Mobile app concepts and use cases

Mobile app concepts
and use cases
Guidelines on defining a mobile app for your brand
or business and getting started with mobile marketing
Niko Nelissen, CEO TapCrowd
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Learn more about mobile marketing & marketing automation. Follow me on Twitter @nikonelissen
Introduction
I’m going to publish a mobile app!
So you’re thinking about publishing a mobile app around your business, your brand or your organization ? That’s great ! In today’s connected world, we
use smartphones and tablets in all aspects of our life: we use mobile devices at home, at work, when shopping etc. A mobile app is a unique opportunity
to communicate with your audience in a personalized, relevant and interactive manner. And soon, mobile will be the preferred communication channel for
your customers, partners, employees, prospects, fans, members or who ever it is that you want to interact with.
But exactly what is it that my app will do ?
Good question ! An app is not just a website on a smaller screen. A powerful app provides value to the user, it’s a tool. Think of it as a Swiss army knife.
You will have to think twice about how you want to interact with your audience on their smartphone. It’s not a surprise that many companies, brands and
organizations don’t really know how to get started. That’s why I compiled these slides, as a handy brainstorm tool for marketing teams, that helps them to
define their next mobile app.
For which types of app can I use these slides ?
We make a distinction between two types of apps: internal productivity apps (e.g. for time tracking of employees) and external marketing & sales apps (for
example a consumer app around a retail brand). This slidedeck was made to brainstorm about marketing & sales apps, and more in general mobile apps
to communicate with your audience.
I wish you a productive mobile brainstorm !
Niko Nelissen, CEO TapCrowd

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Front ends
Which platforms and devices will you support ?
Think about which platforms you will support. While it’s possible to
develop a “cross-platform” app, in many cases your app will have to be
developed separately for each platform, especially if you want to use
built-in features of the device such as the camera to scan for example
QR codes.
Most popular platforms: iOS (Apple iPhone, iPod, iPad), Android and
Windows Phone.
Consider publishing a web app (in HTML5) which can be used in the
browser. One drawbacks of web apps is that these apps cannot
receive push notifications.
Will your app be used primarily on smartphones or on tablets ? Think
about the need for a separate app for each type of device.

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Target audience
What is your target audience ?
Who will be using your app, your existing customers,
new prospects or both ? Or maybe you are a non-
profit organization reaching out to members and the
public in general ?
Further on, when you define the features of your app,
make sure to serve each segment of your target
audience well.
Need inspiration ? Here are a few types of audiences
to consider: B2B, B2C, customers, partners,
prospects, fans, members, consumers, employees,
visitors, attendees…

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App features
The million dollar question: which features will your app provide ?
Now you’re ready for the real work. Think about the features that your app will
provide. We distinguish between 3 types of features: content, interaction and
transaction.
While content is relatively easy to add inside an app, creating interaction is
typically more complex and hence more expensive. Handling full transactions
inside an app is even more complex and will typically require more complex
backend integrations. That’s why we suggest to implement content, interaction
and transaction in 3 consecutive phases.
You need to think about both practical features (let’s call this the “serious” stuff)
and inspirational or fun features. It’s key that your app provides tangible value in
specific situations (e.g. providing navigation to the closest store when the user is
on the road), but at the same time it’s key to provide appealing features that
users can use at any given time to get inspired, learn about your business etc.

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App features - content
App content: practical & inspirational please
Your app should certainly not be a copy of your website, but you
probably will have existing content that makes sense to publish
inside an app.
Examples of practical content includes general information, contact
details, store locations (with navigation), opening hours, catalogs
with products or services, manuals, tips & tricks etc.
Inspirational content may include images and video, editorial
content, latest news, Facebook feeds and other “magazine style”
content.

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App features - interaction
Creating interaction: let’s talk
Make sure your app allows for useful interactions with the user. What kind of
interactions make sense for your business, your market or your target audience ?
Here’s some ideas:
§  Wizards: a wizard can help users to make a decision on a purchase, to help
them find the right product or service, to compare stuff etc.
§  Calculation tools: your app could include a tool to calculate the total price of a
product, service or project, or maybe a planning tool
§  Forms: use forms so people can ask questions, request more info, report a
problem...
§  Favorites: allow users to bookmark things they like inside your app
§  Tools: depending on your market, the sky is the limit when it comes to creating
useful tools. For example in fashion: a virtual fitting room using the camera of
the phone (augmented reality); in sports: a personal trainer; in tourism: an
interactive tour guide...

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App features - transaction
The full monty: handling transactions in your app
Phase 3 of your app project is actually handling transactions inside your app. It’s
the most complex phase, but this is where your app starts contributing directly to
your revenue.
Examples of transactions:
•  Bookings
•  Appointments
•  Reservations
•  Registrations
•  Orders
•  mCommerce
•  Order status tracking

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Social media
Sharing is caring
Ready to go viral ? By allowing your users to share
interesting things on Facebook, Twitter and other social
media, your app will become a true viral marketing tool.
For each of your app features, think about what exactly
your users can share in a sensful manner.
Facebook Connect
Social media offers more than just sharing. You can
offer your app users to log in through Facebook
Connect or Twitter. By doing so, your app gets access to
the “social graph” of the user, a great way to involve
friends in e.g. a contest.

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User location & context
SoLoMo and PeCoLo
SoLoMo = social, local, mobile
PeCoLo = personal, context-aware, location-aware
The clue: take the location and context of your app user into account in most (if not all) of your app features. Or in other words: how can your app
provide value in each situation ?
The context of the user typically varies when she is at home, on the road, shopping, working, or spending some time with friends and family. And yes,
we use our smartphone on all these occasions. Example: show your closest shop or office, with respect to the current location of the user, include
distance and driving time.

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Notifications & geofencing
Notifications
When people have installed your app, you can send them push
notifications, even if you don’t have an email address or phone
number from them. Push notifications are a great way to keep your
audience engaged.
Geofences and iBeacons (location targeting)
Your app can be linked to one or more geofences and iBeacons.
Geofences are outdoor locations (e.g. the location of your shops)
that can trigger a notification to the user. An iBeacon is similar,
used indoors. Geofences can be used in retail for so called “near
store targeting” to increase foot traffic to stores.
What type of useful, relevant notifications can your app provide,
based on the user location & context ?

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Backend
Backend integrations
OK, this is where we need to call the IT department. Sooner
or later, your app will have to talk to existing backend
systems and databases. Make an inventory of the existing
systems inside your organisation that your app will need to
talk to, e.g. to get content or to handle a transaction.
Offline usage
Wait a minute, what if my app has no internet connection ?
That means no connection to the backend systems. Think
about what features need to be available “offline” in your
app, this will typically involve “caching” data on the device
and a synchronisation mechanism.

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Customer journey
From lead to customer to loyal customer
Last but not least: the customer journey. We looked at the
context and location of the user, but now it’s time to also
think about the phase your user is in. This applies to retail
but also to other use cases: tourism, members of an
organization...
Which value will your app provide across the customer
journey ? And how does that translate to your app features ?
§  Awareness: user learns about your brand, company,
organization, venue
§  Engagement: user shows interest and needs more
detailed information and support
§  Transaction: purchase, order, booking, registration…
§  Service & loyalty: after sales, returning customers,
renewal

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Backend
Backend integrations
OK, this is where we need to call the IT department. Sooner
or later, your app will have to talk to existing backend
systems and databases. Make an inventory of the existing
systems inside your organisation that your app will need to
talk to, e.g. to get content or to handle a transaction.
Offline usage
Wait a minute, what if my app has no internet connection ?
That means no connection to the backend systems. Think
about what features need to be available “offline” in your
app, this will typically involve “caching” data on the device
and a synchronisation mechanism.

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An app for your live events
Make your live events interactive
In the previous slides we talked about apps around your
business, product or service. There’s another type of mobile
app that allows you to interact with your audience: an event
app. An event app introduces interaction at your corporate
events, your internal training meetings, your conference and
any other type of live event that you organize.
The great thing about an event app is that you don’t have to
build it from scratch. Discover the TapCrowd platform and
build your event app now !
http://www.tapcrowd.com

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Thank you !
Want to learn more about mobile
apps, mobile marketing and
marketing automation ?
Follow me on Twitter !
@nikonelissen

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