How to Make your Mobile App Really Benefit your Business
For big brands and small brands alike mobile web is a powerful new medium for achieving a number of marketing goals.
The mobile space has the power to help you deepen relationships among current and potential clients by giving them an additional tool to connect with you, rather than them having to visit their PC or watch an ad on TV. Mobile apps develop brand loyalty because people associate your brand with something that is cutting edge and easy to use. By integrating your marketing campaigns with the latest mobile tools like QR codes, fully downloadable apps, and text messaging you will be viewed very differently.
All the above and more are discussed in the mobithinking.com article, “10 Mistakes in Mobile Marketing.” With the importance of mobile marketing today, it is important to be sure to get it right, especially if it means the difference in whether or not you close that million dollar listing.
“As mobile transactions skyrocket, there’s plenty of potential to make the sale right from the handset.” Imagine being a realtor who is able to connect with someone right on their mobile device when that someone is looking at a listing on their mobile device. Now imagine it is any listing, not just your own.
With a Branded MLS Search app, realtors can give their clients and prospects access to every MLS listing on any mobile device. It is also a surefire way to build brand loyalty as mobile homebuyers will associate all listings with your brand. Many realtors successfully share their app by promoting their text code on their marketing materials, such as business cards and open house flyers. Anyone who texts their code to some number gets a prompt sent back to them to download. This is just one example of how to promote the app itself. But the app itself can be thought of as a marketing tool, just an additional product to add to a realtor’s arsenal of deal closing gadgets. So that brings us to using a mobile MLS search app as a way to dodge common mobile marketing mistakes.
The four mistakes summarized here are some of the more common examples of dotcom thinking.
Mistake 1: Treating Mobile Users Like PC Users: Programs with thousands of words, massive images translate into slow downloads and lots of clicks, which is not good. Branded Mmobobile MLS search apps give you only the relevant, yet useful information to search for a new home. Whether that is an apartment or single family home, a place in your immediate area or somewhat farther away, you will be able to get to the stuff you want, without all the extra fluff that a whole website on a phone.
Mistake 2: Ignoring the Limitations of the Mobile Device: The screen is smaller, so simple branding with a simple logo is best. The app does the rest.
Mistake 3: Failing to Exploit the Capabilities of the Mobile Device: Since most mobile devices are actually phones, why not add a function or link that calls the broker/agent on any listing? Mobile devices are location-aware, so make use of built GPS capabilities. Branded mobile apps can do these things.
Mistake 7: Hiding Your Mobile Web Site; “Make your site searchable; Make your site guessable”. Pick a text code that your clients can remember, such as using an acronym of your name or slogan. Put your app in the app stores.
The bottom line rule to ensure successful use of your mobile real estate application is to keep it simple, branded to your business and searchable from any mobile device. Follow those guidelines, and you will soon see the benefit of a branded mobile real estate application to drive leads to your business.
~Michael Mercer, Account Manager