed it. An App fills in these gaps. You won't have as many people with your App as "like" you on FB, probably. But you with this smaller group you will have a far more intimate relationship. I sometimes think of a customer having an App as a bit like them choosing to have a store-card. It means, "I'm coming back to you because of the benefits I get from doing so."
Having your own App is also a huge brand statement. It says, "We've got confidence in our brand and we think we're good enough to have your loyalty."

31/07/2013

We should shortly have completed two new Apps, one for the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool and one for the Liverpool Comedy Festival which takes place later this year. I'm not joking. :-)

31/07/2013

The arrival of Mark Roberts as part of the team means we have enhanced programming and bespoking possibilities. We have developed a product called m-sign which allows delivery companies to take a signed proof of delivery on mobile platforms and removes the need for physical delivery notes. The company is notified immediately of any shortfalls in delivery and the signed POD is emailed to the customer, including a time, date and location stamp.

31/07/2013

The Appsworks has been quiet but busy recently. We are just about to publish the Bar Magazine on iPad and Android tablets as well as a "bar news" feed for phones. It is awaiting Apple approval now and should be live in early August.

10/03/2013

10% of SME's stated that their App was more important than their mobile site. 9% stated that the site was more important. 81% believed that both mobile site and App were equally important.

06/03/2013

We have been looking at the current mobile marketing efforts of some of the hair salons in and around Liverpool, using Google+Local to search for them.

The results are interesting...

Take up of the Google+Local free listing is not high. Most salons are simply not on there. But that's just the start of the troubles.

We've only found one salon which offers a good, mobile friendly website experience. Just ONE! Interestingly they are also highly active on social media.

Gold star for the anyone who can name the one salon in Liverpool which has got its mobile and social media strategy sorted out. :-)

06/03/2013

A recent survey of 500 US SME's which have both a mobile website and a mobile App came up with a surprising statistic. Measured in value of NEW business generated they claimed that 75% came from the App and just 25% from the website. Does it surprise you? It surprised me.

22/01/2013

Just a quick thank you to all of you who have taken time to notice and "like" the site. It is much appreciated.

14/01/2013