Keeping track of the mobile space is a full-time job in and of itself. Between new smartphones and tablets, smartwatches, and the incrediblespeed at which consumers are moving from desktops and laptops to mobile devices, it’s a major challenge.
It’s hard to believe that Apple’s App Store has been up and running for seven years now, and smartphones continue to become faster, addicting, and ubiquitous, influencing the technology all around us. Keeping up with operating system updates, new mobile gadgetry, and other innovations is all part of the job of overseeing a mobile company.
But jācapps’ COO Bob Kernen is up to the task. He’s armed with new data and a fresh perspective about the changing mobile ecosystem. And in today’s guest post, he provides suggestions about the best ways in which stations can optimize their mobile efforts.
It’s a good read, so enjoy. – FJ
As we begin the pigskin season, our attention shifts to the gridiron and away from baseball (especially if you live here in Detroit). And our post today features a very lopsided score. Except it’s not about the Lions, the Bears, or the Packers – it’s about mobile.
For the past four years as consumer time spent on mobile has grown steadily, so has the gap between usage on the mobile web versus usage on mobile apps.
Unlike desktops, where the paradigm from day one was “surfing the web” via a browser, on the smaller screens of smartphones and tabelts, the app has reigned supreme. Of course, as a guy who spends all day thinking about apps, I may be a bit biased, but this post isn’t some sort of end zone dance.
Americans simply love the seamless, simple, and direct path to content of firing up an app. Like Pavlov’s dog, there’s an expectation that the push of a button – or icon – delivers a dependable reward or a result.
As VC and entrepreneur David Pakman stated in that recent article on Medium.com, “The idea that the mobile web is a credible channel through which to reach consumers is largely disproven at this point.” The scoreboard doesn’t lie, and at the end of the game, these are the only metrics that truly matter.
Pakman notes that consumer attention is splintering into more and smaller bites every day. We’ve all seen the stats that show how everything from YouTube to social media to streaming services to satellite radio have taken a bite out of broadcast media.
Knowing that, and acknowledging that an overwhelming majority of consumer smartphone time is spent on apps, why would any brand risk relying on consumers “finding them?” Every other media option is actively seeking that consumer. Asking them to find you, by making them open a mobile browser and type in a URL, is inefficient and is at cross purposes with consumer behavior.
So your app now becomes a crucial conduit between you, your brand, and your audience. Make sure it’s more than just a listening tool. In that spirit, some mobile thoughts:
- Don’t forget about everything else they’re engaged with … and take the opportunity to leverage it. Draw your audience’s experience on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest into your programming.
- Use push messaging to remind listeners about what your station is up to. Be sure to push relevant, contextualized messages that bring value to your audience.
- Provide them with pathways to communicate back to you. One of Pakman’s key points is that media is now a two-way street, and people have embraced it as a “platform for self-expression.” They don’t just want to consume. They want to contribute and participate. So give them ways to do, such as a feature we call “Open Mic” that allows mobile app users to seamlessly record and send a high-quality audio message (a shout-out, trivia answer, or anything else) directly to the station.
- Help them access the content they want from you…when they want it. Offer key shows “on-demand” as podcasts.
Each of these mobile tools is a way to make your app more relevant, thus providing value and entertainment to your listeners in exchange for that precious real estate they gave you when they installed your app on their precious mobile desktop.
And by the way, there’s never anything wrong with running up the score.
Thanks to Reid Jacobs for his visual artistry.
Bob is a seasoned entrepreneur and startup specialist, but has also worked for major media brands including Martha Stewart, A&E Television, Hearst and Microsoft. Throughout these experiences Bob’s focus has been on new product development around emerging platforms with an emphasis on user experience and monetization.
At jācapps Bob oversees strategy and operations for the company that has produced over 1200 apps, which have been downloaded over 25 million times.
Bob is also an Emmy Award-winning writer and published author.He has a BA (Cinema-Television) from the University of Southern California.
- 7 Lessons We’ve Learned From Developing 1,300 Mobile Apps - February 5, 2020
- Mobile Christmas & Appy Chanukah Wishes - December 13, 2016
- Apple CarPlay and Android Auto In The Wild - August 31, 2016
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