Christmas Away From Home

Merry Christmas! This is my first Christmas away from home and I miss a lot of things. Christmas here is not as warm as the ones I have spent with my loved ones in the Philippines. I wish I was back home where I can feel the love of family and friends. Where we would usually spend Christmas with a big feast and I get to buy gifts for my family and my godchildren. I miss going to Christmas mass with them too.

Christmas here in America is more about commercial value where kids are made to believe that Santa Claus is real, instead of reminding them that Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. That really makes me sad.

Christmas is also winter time here. However, I have not seen any snow, only frost and it has really been very cold. I miss having lechon during Christmas! Just glad my aunt and uncle are nearby (45 minutes away). They are my only family here. Before I forget, I also went ice skating for the first time. It was really difficult trying to make sure I don't fall on my butt. All I did was go around the rink while holding on the rails most of the time. That ice is very hard and it would surely hurt if I fell on it!

I am looking forward to spending Christmas next year with the whole family. My brother Mark and I have already agreed that we will both spend Christmas in the Philippines in 2012. It will be exciting to finally meet my niece Ysabelle for the first time. I am so looking forward to that day. Read full post...

iPhone and Android Application Developers Face the Challenge of Retaining Users

There is no question about it, Apple and Google are fighting it out in the mobile world. Apple has their own loyal followers and so does Google for their Droid OS. Apple users have their iPads and iPhones, while Android fans have a wide variety of choices with the several Droid ready phones from Motorola, HTC, Samsung, Sony, etc.

What makes Apple and Google appealing to phone users are the tons of applications, both for free and for a fee, that are available in the market. A phone user can download games, maps, music, books, product presentation software, etc. Name it and you would be surprised to know they have it in the market. These applications are developed by entrepreneurial minds hoping to capture their own audience in the market. Looking at the growing number of applications available in the Apple and Android markets from the time the first Apple and Android phones were introduced to the market, and the fact that more and more people are buying Apple and Android phones, it is not surprising that the numbers will continue to grow higher.

This indicates that there is a high demand for these applications. Although Apple is in the lead with the number of applications available in its market, the Android market is not far behind. It is without question that free applications are the ones that get the most downloads. Aside from cost, most users would look into user reviews before they decide whether to download an application or not. Paid applications also appeal to users, especially if it is highly recommended by a friend.

Then again, what happens to paid applications which are not often highly recommended? Do users ever get a chance to discover and use them? Fortunately they do. However, these developers need to employ a marketing strategy, and it would usually be costly. Aside from being costly, chances are they do not really reach their target audience for the particular application.

A problem these applications face is user retention. It is so easy to download and install these applications on one’s phone. The question is whether the user would continue to use the said application after first use, or would the user decide to uninstall the application after a few months , weeks, or days. It totally depends on the user. Some simply uninstall it because it was not the type of application they were looking for, it may be too difficult to use, or they simply want to free up space on their phone after a few months and the application they want to uninstall is one that they do not use often.

Since there are several application developers out there hoping to catch their own market, it is unavoidable that certain applications may have similarities. As to which amongst the application a user would choose to download, it totally depends on what the application has to offer. Although there may be similarities, each application has its own unique features which would make it stand out from the rest.

This is why the job of a mobile application developers never end. They continuously find ways to upgrade their stuff with the hope of offering a better experience for the users of the application. Constant software upgrade can actually help application developers with their problem of retaining users. Some upgrades fix bugs that users often encounter, especially when the OS is upgraded from time to time. Software problems or bugs can also be pinpointed as major reasons why some application users stop using a certain application that they have downloaded. There are just too many applications in the market today, and sticking to a problematic application is just a big waste of time.

For those of you who may think that the most challenging task for an application developer is coming up with a brilliant idea for an application, think again. Bringing traffic to their application after users have downloaded it is actually the most difficult part. They need to know how to market their product for retention purposes. When you think of it, it is actually more difficult to do retention marketing than marketing your application to first time users.

The best way for these developers to somehow succeed with retaining their users is to get data about their existing application users. Demographic data which will help them solve the problem by employing the right marketing strategy based on the data gathered and get their users to continue using their application and most likely recommend it to their friends. Read full post...

The Mobile Marketing Bandwagon

Sponsored audio broadcasts and commercial advertisements came into popular light not long after radio and television were introduced as electronic vehicles for social media. Recent technology introduced devices now commonly found in homes and workplaces such as computers, laptops, and mobiles which added to the extensive range of electronic means for conducting business. The most recent trend in the corporate world makes use of handheld communication devices and is well known as mobile marketing. The cause that spurred its growth is the reality that there are a large number of current mobile subscribers in the world. It was only a matter of time before business advertising jumped on the mobile marketing bandwagon. There are many factors why mobile marketing is gaining popularity and attracting growing support from several organizations.

Although there are only a few companies at present that have a mobile marketing business strategy, the numbers are increasing and information about this marketing tool is flourishing. Research reveals that just over a quarter of companies currently have mobile marketing and the remaining majority either do not have mobile marketing strategies or are not fully aware of it. But when 67% of the companies that did not have mobile marketing strategies were asked if they plan to have this marketing strategy within the next 12 months, 62% was in favor of the idea. If these plans are successfully carried out, it would result to a 73% increase of companies that employ mobile marketing.

There are only a third of companies in the survey that already have a mobile marketing plan. In this selected sample, most of the respondents are coming from small and medium businesses. Large companies that have a thousand or more employees served as the minority. A little under half of these companies consider Mobile Marketing as a generally important part of consumer media. Following in the same path of this number of mobile advocates, other organizations look into accommodating mobile advertising into their marketing programs and thus propelling mobile marketing into elevated recognition.

Another factor that accounts for wider acceptance for mobile marketing is the statistical data asserting that Investment increases in mobile marketing will be seen by over 80% of companies that have already gone mobile. The highest increase in budget allocation for mobile marketing ranges between 10-20% for the next year. A little under half of those who plan in increasing their budget allocation for mobile marketing opted to integrate the budget with another project for a more holistic and economical approach. And there are a little over a quarter of companies that declared the investment for mobile marketing will be supplied by taking some of the financing from already existing components of the marketing budget. The remaining minority chose to pull out more funding by raising the overall marketing budget gradually. For a relatively new marketing form to have that acceptable rise in investments is only characteristic of increasing approval from marketers. Even though this is a slow but continuous increase in budget allocation, these are still good figures considering the majority of the respondents are made of small and medium companies.

Small companies contribute significantly to the rise of mobile marketing in advertising. This majority of companies with 1-50 employees usually follow the unstated commodity principle that similarly applies for people and gadgets. It is where technology is only bought after it finally becomes inexpensive and the standards for putting it into a company’s marketing strategy is clearly set and tested. These statistical numbers can only be interpreted as a turn of events. Mobile marketing is gradually pervading when even the smaller businesses get on board at a relatively fast pace.

Another reason for mobile marketing popularity is because companies that are in the mobile space makes use of native apps and websites. Mobile websites are more preferred by more than half of the companies that were surveyed. A good 64% use mobile websites and 58% use native apps. Mobile websites allow maximized reach to users because entry to their site is done by just simply gaining access to the web through mobiles while native apps require users to download an app if they want access. There are companies that plan to include native apps along with the mobile service to optimize mobile marketing. Through these applications, companies can bring their products and services to a wider demographic and would eventually reap recognizable profits from mobile marketing.

More than half of the companies who make use of mobile websites track their visitors with Google Analytics. A third of the companies that has a mobile marketing scheme do not track visitors at all. The purpose of using a web service is to tally the number of visitors which could turn out to be potential customers.

Fundamentally using a web service like Google Analytics can track the ROI or return on investments a company receives with using mobile marketing strategies. The ROI generated by mobile marketing is a notable factor that contributes to its growing popularity. But how many companies really track the return of investment mobile marketing contributes? According to the same survey a third of companies have not measured the ROI of their mobile marketing, and only 24% say it performed as well or better than expected. That is presently a significant number of organizations that are not aware of the profits mobile marketing bring about. But the percentage of companies tracking ROI is expected to rise since a little under half of the companies are required to show strong numbers in the ROI so that mobile marketing can be continually provided with financial reserves.

Mobile marketing is gaining support not only because of financial profits but it also improves business relationships with customers and gains new clientele because it is a more direct and extensive approach to promoting products. Businesses are coming around to incorporating mobile marketing in their business strategies because it reaps these types of benefits. Moreover, it provides companies a solid reputation of consistency and reliability based on the number of loyal customers they already have and the new customers they acquire. There are other types of benefits that support the concept of mobile marketing as a suitable and effective marketing strategy related to customers and prospects. Mobile Marketing can also potentially increase the rate of brand awareness, contribute to proper customer identification, and boost existing product sales.

In summation, mobile marketing is unquestionably gaining support since there are more and more companies that have already integrated mobile marketing strategies or plan to make it a part of their marketing plan. This form of mobile advertising is regarded as a generally important component of the marketing mix since it is being progressively supported by all types of businesses and small businesses are taking the lead in promoting it. The 24% successful performance rate of mobile marketing is a persuading factor for other organizations to become mobile since it shows that this type of advertising reaps definite profits made apparent by a tangible return of investments. Mobile marketing is not only showing distinct promise in the financial aspect but is becoming known because it is a useful marketing tool in maintaining and improving business relationships among the businesses and the consumers. It proves that the mobile marketing bandwagon is indeed gaining recognition, support and fast acceptance in commerce. Read full post...