Increasing use of social media apps

Let’s be honest, our society is addicted to social media. Social media has penetrated nearly every society. According to one study, social penetration (how much of the population is using a social network on a monthly basis) is around 40% across the globe and growing.

About two-thirds of smartphone and tablet users access their social network accounts from mobile devices, with Facebook being the top smartphone app accessed.

This means businesses looking to better connect with their consumers and market their brand to a wider audience — including several potential clients — should look at ways to use mobile social media apps for ad campaigns. Facebook for example lets you quickly set up mobile app ads to push to users.  Other tactics could include Facebook remarketing, promoted tweets, LinkedIn sponsored updates, Stumbleupon paid discovery and other tools or maximum exposure.

Wearable technology is on the rise

The craze of 2014 is wearable technology, and we don’t see that craze ending in the near future. Wearable devices aren’t meant to replace people’s current mobile devices. Instead, they’re devices with apps that collect a user’s data and relay real-time notifications and feedback to them, and people are loving it.

Fitness trackers (e.g.:  https://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/nikeplus-fuelband) and smart watches are currently the top ones used. Businesses wanting to jump on this wearable craze don’t need to create a brand new app. All that’s required is making some tweaks to their existing mobile app to fit their own wearable design.

Misfit is one such company that had to make a strategic decision to stay ahead of the curve, and so far its choice has been a good one. Misfit’s app tracks a user’s fitness and sleep activity. Its CEO said he knew only making fitness trackers would put him out of business within the next year, so recently Misfit partnered with Pebble to make the Misfit app and its algorithm technology available on a Pebble smartwatch. Now instead of a sports band, users can wear a regular-looking watch and with one glance can see the time, their number of steps and other activity the Misfit app tracks.

Technology advances and people’s wants change every day, which also means mobile trends regularly change and businesses have to keep adapting to these trends. Adapting isn’t a new concept, and like the example above with Misfit, it’s very possible for a company to do. Partnering with other companies to give customers exactly what they need is one way of adapting. But the best way of being prepared and adapting to these changes is staying up to date with the mobile industry, taking the time to really understand mobile trends and making mobile a top priority.

These trends don’t necessarily negatively affect mobile apps. They just mean businesses need to continue evolving and improving with technology and the times, and businesses must fully understand the needs of their customers to make sure their mobile apps and mobile marketing strategies are meeting those needs.

Guest Author: TJ Welsh works as a Director of Marketing for Stryde.com, a content marketing agency dedicated to helping companies grow their online presence.