Building a mobile strategy is uncharted territory for most business. The maps we have so far are incomplete, with many zones that say “Here there be dragons.” Yet you know you must set sail if you want to remain competitive. How can you avoid wrecking your ship as you start off on your mobile strategy journey?
- A mobile website may not be not enough
In the early days of mobile, all the focus was on creating responsive websites that looked good on mobile device. This is still necessary, but it is not enough. Ninety percent of all smartphone use is done in an app, not on a browser. While a responsive website does make you look more professional, chances are that you’re not going to attract much business through a website alone.
- Not having a roadmap for your mobile strategy
Mobile strategy isn’t just client-facing. The most important parts of a mobile strategy happen inside the business. But converting your internal processes and dashboards to mobile versions must be done smartly. Every change you make should affect business positively and be measurable. Otherwise, if it’s not broke, don’t fix it!
- Building too many internal apps
One of the ways that companies go off the rails is to try to convert every internal piece of software into a mobile version. Desktops and laptops are still quite useful! Because a mobile strategy can affect a business from top to bottom, you must talk with each business unit to see how mobile can help them. The answer could be that they don’t want a mobile app at all, and it could be the right answer!
- Building a customer app the customer doesn’t want
On the customer side, any app you make must give them information or services they want. Depending on your industry, your customers may not even want an app on their phone from you. Think carefully about what you want any customer-facing app to do and do better than your current processes. Don’t build an app just to check off a box that says we have an app.
