What if Social Isn't Relevant, when should you invest in an e-commerce app, increasing e-mail open rates and advertising that appeals to everyone

What would make consumers what to use a mobile application over a well designed responsive website? How would you convert those consumers to using the app?

HP has many different mobile apps for many different uses, do you think that it's best to market applications this way, or is it better to just have one application that can handle it all? I was confused as to which app to download and accidentally downloaded one for businesses, resellers and developers instead of one for the general public. How much is too much when it comes to mobile applications?

I noticed that my brand, Visa has multiple mobile applications. It seems like it would be easier if they just combined them all into one. Why would a company need multiple applications, is it a good idea because some people don't need all of the functions other apps provide or does it hurt their company?

My brand is JP Morgan Chase Bank and just like any bank, if you don't have social media or an app for your customers to access their information on their mobile device, you're basically considered obsolete and can't compete with anyone else. Regardless of your brand/company, social media can only create more awareness. When it comes to target market, how can you focus your brand on segmenting the right demographic needed for success using social media and mobile device apps?

How often do people download a company's app (if they have one), and engage with the brand there, as opposed to going to the company's website through the web?  With the increasing number of ways to pay for things through smartphones, do you see more companies creating a pay feature like Starbucks and some other brands already have?

Having worked in a corporate restaurant setting in the communications department, I always found it hard to appeal to many different audiences. With a brand that is so broad and can have the potential to reach so many people, how can one avoid offending people in this way? Kind of similar to the question about creating an offensive ad, but this is more along the lines of pushing content that makes everybody happy and engaged in the brand. 

Referring to when a company should switch to having their own mobile app is what I wanted to expand on. Huggies, my brand, is one of the largest diaper companies on the market but they still have no app in the Apple Store. I have no idea why they wouldn't want to have one when their competing brand, Pampers does. What could prompt a large brand like this to stay away from a mobile app?

To add to your response about deciding if social media is relevant, I definitely agree with your response. I also noticed that though users may not actively engage with your brand on social media, they may still engage with other associations or personalities that do. This is where sponsorships in associations, news channels, or personalities/celebrities can come in handy. For example, I work for a finance company and while many of our customers don't follow our brand directly on social media, they will follow their industry association (for example: the American Health Association). So if we publish an article through them that gets distributed on Twitter and LinkedIn accounts, we can still take advantage of social media marketing for our brand. 

How important is it to have both a mobile app and a mobile website, because i've come across that some companies have great mobile websites and then their apps are complicated to navigate and more of a pain then helpful.

I understand that not every company requires to have social media platforms to be successful.  With these companies, I think by structuring the media platforms properly, i think it will only help that company.  But i think that having them will only increase the exposure to the company.  Don't you think that having social media platforms will only help the company succeed? 

What are the first/best steps a business should take when they want to know how to expand advertising to a new target audience? As in, a business is looking to know if they should pursue a new target audience beyond their current one, and they need to determine 1) who their new target market should be, 2) what advertising methods to use in the beginning stages (e.g., a specific campaign), and 3) how to start the process from a business perspective that goes beyond budget.

Does it help the brand of a company to have a website or mobile app but to not profit of it and recieve poor reviews because of it?

I will often download an app for a company, use it a few times and then delete it.  Often they send too many notifications or are just plain useless.  When it comes to notifications I find that they often hurt the appeal of the app, nobody wants their phone constantly going off.  Do you think push notifications are a good marketing strategy?  Am I the only one annoyed by notifications?

As mobile web platforms become increasingly prevalent, companies find it much more necessary to invest their resourceas in mobile platforms. Do you believe there is a "one size fits all" way to mobile sucess, or is it much more diverse and complicated than that?

How does a brand make users want to download and use an app instead of just using their mobile site or desktop version?

Does the same social media and advertising team work on developing mobile sites or is this a different group of people? Do they all create a storyboard-like plan for the mobile version, or do only people who know how to code access the technological side of the brand?

At any point in the near future, do you believe that mobile apps will completely negtate the need for a company website; meaning, will mobile apps be the sole location for all needs pertaining to one company?

With so many companies creating apps now, what will make an app stand out among the rest in its category? (features, purpose, etc.) 

ALDI uses their brand's social platform as an extension of their advertising, not really focusing on finding better ways to reach their customers socially, even though their customer base is eager to engage. Email seems to be the main method of digital communication between customer and brand in this case. Why do you think brands sometimes ignore their customers on social media but are eager to get into their emails? 

My company, Union Pacific, has a mobile app, however it is very outdated and does not serve much of a purpose. If they do not update it regularly, should it be deleted? Also, if it does not have much information more than just the general website is there even a reason for having one?

 

My brand is John Deere. I feel like the target market (assuming that is middle aged to older men working in labor/agriculture/construction) is not hugely present on social media, so places like Twitter especially are not where you would reach that market. I want to develop campaigns for the company but I feel like the old fashioned way of TV and radio is still the way to go for them. What do you think? 

With some companies having such large amounts of information on their websites, which may be difficult to scroll through on a phone even if the site has undergone responsive web design, would it be useful to summarize large text based information into shorter paragraphs that are easier to read on a phone?

What brands are the best and most consitently successful with email marketing? Previously, the only emails I would open were from J. Crew, because of constant sales. But they're even getting sued right now for falsely promotion all of their merchandise as constantly "on sale."

Is it crucial for comapnies to have a mobile app? What if the app does not run propperly? If a company, like Goldman Sachs had an application would it question thier reputation? In all, are mobile apps a necessity if the website if sufficient enough?

After reviewing many successful companies, and the mobile apps that each of them use, there seems to be  pattern that many of these multi million dollar companies have mobile apps that are not uder friendly. To what extent shoud companies go to when in the sense that they pay for people to make their apps? Or is they are already making milions of dollars should they even care about pumping money into something they might not neccesarily need? 

Having a website that is usable on mobile phones definitely seems important with today's constant use of cell phones. My company makes apps to go along with their products but nothing for purchasing products or for information. Is making a mobile app for purchasing products or for finding information necessary for today’s market?

 

With the success and convenience of Amazon's "1-Click Ordering" and the current fingerprint technology available on smartphones (google wallet, apple pay, etc), do you expect to see more retailers gravitating towards these types of quick-pay models in their apps to make purchases? 

When it comes to transfering desktop sites to mobile version and apps, which do you think is more important? An app which stays put on the users phone, or an updated mobile version to make all the regular content more accessable? 

Our lesson this week was on mobile apps, and today technology is becoming more and more popular. Do you think brands should start paying more attention to their mobile apps? How does a brand stand out from other brands when it comes to those apps? 

Does it hurt the repuation of a company when they have a mobile app, but it doesn't work well and almost all reviews for it are negative?

I am wondering if there is a major website where people can view all of their mobile applications and webiste ratings in one location. 

My brands mobile site does not have any advertisements on it. Do you believe that this hurts them because they are not gaining any revenue from an easily tapped resources or do you believe that this could benefit them because I did enjoy not looking at any advertisements.

Let's be honest, majority of consumers do not enjoy receiving emails from companies. I tend to use email for important, business related topics, so when I see an email from a company, it usually goes into the spam/trash folder. However, it IS important for companies to use all the resources they can in order to spread awareness of their product, even if that means sending out annoying emails. Mobile usage should be utilized by all companies.

When social media is not very relevant to your comapny what is the best way to add value to yourself and the company through online advertisment?

For larger companies and corporations, is it really worth the cost for developing and maintaining a mobile app if it isn't meant for generating extra sales?

For many companies, mobile marketing is vital and their mobile apps have become incredibly popular. However, I do not believe that all companies need a well-developed mobile program. Do you believe that mobile advertising should be used by every company?

When making a mobile friendly website for a smaller company, do you think it is best to invest in having someone else do it for your company that focuses on websites for their career, or try to do it yourself to save money ? 

How do you know when its best to reach an audience outside of using social media?

How do you build trust with the consumer through mobile marketing?

Are mobile apps really applicable to every company in order to be successful? 

At what point will mobile apps become more important than accessing companies through our laptops and computers?

In honor of Twitter's 10th birthday, where do you see Twitter going in the next 10 years? Especially when it comes to what it does for business and marketing.

I truly believe that no matter what you put out as far as advertising goes, you are always going to offend someone with something. We live in a world where everyone has so many different opinions and most of the time those opinions are difficult to change. 

I personally will always click on a link from an e-mail promotion if it is something that I'm interested in. Especially if its a sale or a new product from a company that I like, I will most likely check it out even if i have no intentions of purchasing an object or bringing increased business to the site. I think that it can be very effecient because it puts promotions and information right to your fingertip that you don't have to search for. However, my question is how relevant is e-commerce to businesses that provide a service instead of a good? For the objects that are not just one click and done, but a website that creates an experience for their customer to fill out more information..How do they effectively use e-commerce to make sure they are not wasting money?

is it possible to be successful as a small business with only an e-mail list? or would it be a waste of time without other means of advertising concurrently?

It seems like a lot of people are posting about the negative effects of email marketing and wondering whether or not companies should do it. I think that yes there are some negative effects if it is done wrong (too much, not good content) but I think that if it is done correctly and not sending multiple emails a day then it can be very beneficial. Take for instance Biggby Coffee, I get an email from them once or twice a week and they are coupons and informational emails. I like these emails! I think there are a lot of companies that are taking this target on what the emails consist of which is a very good way to use email marketing in my mind!

Going off of the first question you answered. I took the question in a different way than you did. I think the person was just completely asking if there are cases when companies just shouldnt be on social media. In my head, I could see how this would be better than having some that are either hurtful to the company or do no good. Rather than you answered how there are traditional ways to advertise. 

My brand is Suzuki Motorcycles and the average age of motorcycle riders is about 48. Mobile sites don't really appeal to men and woman this age. Most people test drive and or learn about makes and models with a sales person. What kind of ad would suzuki use, knowing online mobile sites aren't a good outlet?

I receive a lot of invitations to attend webinars.  The common practice is to advertise the webinar on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  Once I engage by registering, I continue to see all these social posts, but I also begin receiving reminders from the registration site (GoToWebinar, in this case).  If I register for a webinar 2 weeks in advance, I may see as many as 4 posts EACH on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn as well as 3 reminders from GoToWebinar.  By the time the webinar date arrives, I'm exhausted from the over communication.  Is there a rule to follow about how often to engage with posts and reminders to engage, without losing, attendees?  

How important do you think it is for a brand to have its own app in today's market? Do you think there is a trend for companies that use mobile websites to transition to apps that may be more user friendly instead?