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Did you know? Our thought processes, our strategies and how we use our B2B tools need to change.

Jennifer Leigh Brown

Apr 23, 2010

11 Comments

Do B2B Marketers need a mobile app or mobile web site?

CATEGORY: WEB DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT, DIGITAL

Based on smartphone market growth it’s clear that B2B marketing needs to include mobile. You may be thinking about a mobile web site, app, or both. But with limited budgets and resources, maybe you are feeling pressure to pick one—delay developing a mobile site and follow the app pack. In some instances having a mobile app makes sense, but there are key considerations when deciding between investing in a mobile application instead of designing a mobile website.

B2B Mobile App VS B2B Mobile Website: 6 Key Considerations

1. One device and operating system or many
App: Apps only work on the device for which they are designed.
Website: A mobile site will work across platforms in multiple operating systems, devices, and browsers. (Mobile-friendly isn’t iPad friendly though.)

2. Target audience
App: Smaller, niche audience. Even if you do a great job of promoting your app, the universe of people who can use it will always be smaller.
Website: Larger audience reach, serves the needs of more users. If you have a limited budget, consider the cost of developing an app versus the size of the audience who can use it.

3. Being found
App: The growing number of apps is staggering so consider how yours will be found. (e.g. Creating a landing page versus just adding it to an app store.) An app doesn’t make sense if it is a standalone activity or the only part of your mobile marketing efforts.
Website: Not an isolated solution, your mobile website will benefit from, and can easily integrate with, other marketing components.

4. User experience
App: The best apps are feature rich and integrate seamlessly with the device’s capabilities (like GPS). A well designed app can be an amazing user experience as long as it supports real customer behavior and usage environments.
Website: A simple clean interface for the mobile web can serve needs just as well for more users, and more support for richer HTML will enable more functions. A content heavy site may benefit from a mobile redesign over an app.

5. Start-up and maintenance costs
App: Costs more to develop and maintain with more updates as devices change.
Website: Lower development costs, easier to update, and longer lifetime.

6. ROI: Purposeful or Popular?
App: Apps are hot and fun, but popular does not equal profitable. What is the marketing or business purpose of the app? Does it warrant the investment?
Website: The mobile web will be bigger than desktop in five years. (See slide below or Read Morgan Stanley’s Internet Trends Report PDF) By 2015, having a mobile website design won’t be a nice to have but a requirement to meet user’s expectations.

2010 Internet Trends Report from Morgan Stanley

The future of the mobile web

Need more convincing that a mobile website warrants the investment? Mobile search company Taptu released a report on the future of the mobile web stating that cross-platform browser-based mobile website---rather than apps—will dominate.

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B2B Digital Marketing

Comments

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April 23, 2010 (4:03 PM EST)

Brian W writes:

It really makes a lot of sense to evaluate the options as mobile web becomes more and more accessible to the masses. If functionality does not demand it, why change from an open distribution medium to one that is closed and has limited support across devices.
April 30, 2010 (11:03 PM EST)

Network Marketing writes:

I think that B2B marketing must include mobile.
May 4, 2010 (8:49 AM EST)

Jennifer Leigh writes:

I agree that incorporating mobile into a b2b strategy is important--along with looking at the overall plan and deciding where the investment will have the most impact and long-term value.
May 5, 2010 (10:58 AM EST)

Acquirelists writes:

Great article. Wow! That is some awesome stuff. I honestly can say I’m a better person for reading that Thank You!
May 5, 2010 (11:01 AM EST)

Jennifer Leigh writes:

Thanks for your comment, George. It helps to know what people are interested in learning about.
June 3, 2010 (12:09 PM EST)

Mitchell writes:

You might also like this case study that I wrote on Leveraging the Mobile Web. Shows how three brands use mobile websites in lieu of apps, accomplishing different goals.
June 3, 2010 (12:58 PM EST)

Coreen Tossona writes:

Jennifer, nice job of breaking this down so simply. It will especially help companies who are not well versed in mobile marketing, etc., make a decision.
June 3, 2010 (8:59 PM EST)

Phillip Allan writes:

If you consider the predicted exponential growth for smart phones,then I would think that especially B2B websites must have this web site functionality
June 7, 2010 (3:45 PM EST)

Vicky writes:

As a person who delves into both camps, I am disappointed in the inaccuracies in this post. I can see how this thinking is carried over from the desktop model. But app stores and new development tools have really changed the game for mobile software. 1. There are several tools that help you design apps and deploy across multiple OSs. Furthermore, mobile web browsers are also highly fragmented (esp Javascript), so you can't guarantee a quality experience like you can with a mobile app. Also, mobile websites suffer from poor bandwidth performance and cannot function offline/downtime. 2) Again, not a smaller audience with an abstraction tool. These work on all major smartphones. Mobile web technically works on non-smartphones, but then those people tend not to have a dataplan. 3) Being found- a problem for BOTH! App stores (collectively) are a great distribution channel and apps (mobile or web) are most often found through the store rather than a web search. 4) Mostly agree on this point, but a simple app may NOT serve the needs jut as well. It depends on whether the user needs sophistication or simplicity. 5) Doesn't cost more to develop it's roughly equal when you use an abstraction tool as mentioned in #1. Updates are easier via the web, but updates are also just a click away to an app store. 6) This point doesn't make sense. If the app is free, then likely an ad based app will generate equal revenue to a web based one. Apps for sale do have a significant download drop off rate, but the decision is really based on what is the business model for your app or service.
June 10, 2010 (5:24 PM EST)

MarketingOC writes:

I think the big value of having a mobile web site vs. an app is how users are finding your brand on their devices. So, if a user does a search on google for your products or services they are expecting to see the results to go to a web site. Yes, google does index and provide links to Apps now, but I don't think that will have a great impact on user search on mobile. So, my take is to create a mobile web site to reach b2b on the go. An app can be used to support branding.
June 13, 2010 (11:52 AM EST)

Danny Essner writes:

UNITY Mobile's solution is cool in that it allows marketers to build both mobile apps and mobile web sites, concurrently, at a reasonable cost. This solutions resolves the problem of having to choose one strategy over another. www.unitymobile.com

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