• Schedule
• Scores
• Roster
• Injury Reports
• Transactions
• Statistics

Although that information is great for any fan to have, it is also something that they can find on a mobile website. A mobile application is meant to be engaging. It is meant to be something that fans interact with and have an immersive experience with. At AndPlus, we have created mobile applications for sports teams and have implemented some cool ideas into our customers apps that teams and the fans have loved like:

• Trivia and Halftime Mini Games – competitive trivia games throughout the entire crowd that runs before the game starts, at halftime and during time outs.
• Interactive stadium maps and seat finders – Points fans to their seats, shows them where the concessions are and where the exits are.
• Promotions – Send promotions, coupons and special events direct to fans pockets
• Social Media Integration – Allow friends to share their experience on social media or check in at the game

Mobile applications for sports teams are a great way for fans to interact with the team as well as for teams interact with the fans. If you would like some more information on how mobile applications can help your team contact AndPlus today.

Customers Expect Mobile Websites and Apps

Companies are slowly realizing that consumers expect a way to connect with your company from anywhere at anytime. That should be music to any CEO’s ears. But when a consumer goes to a companies website from a smartphone and their isn’t a mobile website, it becomes a big turnoff. The same goes for mobile apps as well!

Mobile Accounts for 10% of ecommerce

Did you know in the US that 1 in 4 transactions at Starbucks is done via mobile? That stat is staggering! Retailers are using mobile payment systems as well as their mobile apps and websites to drive their ecommerce. Businesses and marketers are missing out on a remarkable amount of sales for failing to grasp the power of mobile.

In 2011 there were more smartphones shipped than desktop PCs

This statistic is the statistic of all statistics! If your not thinking in your head right now “I need a mobile strategy” then be prepared to hear me say “i told you so” in 2015. Why 2015? Its speculated by IDC that by 2015 mobile internet browsing will eclipse desktop browsing for the first time.

Tablets

iOS 5.0, Windows 8, Android ICS. What do these three have in common. They are all tablet based platforms developed by the biggest technology companies in the world. Tablets are beginning their rise to the ultimate computing device. Power, performance, massive ammount of applications and most importantly mobility are what make tablet computers such a powerful computing device . Companies should be looking towards tablets for the future of not only their mobile strategy, but their business strategy.

If you got one thing out of this blog it should be that your company needs to develop and implement a mobile strategy. If you need more information on how to start your companies mobile strategy, contact AndPlus to kick-start your future in the mobile world.

Many businesses equip their workers with mobile devices, such as a mobile phone or tablet, with mobile applications installed. The power of these mobile applications help businesses cut costs, improve productivity and improve the bottom line. There are two types of mobile applications to consider when contemplating the creation of a mobile application for your company.

Consumer Applications -  Many consumers use mobile apps everyday to engage with their favorite brands, as well as shop with their favorite brands. When creating a mobile application for consumers you must keep in mind a few things. Functionality is very important. If your app doesn’t work right, no one is going to use it. Also, similar to functionality, your app must do something of importance to the customer. Whether it be make a purchase from your online store, use a tool that will help your customer with tasks, or a fun game, your app must have some value to the customer in order for it to be worthy of a download. An attractive user interface is another big one. Make your app look pretty. There are far to many apps in the app stores that are just down right ugly. Don’t add yours to that list.

Internal Process Applications – Apps created to improve processes when employees are away from their desks are becoming more and more prevalent. A main reason for this is because employees are bring their personal devices into work with them every day. Employers have found that their employees are becoming more productive when out of the office with the use of mobile applications in these areas. Here are a few areas where internal process applications really shine.

• Reduced paperwork

• Higher job-completion rates

• Decrease in labor expense

• More accurate billing

• Expedited cash flow

• Increased customer satisfaction

These are two of the most popular types of  mobile applications utilized in the workforce today, mainly because their benefits are clear cut and easy to measure. Now the question is “How will this help my company?” I have the answer for that, and I will be breaking it down by industry in my next blog post “Mobile Strategy 101 – Industries Adopting Mobile”.

The early phones were very basic compared to the smart phones we have today. Make calls, receive calls. That’s it. The screens on these early devices displayed the number that you were calling. No caller ID. No massive contact list. No clock. Nothing. Slowly, phones started gaining these features, as well as a few others like different ringtones, voice mail and basic games (I miss Snake) Then came text messaging, email, and undoubtedly the most important feature of any modern phone, internet capabilities. Having the internet available on cellphones is nothing new (my LG feature phone had it in 2004) but the way that it is being used, in conjunction with new smartphone hardware, is what is making the internet such a useful feature on today’s smartphones. Smartphones, the internet, and GPS make it possible to find near by entertainment, restaurants, or points of interest. Smartphones help with all sorts of tasks that, in the past, a person would have had to go to the library to figure out.

The introduction of the iPhone and mobile applications was the day the mobile phone world changed. Mobile applications are the future of not only mobile phones but computing as a whole. Gone are the days of sitting at a desk to read emails, the days of reading a printed map are long behind us, even the ability to manage things like workflow, inventory and resources can be done on mobile devices. Rather than mobile devices being just a phone, a toy or a media consumption device, mobile devices are an integral part of our daily personal and business lives.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Monday I will be releasing part two of the three part series Mobile Strategy 101 – Mobile Applications and Businesses. As always, feel free to leave a few words in the comment section and make sure to check back next week for part two!

Click here for part 2 – Mobile Strategy 101 – Mobile Applications and Businesses

1. Apps are an excellent marketing tool

2. Apps can help your business become more efficient

3. Stay connected with your customers

For companies that are looking to build a mobile application, keep these three reasons in mind. Also, if you think that a mobile website may be more useful for your business check out this article. If you would like to reap the benefits of a mobile application, contact AndPlus!

Technology can be the most valuable asset to restaurants for driving customers to your restaurant. With the correct use of a website, Facebook page and a mobile application your restaurant could see a dramatic change on how customers interact with your restaurant.

Website

All restaurants should have a website by now, it’s 2012. Most restaurant put their phone number, address and menu up on the site and haven’t touched it since 2005. You can do much more with your website today then you could in 2005. Websites can have e-commerce solutions that would allow customers to order their meals right from your website, process the payment, and automatically have a slip print out for the kitchen to make the meal. You can post customer recommendations to persuade customers to eat at your restaurants. You should also incorporate a mobile website into your website strategy mainly due to the fact that nearly 10% of all US web traffic is from a mobile device. Your website should also have social integration. It should have a “Like us on Facebook” button, and “Follow us on Twitter button” on nearly every page of your site. Which leads me to…

Social Media

Social media has become a standard within any business in today’s world, much like websites were in the early 2000′s. For a restaurant, having a Facebook or Twitter account is crucial. Facebook is  a great tool to show off how great your restaurant is and a great way to promote your business. You can post pictures and a list of the daily specials, run promotions for upcoming deals and events, and show off your overall friendly and inviting attitude to customers and potential customers. Beyond that, you can give customers and incentive for being a fan on Facebook like “Facebook fans get 10 percent all lunch items” or something like that to express your gratitude. Check out the  13 Best Practices for Restaurants on Facebook for the best ways to engage with fans on Facebook.

Mobile Applications

With the boom in smartphone sales and the rise of the mobile application it has become possible to, quite literally be in the pocket of your customers at all times. Mobile applications are a businesses dream. A customer can download an application directly to their mobile phone that would allow them to receive promotions. It is possible to send a message out to people who have downloaded your app that will notify customers of your promotion. You can also have an app do things like order meals directly from the user’s cell phone, allow customers to write reviews of the restaurant and specific meals, or allow customers to pay directly through the app by either entering their credit card information or using NFC (near field communication) on select devices.

These are 3 helpful ideas to get your business on the right path with technology. Restaurants, and other business,  need to embrace technology and the new ideas that come along with it in order to be as successful as possible in today’s market. These 3 ideas are just the tip of the iceberg. To learn more about how technology will benefit your business,  contact AndPlus today for a technology consultation.

Well, the answer is ….. maybe.

While I know that is a complete cop-out, there’s a method to my madness.  There are three options when you are looking to give mobile access to data and user interaction:  Mobile Web Sites, Cross-compiled Mobile Applications, and Native Mobile Applications.

I’ll go over each in detail in this post, but in general, Mobile Web Sites don’t have access to hardware on your phone like the camera or GPS and are only as responsive and fast (slow) as your browser is normally, Cross-compiled Mobile Applications bring access to your hardware components like cameras, file system, and GPS, but are again choppy and use Javascript and HTML5 to run natively in a local browser, and Native applications pull only live data when needed while having direct interaction with the mobile device operating system and hardware.

You should choose Mobile Web Site when:

• Your users are used to interacting with you on your website
• Site loading speed is not a concern to you or your customers
• You don’t need access to the hardware on your customers’ phones

You should choose a Cross-compiled Mobile Application when:

• You absolutely need mobile application device support, but can’t afford the cost of native application
• You would like your users to interact with you through the stores (iTunes store, Google Play market, Blackberry App World, etc.)
• You want to bring native functionality to your application
• You need hardware access (Camera, Microphone, Streaming music, etc.)
• You are testing a market demand for your product

You should choose a Native Mobile Application when:

• Your application is feature-rich
• You are displaying a great deal of video and audio content
• You are streaming music or video from a server
• Transitions between interfaces (screens) are important to your brand and your clients
• You can afford the additional cost
• When basic Push notifications are desired

The reason Natively written applications are more expensive is that the world all speaks different languages.  Much like China speaks a different national language than France, Android has adopted Java for a number of reasons, and Apple has adopted iOS for a similar number of reasons.  Are those reasons better than another?  No, they’re just different.  As developers we are only ensuring that we’re prepared to develop for all of these platforms equally, thereby offering you the highest availability to deliver exactly what you’re asking of our team.

Please consider contacting us in the footer below if you’d like to hear more about what a mobile application can do for you and your business!  And don’t forget to like us on facebook on the window to the right!

The path to growing a following lies in four letters – P.O.S.T.

The concept was developed by Forrester Research. It was explained to me in a book by Mari Smith called ‘ The New Relationship Marketing”. (My girlfriend looked at the title of the book and said “Are you leaving me?!?!”) Post stands for People, Objective, Strategy, and Technology. This strategy is meant to help simplify the steps that it takes to find out who am I directing my message to, what do I want to accomplish with my message, how am I going to get people to engage with me on social networks, and what tools am i going to use to help me with my message. The problem that some companies have is that they go disregard the people, objective and strategy and just go right to technology. They start a Facebook page and a Twitter page and start shooting message out to anyone who seems to be listening, which will most likely be a very select few. Then they look at their Facebook insights or their Google Analytics and realize that they have barely any engagement and say “This Facebook thing doesn’t work at all!” But it does work. You just have to no how to work it. Just follow these steps to get started and you’ll be the social butterfly that you always wanted to be.

People – It all starts with people. We aren’t talking about your best friends from first grade, we’re talking about the people that you want to influence to buy your product or service. What we want to know about these people is; Who are the people that could be interested in our services? Where do we find them? What influences them? These three questions are so important when starting social marketing. Maybe you’re market isn’t even using social media at all. At that point, you probably shouldn’t be spending too much time on Facebook.

Objective – You need to set a clear objective for your company and your brand. What is your main goal here? What do you want to accomplish? More recognition? More Fans? Sales? The decision is up to you but it needs to be clear and concise.

Strategy – This is an often overlooked step, but probably one of the most important. How are you going to get people interested in your brand? How are you going to hook them in and have them like your page? A contest? Awesome content that they couldn’t pass up? Whatever it may be, make sure their is more in it for them and less in it for you.

Technology – Most people skip the previous three steps and just hop right into the technology. It’s almost impossible to do anything on social networks without knowing where you’re going. The first three steps are imperative to complete thoroughly. After completing the first three steps, you will need to assign certain tools to communicate with your audience, track who is engaging with you, and analyze the data you are receiving from your fans.

Following these steps is the easiest way to get your social media marketing campaign off and running. For more information on social media marketing, I highly suggest the book by Mari Smith “The New Relationship Marketing”. Also, you can contact AndPlus for some creative and highly effective ways to integrate your company and website with social media.

Augmented reality is  a technology that digitally connects humans to the world around you. For example , say you’re walking down the street looking for a book store. Theoretically you could say out loud ‘Find Barnes and Noble”. The glasses will then pick up your voice and search Google maps for the closest Barnes and Noble, project onto your glasses directions to the book store (turn by turn) and then once your approaching your destination it will point an arrow (projected on your glasses) to the front door. This could be very useful in a new town or city to navigate by foot. But what about when your driving? These glasses could become a huge liability.

Below is a video that google created through the eyes of someone wearing the glasses. Very impressive idea.

Although the technology isn’t ready for consumers yet (actually its barely out of its basic prototype phase) it seems to be very promising. The ability to have an all in one , hands-free device that is non-intrusive could be a consumers dream. But, is it too far fetched. Do people really want to be wearing a futuristic device over their eyes? Is it a geeks dream or would something like this really catch on? Let me know what you think in the comments.

With the news of 3 million iPads sold in the first weekend of sales, the question must be asked. Are PC’s dead?

Lets look at the numbers first. In early March, just before the new iPad was released, Apple announced that in two years the iPad 1 and 2 sold over 55 million tablets. To put that into perspective it took 22 years to sell 55 million iMacs, 5 years to sell 22 million iPods and 3 years to sell 22 million iPhones. The fact that it only took 2 years to sell 55 million tablets proves that the tablet computer is an absolute success. But, does it have what it takes to overcome the PC as the ultimate computing device?

If you take a look at PC sales so far this year, you would be surprised to see that they actually went up 4% in sales and manufacturers are estimating that they will ship around 365 million units. Compare that to the estimated 90 million tablets that are to be sold this year and one would realize that PC’s are still alive and kicking.

Although it’s clear that tablets are the future of mobile computing and portable electronics, it is hard to believe that PC’s are going to be wiped out by tablets. Tablets are great for the couch, perfect for traveling, and are awesome multi media consumption devices. For those who work on the road or are in a fast paced environment a tablet would suit them fine. But could you imagine doing everything you do on a daily basis on a tablet. Typing on the screen? Cumbersome multitasking? Photoshop, Powerpoint, Paint!?!? Until tablet operating systems and hardware makers incorporate more ports for peripherals, the ability to use a mouse, and better multitasking, it won’t be able to overtake the PC business.

But what about laptops? Will laptops be replaced by tablets? Let me know what you think in the comment section below.