There is no question that Amazon is the leader in the eBook industry, but recent news about Microsoft’s strategic move with a $300 million investment into the Nook, B&N’s eBook reader has created some interesting buzz. On the surface it seems as if B&N is to gain, but when you look closely you can see a lot of possible implications of the deal.

Both the Mobile Marketer and Forbes discuss the new major move. In the Marketer, it sounds as though such a partnership is tenuous at best, with the thought that Microsoft just bought into yet another failing idea like the Zune or SPOT. Senior analyst of eMarketer, Paul Verna states that it helps to have the funding of a big company, but it doesn’t seem like the best move for Barnes and Noble.

The folks over at Forbes have a different discussion going on. Contributing writer, David Coursey has the opinion that Amazon’s Kindle could “be very dead,” as a result of Microsoft’s new partnership. Why? Initially Amazon may have the upper hand for the next couple of years. But as Coursey points out, Microsoft is about to pour $300 million into the Nook’s design and marketing strategy over the next five years.

Microsoft’s move could prove extremely beneficial in boosting their brand. Microsoft also owns Xbox which is another consumer electronics mainstay for gamers and the entertainment industry. Investing money in the Nook, which is already a well-known brand, allows them to take some of Amazon’s market share as well as gain a foothold into two markets: tablets and e-readers.

Here are some possibilities for what could happen:

• Make Bing the Default Nook Search Engine: If Bing was the default search engine for the new Nook, and already is for other Microsoft products, it could provide Microsoft a better standing in household consumer usage.
• Extend Content to Windows 8 Platform: Microsoft could take Barnes & Noble content and distribute it and sell it across Windows 8 devices. Maybe Microsoft just bought access to a large content library.
• Engage the Student Market: Microsoft has the chance to delve into the world of student books and apps. While Amazon does boast of a pretty large network of users and readers in the eBook world, the new partnership has murmured thoughts on pushing the new Nook into the handle of college goers.
• Tight Xbox Integration: The Nook could be a gateway to the Xbox universe and vice versa.
• Microsoft Suite on Devices: If the Microsoft Office Suite comes to the Nook it could funnel in new customers into the Office product line. It could also allow students and Office workers to work on their Microsoft documents thereby making their Nook device their tablet of choice.
• Advertising: Microsoft Advertising could power the Nook. This would allow Microsoft with some interesting advertising opportunities. Think of how contextual ads can be when you have such a wide purchase and browsing history available (which you would if people are purchasing and browsing content through their Nook). I’d still love to see ad-subsidized books and contextual ads based on what you’re reading. More thoughts in this post: Amazon Patent Suggests Mobile Ads for Kindle

It’s great to see more competition in the eBook space. Dominance by any single player tends to lead to stagnation. As with any new partnership, it remains to be seen what good Microsoft can do with the Nook. Microsoft stands to gain a good amount from this partnership: possible advertising in the Nook, a stronger platform, and increased market share for Bing. What does B&N gain? A large cash influx and some muscle to compete with Amazon.

Over the past year we’ve worked with mobile advertising partners creating various mobile rich media ad products and HTML5 mobile ad experiences. We want to share some of the latest HTML 5 and microsite concepts we created around the 2012 Olympic Games.

Our concepts fell into two groups: for official and non-official sponsors. Since only official sponsors are allowed to associate themselves directly with the Olympic games, we came up with “live-data” concepts for official sponsors. We wanted to tie into the excitement and immediacy of the games. The ideas became ads as news. The concepts tie into close to real-time sports data providers so the ad viewer could get the latest Olympic information. A couple of ideas include:

• Medal Count – Allows consumers to see up-to-the minute medal count results.
• Daily Previews & Recaps – Consumers received the latest Olympic news and previews of coverage and events occurring later in the day.

We also needed to broaden the concepts to non-official sponsors to broaden the business opportunity for our partners. Concepts we designed for sponsors (official or not) include:

• HTML5 Mobile Casual Games – We focused on a basketball mini-game. Remember the game you played as a kid where you had one minute to take as many shots as possible? That’s essentially recreated using HTML5. Many don’t know that interactive games with Flash-like experiences can be developed with HTML5 and be deployed today. The most exciting thing about HTML5 mobile games is that they can be distributed across mobile web. This means larger reach and a larger audience.
• London Games Quiz – Another concept we developed is an HTML5 mobile quiz game based on Olympic trivia. Users have a time limit and the faster they respond, the higher the score gets. Users are allowed to then share and post results, as well as inviting other friends to play.
• Sport Timeline – In this concept we created an interactive HTML5 mobile experience where the user interacts with a timeline. As they move their finger across the screen dates, copy, and photos update as the consumer sees information about the innovation for a particular sport. This allows a sponsor or advertiser to associate themselves with any type of sport.
• Polling & Voting – We wanted to use polling concept that could be run throughout the day around various sporting events. Voting on who you think will win an event ties into the most common discussions people have on a daily basis. Plus you get bragging rights if you guess correctly. Polls were also targeted for specific audiences so not everyone views the same sport. Content and eesults are animated via HTML5. Advertisers can choose any type of sport to focus the polling or voting around.

The experiences we’ve been working on often get served via an expandable banner ad or a mobile microsite. HTML5 for mobile is especially exciting in that it’s enabling wide-scale interactivity and experience over mobile web. You’ll start seeing more and more rich experiences outside of apps.

Sponsors or advertisers can create custom experiences and UI components and are not relegated to standard web UI controls. HTML5 makes mobile advertising more enjoyable and encourages users to linger on microsites longer. An article in Digiday predicts major mobile interaction around the Games this summer, which gives advertisers a great chance at marketing products through dynamic microsites.

Over the next few weeks we’ll be sharing more about our Olympic as well as other concepts. Stay tuned.

What is it about Mother’s Day? Or for that matter, mothers in general? It seems like every time I’ve had a conversation lately about someone’s core audience, they tell me “We’re targeting moms.” Michael Kors is tapping into the mom market with a well designed mobile strategy. They are rolling out their latest and greatest with a mobile campaign targeting just Mother’s Day. Targeting a niche market along with an event is a solid mobile strategy that offers many opportunities.

As an article points out in Luxury Daily, fashion label Michael Kors is the leader this Mother’s Day on social media, particularly with a mobile based contest. Marketer John Casey pointed out, “…Next Mother’s Day, a mobile-based contest will be old news.”The article goes on to describe Michael Kors newest campaign, spear-headed with a mobile-based contest. To get the word out to their current customer base they used other social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest to push the contest. Using the slogan “What She Wants,” the basic premise behind the contest is to funnel potential customers to the Kors ecommerce site which leads them to a specific area with cherry-picked gifts that mother’s would love.

CEO of Cross Pixel Media, Alan Pearlstein, agrees that there is a pressing need to examine the smaller markets instead of the broad scope. So instead of the Kors brand marketing to all women who could potentially become mothers, those who will not become mothers at all, or just women in general, they chose a specific demographic:

• Women over 40 (Facebook’s most active group)
• Women who have discretionary income to purchase luxury items
• Women who use their smart phones on a regular basis to shop

The idea of using a mobile based contest is not new, but the strategy of using an event or holiday to increase brand or product awareness is a good one. Michael Kors took one section of the bigger piece of market pie, and narrowed it down specifically t o those who would be interested in Kors products, and those who need to buy their mother’s a gift. By using the catchy tag-line “What She Wants,” Kors is implying that yes, of course, your mother wants a product with the Michael Kors brand.

This works well as part of a mobile design strategy. Mobile niche marketing is an excellent way to push a certain type of product or service into the public’s eye but careful planning is essential to a campaign’s success. Initially you will want to examine which events, holidays, or seasons work the best for your campaign. Analyze what products will fit within the event you have in mind. If you are unsure which products, or which event might work the best, run a few test campaigns to see where you get the biggest response. You could even segment an ad and direct it to different target markets to see which demographic responds.

Once you have figured out what works and what doesn’t, then consider scaling your campaign. It is essential that you get the marketing message down beforehand. The next step would be to find neighboring markets to branch into. For instance, the Kors brand might realize that men need to buy Mother’s Day gifts too for their mothers or wives. What kind of campaign would answer and meet their needs? Last-minute gift ideas, calendar reminders, and other helpful items provide high value to potential male customers.

A caveat to all these good thoughts on scaling down your market: if you do not measure, you will fail. It is ultimately up to you to examine the data of your market to determine where there is a need. It’s vital to examine your analytics to see what target market you could grow a campaign with. Mobile ads and especially mobile contests targeted for certain type of individuals will garner more success than the casually flung campaign across any and all who might stumble upon it.

While watching TV the other day, I noticed a Shazam logo pop up on the screen. Of course, I immediately searched and came across this really interesting Ad Age article about how Shazam’s new mobile marketing app listens to what you’re watching and serves up synchronized content on your phone. This new technology allows companies to target their mobile design strategy to what consumers are viewing on TV, creating a whole new way to think about interactive television.

Back in the late 90s when folks were first envisioning interactive television, we assumed the interaction would be taking place on the TV screen. Using either a remote or a touch screen, we would engage and drive television content. What Shazam’s mobile marketing app achieves is true interactivity. It shifts how we think about interactive TV, opening up amazing possibilities for brands and consumers. Instead of interactivity taking place on one screen, it takes place on two.

The content remains on the TV and the interaction happens on the mobile device, allowing brands and networks to coordinate mobile design in support of TV shows and commercials. Shazam’s mobile app works by leveraging the company’s sound recognition technology to drive interaction, solving the challenge of syncing interaction to timed content. Sound recognition provides a ‘bridge’ for perfectly syncing broadcast content to a mobile device, which otherwise would be a very complex process. What this means is that when the Shazam app picks up the appropriate words or music from the TV, a corresponding mobile experience or ad will appear instantly on your phone.

With Shazam’s technology, the mobile design experience possibilities are endless. Broadcast networks, for example, can enhance a program’s content during the show itself to increase programming loyalty. The two screens, mobile and TV, can play off each other simultaneously, as opposed to being related yet still working individually. In addition, networks can prevent people from changing the channel by providing interesting experiences during commercial breaks. For example, during breaks the network might show you ads for upcoming programs and remind you to schedule alerts. They can quiz you and offer prizes. Tease what will happen after the break.

Most advantageous to networks, Shazam’s mobile marketing app allows them to sell more advertising on combined units. Not only can they sell standard network slots, but they can also sell the accompanying interactions on mobile devices. Brands, too, like the interactive possibilities for an integrated rich experience. Many are designing their own versions of Shazam’s mobile marketing app to create interactivity between TV content and mobile devices.

These kinds of mobile marketing apps marry television’s broad profile marketing with mobile behavioral targeting. For example, you might watch an ad on TV from an auto manufacturer. Then, based on your profile, your mobile device will provide you with additional mobile design advertising based on your specific profile and preferences. Instead of everyone seeing additional content for the same vehicle, the person will get the most likely vehicle they are interested in (SUV, luxury sedan, sports car, etc) timed perfectly to the spot on the television. Because the interactivity will make commercials more interesting, these integrated mobile marketing apps and experiences may just solve the DVR issue of consumers bypassing all commercial content.

Shazam’s application of their technology is rather new. It’ll be interesting to see how many consumers embrace this type of interactivity. One thing is for sure though, the possibilities for innovation in mobile design and interactive tv have increased dramatically.

Coca-Cola Freestyle is revolutionizing soda fountain machines by letting consumers mix up to 125 different flavors of soft drinks, waters, lemonades and sports drinks. Though the machine was first launched three years ago, it’s set to reach critical mass in 2012—which is why Coca Cola is launching mobile marketing and social apps to coincide with Freestyle. Their new vending concept is quite inspiring for mobile design strategies – it also shifts consumer loyalty from the QSR chain that contains the Freestyle to the Freestyle itself.

What’s most significant about Freestyle’s technology is that while consumers are mixing, the machine gathers data about consumer preferences and relays it back to Coca Cola, enabling the company to understand which flavors are most popular at particular times of the day. In this sense, Freestyle works much like a successful mobile marketing app. It gathers information from consumers while offering value to that consumer.

According to an article in AdAge, the limited number of Freestyle machines out there has already been highly successful at driving foot traffic and increasing in-store sales by 20-30%. The article also states that “more than 20% of consumers said they would be very likely to switch restaurants or convenience stores due to the presence of Freestyle”. This is extremely significant if Coca Cola manages to pull it off.

If the consumer experience is strong enough, consumer desire can be shifted from the fast food chain to the vending experience. For example, if Coke is doing a better job of reaching the customer via mobile, the customer will likely choose a location with a Freestyle instead of the food itself. In other words, it may not be an issue of “Do I want a burger, pizza, or taco” but “where can I get my Freestyle”?

By combining new vending technolgies with mobile design strategies, Coca Cola and other companies can harness the immediacy of mobile to further consumer interaction with their own products.

Mobile design ideas & strategies inspired by Coke’s Freestyle:

• When using Freestyle, let users ‘check in’ on their mobile phones so you can build up preferences over time.
• Offer random free extras like a coupon for a free drink or a size upgrade when using the machine.
• Give reward points and let users redeem those points through their mobile phones.
• Rather than conduct A/B testing for new flavors, rotate new flavors to avoid bias and see what people respond to best.
• Create partner or restaurant chain promotions and see which ones work best.
• Test promotions then target specific mobile customers based on your data. This will boost your marketing success.
• Offer free gifts like drinks and size upgrades on special occasions. For example: “Happy birthday! Have a Coke on us.”
• Track specific individual preferences to custom tailor offers. For example, if you know a user prefers Sprite and onion rings, send him a deal for a burger, onion rings, and a Sprite.
• Enable consumers to find a nearby machine, access their reward points, and check their latest offers

In sum, people will be loyal to the vending machine itself. A successful mobile design strategy enhances the experience by allowing consumers to share favorites, check reward points, get offers, and find a machine. These tips go for Coca Cola and any company venturing into the world of mobile marketing apps.

In my last post, I talked about how the success of QR really depends on developing a smart mobile strategy and executing that mobile strategy with good mobile design. In this post, I thought I’d further that discussion by pointing out additional factors that influence QR code success. One, you need to thoughtfully integrate barcodes into your print ad and/or packaging. Two, you need to include enticing text that explains to consumers what they get for scanning the barcode. Having a visually prominent barcode accompanied by a solid offer will lead to desired traffic.

Let’s do a little experiment. Flip through some magazines and look at how different companies are using barcodes in their print communications. How often do you see a barcode by itself with no additional explanation like a simple “Scan here”? How frequently does the copy explain what you’ll get by scanning the barcode? For example, a barcode might be accompanied by text like: “Scan to find the nearest boutique” or “Scan here for a coupon”? Is the barcode sitting in the corner of the ad all by itself?

Your research will probably show that most QR codes look like stickers placed into an ad with no explanation at all. That’s a big problem. Especially with new technology, consumers need to be taught what to do. You have to give them a reason to scan the code. This is where your mobile design strategy comes in. If you want to raise awareness about store locations, lead them to a boutique. If you want to increase product trial, offer a coupon. Good mobile design will entice consumers to take additional action.

When I look at how barcodes are used in print ads, I often think of the barcode as a call-to-action. It’s essentially a ‘button’ that leads consumers to make a purchase or learn more about a product. But most QR codes are not being used that way. Instead, you’ll find barcodes placed in the corner of ads all by themselves. To me, this is the equivalent of using a button on a web page with no text whatsoever.

The solution? Integrate the barcode into your ad and include a solid offer. The code should be seamlessly placed into the ad’s design just like any other element. It should also lead to a site whose mobile design promotes further consumer action. Going back to the button analogy, you wouldn’t put a button off in a corner of a critical web page. Rather, your whole design for that web page would center on driving the user to take action.

The QR code should be similarly integrated into your print communications in a way that is visually appealing and provides incentives for scanning. Check out this slideshow on visually creative QR codes from Mashable. I’d expect to see a lot more creative use of QR in the future as designers become more familiar with them.

Lastly, you want to create various QR offers and test them to determine which one yields the best response. To do this, use the same print ad and only vary the ‘preview’ of what the user gets with the QR code, such as:

• Scan for location
• Scan for coupon
• Scan for video

Then track the hits on your mobile designed site to see which incentive delivered the most traffic.

There are plenty of companies who are using them correctly. According to a post on Online Spin, Home Depot and Best Buy have launched extensive QR centered campaigns, putting tags on their products to enhance the in-store experience. Also, over 45,000 new codes were created last quarter alone. Barcodes are rapidly taking their place as a viable marketing tool. The key is to use them strategically and design them wisely.

You’ll see more success when the QR design experience is thought through.

A post on Mobile Marketing Watch announced how big brands like Target are driving sales with an effective mobile retail strategy that incorporates coupons. In fact, using mobile coupons to drive traffic is an increasingly popular retail tactic. If your mobile design strategy allows for easy sharing and instant access to reviews, and if your mobile retail strategy offers reward points and other incentives, your mobile coupons will effectively drive retail traffic and increase your sales.

Below are some mobile retail design strategies for boosting the power of your mobile coupons.

1. Let users subscribe to specific coupons: For example let them sign up for specific department coupons like home, bed & bath, kitchen & dining. Tailored incentives are much more effective.

2. Wishlist coupons: Offer users coupons for things they want or notify them when items they’ve wishlisted go on sale. You have warm leads here you can maximize for sales.

3. Take advantage of GeoFencing: If a user is within a certain radius of a retail location, give them an incentive to stop in and shop.

4. Allow users to share coupons: Ensure your mobile design effort makes it easy for them to post your offers on their social networks and expand your reach.

5. Follow-up: if a user redeems your coupon, have a mobile retail strategy in place for offering more coupons in the future or other brand building incentives.

6. Allow easy and instant access to reviews: Your mobile design strategy should let consumers check reviews for at least coupon items. Access to reviews speeds the buying decision process.

7. Offer extra discounts for check-ins: Allow users to ‘check in’ when they are in a store to get additional deals exclusive to in-store shoppers.

8. Promote in-store only coupons: Let users they can access extra coupons in-store only. Maybe have specific offers tied to each day of the week. For example, Saturday is extra home coupons day (a day when people are likely to make home purchases). Tuesday (the day when new movies get released) is movie coupons day, etc. Train people to come to the store and expect speficic offers tailored to their interests on specific days.

9. Allow users to combine coupons for additional savings: If they have a 10% off blouse coupon and a 10% of pants coupon, let them use both for 25% off the entire purchase.

10. Reward with future coupons: Tell them that if they spend a certain amount today, they can get a discount on a future purchase.

11. Share coupons social networks: Offer coupon incentives for spreading the word about your products.

12. Offer extra reward points: Tie your mobile coupons into your rewards program by attaching extra reward points to specific coupons.

13. The more you spend, the more you save: Boost sales by encouraging consumers to buy more for additional discounts.

14. Double or triple coupon days: To drive traffic on a specific day of the week, let users double or triple the value of their mobile coupons.

All of the above mobile design strategy ideas for retail coupons will work best if you have a solid mobile strategy in place and if that strategy is well executed. When those two elements come together, mobile coupons can be used to drive retail sales in a number of ways.

A recent article on Mobile Commerce Daily took on the question of QR Tags and their future viability. The article argued that when QR tags and apps fail, the culprit is most often a lack of smart mobile strategy. I’ve found that QR tag success is determined by having a thoughtful mobile strategy and executing that mobile strategy with effective mobile design. When those elements are in place, QR codes can raise brand awareness and drive sales.

We’ve had the opportunity to work with different mobile recognition companies from image recognition experts to barcode providers. Throughout these collaborations, I’ve heard some disturbing trends. For example, when using QR codes many companies ignore mobile strategy and simply have their QR tag lead to a non-mobile version of their site, often just the regular home page rather than even a specific landing page dedicated to the promotion. Consumers are not able to navigate those sites well because they aren’t optimized for viewing on mobile. Design plays a large role in QR code success. QR codes also get a bad wrap because they often lead to a broken link.

In both these cases, and many others, companies are misusing mobile technology and not realizing the true potential of QR tags. Basically, they haven’t created an overall mobile strategy that uses good mobile design to incorporate QR tags into a larger mobile marketing campaign. Mobile is not a magic bullet. Like all other marketing campaigns, mobile design needs to be thought through. Mobile itself is not a strategy.

Before thinking about QR codes or any mobile campaign, then, you need to develop some high-level business goals. Are you trying to build awareness? Are you trying to drive sales or capture names? Mobile is one channel for achieving these goals. (Print, direct mail, etc. are other channels.) QR codes are one component within your mobile strategy. They should be used in conjunction with a mobile designed website and other branding efforts.

QR codes can be highly effective for building awareness, driving sales and capturing names. People often think of them as solely a means for encoding a url. However, if you work with a QR registry, you can implement intelligent QR codes that adapt to your needs by delivering content based on the user’s profile, location, date and a number of other factors.

Imaging designing your mobile possibilities with the ability to present different content and offers based upon:

• Scan location (different for cities, states, countries)
• Date/Time Ranges (different for evenings, lunches, holidays, etc)
• Maximizing user profiles for previous purchases and phone types
• Geo-fencing within a specific distance of your retail location

In sum, I think the real advantage of QR codes lies in the way they bridge the physical and the digital. They’re a great way to drive end users to take easy and immediate action. As QR codes evolve and marketers begin to implement them within a larger mobile strategy, they will provide solid results. But success will require that a strategy be put in place along with a solid call-to-action, an enticing offer and a well-designed mobile destination.

A recent report by RSR Research showed 87% of retailers find mobile apps are valuable for driving traffic to their physical store. That’s up from 67% last year. Mobile sites can enhance the in-store shopping experience by offering consumers a number of incentives for interacting with a product and making a purchase decision.

Getting value from your store’s mobile marketing site or app requires smart mobile design and strategy that fulfills consumer’s needs while shopping. Here are some ways to maximize your mobile site or app design so that it results in greater retail sales.

Create easy access to reviews.

Customers want to know how others liked or disliked a product. Posting reviews on your mobile site or appis one of the top things you can do to expedite consumer decision-making.

Allow consumers to lookup product availability and shelf location.

Consumers don’t like wasting time searching your store for a particular item. If your mobile design incorporates features that enable them to look up if your store carries a product and where it’s located, you’ll be more likely to make that sale. For example, I was in Target looking to buy a toy. The clerk didn’t know if the store carried the particular toy I was looking for.

I checked the mobile site and verified that the toy was in stock. The site even showed me what aisle to find the toy—highly convenient. Essentially, you want to think of your mobile site or app as a virtual retail assistant with all the answers.

Allow login and interaction with digital accounts.

When consumers login to your mobile site or mobile while at your physical retail locations, you can suggest additional items based on what they are purchasing as well as their user profile. Think batteries and accessories. You can also give these consumers specific incentives to drive other purchases. Mobile sites and apps designed for an integrated retail experience help you increase the size of your baskets.

Aid their memory.

Sometimes consumers want to save product information so they can purchase that product later. Design your mobile site or app so that it allows them to sign up for research later or create a wishlist.

Facilitate feedback.

Your mobile retail website should make it easy for consumers to forward product information to a friend and request an opinion. The simpler this process is, the more likely you are to make a sale.

Maximize QR codes.

QR codes bridge the physical good at the retail point-of-purchase to the digital. I scanned a plant’s QR code while in Home Depot. I was taken to a mobile web page with supplemental information that couldn’t have been shown on the plant. The site provided the info I needed to make a purchase—which I did. QR codes simplify the ability to get information about a product instantly.

Essentially, a good mobile site or app supplements the in-store shopping experience in ways that drive more sales. Instead of digital store versus physical store, you get a blending of the two for the ultimate retail experience.

One of the questions I get asked most frequently is what are the best ways to promote a mobile app. In my last post, Good Mobile User Interface Design Leads to App Love, I cited a recent statistic regarding user recommendations. The article stated that 53% of app users discover their apps through recommendations from friends. Because the percentage is so high, I couldn’t stop thinking about ways companies might take advantage of word-of-mouth marketing by making it possible to recommend apps from within an app.

Ways to attract user recommendations:

Tell a Friend

Tell a Friend functionality allows a user to spread information about your mobile branded app via email. App stores frequently make use of this functionality to promote mobile apps, but you rarely see it integrated into an app itself. Doing so is advantageous because you make it easy for app users to recommend your app and deliver your crafted marketing messages to their friends.

Tell a friend works by initiating a pre-populated email on a user’s mobile device. Plus when you incorporate Tell A Friend into an app’s home or about screen, or as infrequent popups, users enjoying an app can share it instantly. This increases the chances that users will recommend your app, and with 53% of app users getting their apps from recommendations, Tell a Friend may be the only marketing program you need.

Just Ask

A simple request to share an app can go a long way toward meeting your marketing goals. For it to be a success, the request should be direct, polite and give the user the ability to opt out forever or be reminded later. The last thing you want to do when advertising a mobile app is to annoy the user. Note the screenshot I took of a desktop app that does this very well. The app makes a request, explains why it’s making a request, and then thanks the user. At no point does the request feel like a sales pitch. Just Asking works especially well with freemium versions of mobile apps.

Use Social Networks

Leverage your app users’ existing relationships by allowing them to forward info about your app to a social network like Facebook or Twitter. You can specify the exact message you want spread along with a graphic. That message could be about the app, a hi-score with the user’s name, a coupon or discount, etc.

The great advantage here is that rather than recommend your app to one friend at a time, social network sharing functionalities let users recommend your app or messaging to all their friends at the same time. With each user who forwards to Facebook or Twitter, you reach hundreds of potential users with messages about the value of your app.

Reward Users

Don’t forget to reward users for spreading information about your app or message. When you give users a reason to share, they will. If your app is a game, offer extra levels, special characters or additional graphics they can’t get elsewhere. If you’re a retail store, provide them with a discount. Your reward for offering a reward will be worthwhile.

Make Recommendations Part of Your Mobile Strategy

Ensure your apps success by making recommendations a part of your marketing mobile app strategy. During planning, require the integration of promotions. When designing the mobile user interface, create a user-friendly flow with integrated sharing functions.

Lastly, create the best user experience possible. No one shares a bad app, so make yours the best possible and watch the word spread. With built-in features for recommendations, sharing a mobile app with friends becomes infinitely easier—which makes marketing mobile apps easier as well.