This week we are we talking about apps and whether you need one.
What’s up Fish Fans! My name is Marcus. You’re watching Marketing Madness, the Blue Fish vlog!
We regularly get inquiries for apps. Most of these individuals think that having an app means success. In this video we are going to talk about why we typically push back a bit.
Before we get too far though, I want to talk to you about the differences between native apps and web applications.
For the purposes of this video when referring to apps, we’re talking about native applications that reside in Apple’s App Store or Google’s Google Play.
When creating those types of apps, you have to use code specific to those platforms to create the app. And on iOS, once the app is created it has to be put through a verification process. This is a tedious process that adds time and expense to the creation of the app. And notice what I just said, you have to create two different versions of your precious, one for iOS and one for Android. That said, there are some nice things that you can take advantage of if you're building a native app that are not available for web apps.
A web app often has a lot of the same feel as a native app. If you go to Pinterest.com it should look and feel a lot like the Pinterest app. But web apps live in the browser much like a website. They harness code that can be used by both iOS and Android. They are a great way to create an MVP or Minimum Viable Product.
Native applications are great but you have to keep in mind that a user only has so much storage on their device. Granted, storage is becoming less and less of an issue but I remember when had the 16 gig iphone. If I was snapping photos ran out of storage, I immediately looked for applications that i was not using and deleted them to make more space.
There are a few things that move us from a web app to a native app. The biggest is budget. If the budget warrants a set of native apps we’ll still be smart about moving forward but it is important to note that budgets of $10-20k are not going to cut it because not only do you need to build the apps but you are going to also need a marketing campaign specific to getting the app adopted by users.
One other item that would push us to suggesting a native app would be the need for push notifications. That is not something that you want to try and accomplish outside of a native app. Knowing your goals and specific requirements will be extremely helpful.
I mentioned that native apps are not cheap. Building them requires wire-framing the various pieces of functionality of the application. You then you have someone who is highly skilled in a specific programming language that is in high demand to program the app. And we mentioned that the verification process takes some time. Building native apps is a VERY time intensive project. And then to think that you're also having to develop for both systems? Just consider if a web app is a viable alternative to get started. It will allow for a more rapid deployment schedule as well.
One of the main reasons we wanted to record this video is to help you realize there are options. Just make sure that you have your ducks in a row before you start going down this path. It'll save you money in the long run.
Well, that’s a wrap for this week! I want to thank you for checking in. Make sure to hit that like button. And if you have any questions or comments leave them down below. If you want to talk about how Blue Fish can help you grow your business just send us a message and we’ll get the conversation started!