Whether you’re a business owner trying to go mobile, an app developer or a marketer, one of your primary objectives should be increasing the exposure and visibility of your application. An increase in your apps’ number of monthly active users will naturally lead to a boost in revenue, and profitability is the ultimate goal here.

For an application to reach its maximum potential, it should have the capabilities demanded to serve users from different regions. As great as the functions and characteristics of your app might currently be if the app is not designed for a global market, achieving the level of success you are targeting won’t be possible.

Mobile app development should be followed by app localization. This process will allow you to extend your reach to international markets and attract more users from different countries and with different preferences. Increasing sales, boosting the number of downloads, exceeding competition – app localization comes with a variety of appealing benefits.

Because you need to take several important steps here, familiarizing yourself with the topic is critical. Here’s how you can handle this project successfully:

Understanding the concept – what exactly is mobile app localization?

First things first, you need to obtain a full understanding of what mobile app localization actually means.

What does this concept stand for?

To put it in simpler words, app localization refers to the process of customizing an application to properly function in other languages than your default choice. Localization can also imply dialects or variations of the same language, known as locales. An example here would be English variations for Canada, the UK, and the United States.

Application internalization

Without extensive knowledge on the subject, you could end up confusing localization with internalization. These two processes depend on one another but aren’t the same time.

Mobile app internalization is the process of customizing your code for localization – preparing it to be modified, and after, releasing it in other languages.

Before you can begin your localization approach, you need to handle internalization. Your application should already have the capacity to handle content localization before you actually start creating that content.

So, the first step is preparing your code and taking care of app internalization.

Choose target markets

One of the first and probably most important decisions is choosing target markets.

In which languages will you customize your content?

Through app localization, you can reach out to all international markets, but that doesn’t mean you should actually do that. Expanding just anywhere isn’t always advantageous, involving money and time you may not afford to waste.

Market research is demanded here. Find out which countries or regions come with a promising status, where it makes sense to expand. Based on the data you gather through your research, you can then decide on the language or locales to use in your customization process.

Think about the specifics of your app, its features and the users who might take an interest in it – some countries might have a higher demand for certain apps than others.

Check app reviews and analytics

Because going in one direction or another with the expansion of your app’s reach means doing research, you should use app reviews and analytics to your advantage. If you have released the application already and have an established base of users, you can use your app’s analytics to figure out where most of your users are actually coming from. Once you figure out the countries where most downloads are generated, you can cater to that group of users further through localization.

Going over app reviews is also useful here. Discover what users from different demographics have to say about features and functions.

What do they like and what needs improvement?

If more users from the same country have left positive feedback, it means you should expand the capacity of your app in that region.

Research competition

Analyze the development and global growth of apps with the same profile, or with similar characteristics.

What are your competitors doing?

See what international markets they have accessed (use statistics for that), and explore in-depth the countries where they are currently most successful. The answers obtained here can provide you with the direction needed.

Incremental growth

Each new international market you will extend to will demand a financial investment from your part. Because the costs involved might exceed your budget, it’s safer to focus on one version at a time.

Incremental growth will make your localization more successful.

It will give you the possibility to master each language or locale instead of compromising on localization efficiency just because you’ve headed towards too many directions.

Be thorough with translations

Next comes the step where you actually start working on your content. Successful and reliable localization isn’t something you can achieve just by using google translate. Collaborating with professional translators will help you obtain the outcomes targeted.

Note: Put together brand-specific style guides and glossaries, so the translators can maintain the same tone of voice and app personality across all languages used.

Be thorough with translations, search for services that actually rise up to high-quality standards. As suggested by PickWriters, regardless if you’re seeking Vietnamese translation services, Chinese translations or professional translators for other languages, review their work before handing out this project to a particular translator.

Besides your app-related texts, translate your marketing materials as well. App name, app description, audio files and any other element related to digital marketing should be localized as well.

Keep in mind cultural nuances as well.

Go over app store content

Even with your app customized for international markets, if your app store content isn’t updated, you could end up losing users. An app store is where people will interact with your application for the first time, so the content found here should be appropriate for that specific market.

Include the customization of the following app store content elements: text, app previews, keywords, videos, screenshots, in-app purchases.

Test before and after launch

Just as you would test an online platform an after extensive website designing project, implement the same approach when you are launching a localized app version. This will allow you to find potential errors in presentation, formatting, and text. Choose a variety of commonly used devices.

Based on the results obtained from your first test, update the application. Release a beta version and make it available to a small target group. See what feedback you receive, make further adjustments if necessary and proceed with the official launch.

Keep a close tab on download stats and post-launch ratings. Some issues could appear, so address the problems that are affecting the users.

Market the app internationally

With your asp ready to be used in other countries, spread the word out. Implement a localized marketing campaign. Use the materials and resources you believe will work for an exposure boost. Increase your app’s discoverability by attaching a download button to your website, and use SEO techniques to increase your visibility in search engines.

Final thoughts

App localization can help you reach global popularity. Follow each important step to handle the entire process in a resourceful and productive manner. With your application available in countries where interested users exist, your application can become an international success.

No one is unaware of the fact that mobile apps have shaped the way we live our lives currently.  The world is changing dramatically because of the speed the mobile apps are accelerating.

Users are finding accessing mobile apps more beneficial than the web. It is no longer a trend but a brand awareness. Mobile Applications Development have a bright future in business growth. 

If you own a business and is not using mobile apps for your brand awareness, then surely you are lagging behind.  It is an essential marketing tool for small and large enterprises to build a remarkable impression in the competitive web market.  

Business applications are developed in almost every industry, and every business owner must understand the benefits of companies that use mobile apps. 

We are here to give you all the significant advantages of mobile apps for business. If you are desiring to grow in this competitive world extraordinarily adopt these benefits and expand the business.  So, let’s get started!! 

Why Apps Are Must? Benefits Of Mobile Apps For Your Business

ATTRACT CUSTOMERS

More Engagement

Create more brand awareness with more customer engagement using mobile application management. Many customers will have access to updated promotions or discounts. You can also interact with the customers as per their requirement is an added benefit of using mobile app development services.

More Traffic

In the past few years, mobile apps have been the leading traffic provider. It is known that people are more active on their phones than on laptops. 

The percentage of the users that are using the web for searches is only 5%. One of the main factors that are making mobile apps more demanding is the secure payment gateways.  Now, it has become easier to purchase and buy online on phones.  

Promotional Benefits

The businesses are using mobile apps to promote their business with special offers and discounts to their customers directly. Using an application can bring in more flexibility to the business. Usually, it is considered as an employee as it has the ability to deliver efficient results. 

BUILDS MARKET CREDIBILITY

Builds More Valuable Brand

Including a mobile application to improve your brand awareness is significant. The companies which are using mobile apps are building a never-ending trust with the customers. They are offering useful information, selling the products with secure gateways, Home delivery options, promoting special offers, assisting the customer in their problems, and decision making. 

Providing exclusive deals results in more customer engagement. Achieving the right process (Engagement-> loyalty->sales) will lead you to a successful future. 

New Product Showcase

When you release a new product or service, you can deliver that efficiently to your customers immediately. And, opens the much faster purchasing opportunity for your customers.

INCREASES REVENUE

More Monetization

Creating more monetization opportunities is also one of the main reasons a business owner should consider. Responsive and appealing application opens more channels for sales and for more monetization opportunities. 

Instant Mobile Payment

Being in this digital world, everyone prefers to go with the applications to shop and pay accordingly. So, why to waste valuable time by standing in a queue with other customers.

The shopping website gives a detailed description of the product and services with customer support availability. Customer can review your product, promote your services by clicking on the “share” button. Mobile applications will help you to make the report of products purchased by the customers. 

If you are only accessible to your local customers,  then the customized development features could be used to maintain the debt of the customer. This app allows you to manage the activities, sustain trust amongst customers and seller. This increases customer retention and can also be checked easily from mobile applications. 

Increases Profit

When the customer’s satisfaction increases, the sales also increase. The satisfied customer will always come back, and with regular availability, the mobile app will reach them.

So, offering a product that has several advantages of having a mobile app has of significant importance. The valuable and reliable brand enjoys a strong relationship with the customers. 

MARKETING

App Store

The users are using mobile phones to find a new application that can fulfil their needs in any way. When you update your mobile app on the app store, the users will use it after finding. More intelligence lies in making your application available for different stores such as Google pay, blackberry, iOS, AppStore, and many more. It is essential because people are using a varied type of smartphones. 

Use as Direct Marketing

Now mobile phones are one of the biggest service providers. The applications differentiate with the features and design that attract its customers. So, you need to be smarter and develop something which your competitor has not. Also, the call to action (CTA) does its job using concise and actionable buttons. 

Branding

Attaining a brand name but not available on the internet!!

Do you find it a smart decision?

So, do not let your business to wait for more to reach success. 

Brands are now opening their accounts on social websites such as Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for more brand awareness and marketing. And, they are executing it well. So, you can also opt this fashion as it will lead directly to more customer engagement. 

CUSTOMER SUPPORT

More Mobility

Create a comfortable and easy conversation with your customers. As your business apps are meant to be more mobile. It is the best way to be with your customers anytime and sort their issues if persists.

Be available to your customers to assure them that you care for them. It will surely increase the customer satisfaction level and can give you more leads and conversions. So, if you have a desire to increase the revenue of your business, then go mobile.

 24×7 Availability

The customer will prefer to use mobile application management to attain information of your brand. Available to your customers every time is one of the best benefits of mobile apps. Better customer service, more customer engagement will add more profit to your business. 

Availability in Overseas

So, now if you have decided to create a mobile application for your company, then you can make it accessible in overseas as well. It allows you to be seen in the world. Don’t you want this to happen? Obviously, yes? When you appear on the internet, the online market is definitely yours.

 For instance, America, Europe, and Asia are said to have a greater proportion of technocrats. If you can make your application accessible in these parts, then, the traffic that you will get will be massive.

ADDITIONAL BENEFIT

Data Collector

Mobile app benefits with the product and services sellers are offering, they also work as a data collector.  The data collector collects the data you need or provides to your customers on your smartphone.

For instance, if you own a salon, and you need to notify the latest offers and the services you are offering.  Then you will obviously use the mobile application instead of promoting through the printed papers. All you need is to update the information on your app, or you can opt the SMS or email option.

Wrapping Up

Use the mobile app to generate more profitable opportunities for your business. Expand your reach and gives your customers the best experience. The importance of application development is critical for online marketing.

Do share your thoughts with us. Give us your kind reviews (queries or suggestions) in the comment section below. Thank you for reading!!

AUTHOR BIO: Morris Edwards is a Sr. Web developer and hobby writer at Awebstar- Singapore Mobile App development Company. He has created websites for more than 750+ small to large scale companies. He has influenced may junior developers with his managing and creative skills. 

We are constantly moving towards a sphere of modern technology, where it’s no longer a necessity for developers to separately write code for an application to make it work on different platforms. Developing an application for different platforms has become a lot easier with the introduction of cross-platform development tools. Cross-platform mobile developers make use of these advancements to create multiple applications in quick time,

However, things are not that easy as they look from the outside. Managing cross-platform mobile app development is a hell lot of a task in itself. This could really push you to the end of the rope, but don’t worry as we are here with the perfect solution for you. Here are top 7 tips for Managing Cross-Platform Mobile App Development that can help you manage cross-platform app development with ease.

Platform Specific Development

Platform-specific development must be your primary goal when you are working with a cross-platform development tool. Why? Well, if the application you are developing is not platform-specific or platform-oriented then what’s the use of even going for cross-platform development. There are certain standards and features that users expect while using an Andriod or an ios application. As there are things which you can do with Andriod but not with ios and vise-Versa. So you need to make sure that your application has been properly customized accordingly with respect to the platform-specific features. 

UI Frameworks

When you are working with a cross-platform development tool, trying to create the same application for two different platforms, its not easy to manage things especially the UI components. You have to work with tons of patterns, styles, animation, etc and developing all of these without a UI framework is probably something every developer would want to avoid. So it is recommended that you make use of the UI framework and get things done more quickly and smoothly. As a matter of fact, there are a number of frameworks available in the market that you can use such as Kendo UI  a commercial framework, Open source framework Ionic, jQuery,  Sencha Touch, etc. Whatever you do make sure to choose your frameworks wisely this can really affect the flow of your work in the future. 

Performace

Performance is a major issue with apps developed using cross-platform development tools. Although cross-platform really saves a lot of time it does make things a little slower with all the animation, high pixel images, themes, and most important backend compatibility, etc.  So you have to be a little extra careful with this and take care of things like backend javascript code, Optimizing DOM and CSS, reducing rendering time, cache, etc. This will really help you improve your application performance. 

Native Header Bar

It is the small bar that allows the users to simply navigate within a section of your application. Now every platform uses different header bar and this creates a major problem for developers, as most of the popular cross-platform development tool does not have pre-built header for different platforms. However, this does not mean you cannot customize your application header as you can do it through HTML and CSS. This does require a little work where you will have to add minimal DOM and a few lines of CSS code for each mobile OS platform. 

Manage System Fonts

Android, Windows, and ios all use a different font system and scheme. So you have to manually customize your font system for each of these or else it’s going to cause a major problem. 

Touch Gestures

Make your app compatible with the different gestures a platform provides. Especially ios as they have a different set of gestures that can really improve your app UI and UX. 

Monitor Feedback

You can’t hope to make a perfect application in the first try. And it’s not about making it perfect it’s about improving the existing one. User feedback plays an important role here, so make sure to constantly monitor your application feedback and improve accordingly.  

Author Bio:-

Merry Waren is a Marketing Manager at AIS Technolabs which is Web design and Development Company, helping global businesses to grow by Node Js Development Services. I would love to share thoughts on cross platform mobile developer and Game Design Development etc.

Conversion Rate- A study of Facebook Vs Instagram:

Can you confess something honestly? If you plan to launch a social media campaign, which platform will first come up in your mind? Facebook obviously! However, have you ever thought that Instagram is also spreading all over the market gradually? With the use of images and hashtags, this social media platform has become one of the powerful mediums to reach a large number of audiences and engage them. 

When beginner marketers consider launching a campaign on social media, they launch it on Facebook or Twitter. However, smart marketers study all the social media platforms for successful and integrated campaigns so that he/she can ensure an effective promotion. 

There is no denial of the fact that social media is a cost-effective and time-saving tool to reach the target audience. According to studies, investments in social media advertising have increased up to 32 billion dollars in 2017. It has also been predicted that in 2021, the investment can reach up to 48 billion. Don’t you think it’s pretty impressive? Apart from this result, it has been also found that Instagram has more conversion rate than Facebook.  However, before you know the reason, it is better to acquire a clear idea about what a conversion rate is. 

Conversion Rate- Definition

When you want to sell a product, you have a certain target audience. If you approach 10 customers to buy your product, you can convince only 2 to 3 customers. These two or three customers are the conversion rate of your business. In a nutshell, the definition of conversion rate is the percentage of users who take a decision and implement any desired action. There are different tools that help to find out the percentage of this conversion rate. The number of customers visits your website or business platform is calculated in a percentage to determine the conversion rate. 

Why Conversion Rate is Important?

It is important to understand consumer behavior and actions if you want to excel in your business domain. Therefore, knowing the conversion rate is inevitable. If you see that despite putting honest and needed effort your conversion rate is low, you have to find out the route cause and work on it. Marketing and promotion are two wheels of the vehicle that you are on. You need to put these two wheels together to make your business progress in the rat race. 

Otherwise, it would become difficult for you to sustain in this competitive market. Social media has become one of the powerful mediums of promotion and advertisement. A remarkable number of conversion rates are ensured by promoting business in social media platforms. 

Various platforms have emerged in the world of digital marketing. Although Facebook is the old horse in the race, Instagram is the new potential horse that can win the race effortlessly. 

There are different reasons for which researchers have come to this conclusion that Instagram is more powerful than Facebook now. 

Let us divide the two social media platforms into three different categories. 

Reach:

Facebook: 

Facebook has more active users than Instagram. According to credible reports, Facebook has 2.07 billion users (monthly). The number of active users indicates that Facebook has a greater chance of reach to the target audience. Therefore, if you want your brand to be visible to many targeted audiences, this is the one and only greater medium for you. However, with the advent of Instagram, people are now keener to use this platform with less content and more images.

Instagram: 

This social media platform gets 800 million users per month. Although it is lesser than Facebook, still the competition is tough for sure. As Instagram has more images than contents, branding is easier, and the conversion rate increases accordingly. Instagram is the best platform if you want to go with Photo Ads and aim to guarantee a good amount of conversion rate. Instagram also has a strong and organic network reach. It has newer features and ability with hashtags and ‘suggestions for you’ section. Therefore, Instagram is more considered by the users. 

Engagement:

Instagram: 

According to US reports, 70.7% of US businesses were using Instagram in 2017. In 2016,

the percentage was 48. This is indeed a huge jump. What can be the reason behind such engagement of users in Instagram? Reports from Instagram show that 80% of users follow at least one business on this social media platform. One of the reasons behind this is the mobile-friendliness of the app. Instagram can only be used over a smartphone. Therefore, it has a huge range of engagement. Apart from that, businesses that are showcased on this social media are attractive with bright and eye-catchy images. These images can attract customers instantly.

Facebook:

Facebook engagement in different organic posts often fluctuates. You can get a specific amount of engagement in a good post; however, it is now less than Instagram. Facebook doesn’t allow you to edit your images and present it in a more attractive way.  With the images posted on Instagram, users tend to show attention and ensure engagement. In case of Facebook, user’s engagement is lesser due to inorganic contents and less opportunity to edit the images. 

Demographics: 

Instagram: 

According to research conducted by Pew Research, it has been found that more females use Instagram than men. Therefore, businesses of jewelry, garments, Female bags, watches are more found on this social media platform. As Instagram is mostly used by teenagers, the conversion rate is high for these businesses. With the use of hashtags, audience engagement is higher. As a result, the conversion rate of Instagram is also increasing day by day. 

Facebook: 

In case of Facebook, the user base is huge. Starting from the age of 10 to 60, Facebook has users of different age groups. However, if the users are mostly aged, then they may not be that much active to look or read any post in detail. Therefore, the conversion rate decreases with the user base. 

Apart from that, there are also other reasons for which Instagram gets more conversion rates than Facebook. 

Facebook Vs Instagram- Price:

Facebook: 

Advertising in Social media isn’t free. However, different platforms have a different sets of rules. The rate of advertising on Facebook depends on different factors like ad type, goal, the industry, and the competition as well. If you have a larger audience base, your cost will be higher accordingly. You need to bid the amount you are ready to invest for a click, video view or download and installation. 

The costs vary from industry to industry. It is often found that Facebook ads become unaffordable for the company if it is not a big one. 

Instagram: 

Instagram’s CPC or cost per click is lower than Facebook. The main benefit is, it has a different set of pay for different countries. The social media platform gives the opportunity to spend according to the country you belong to. That is why; the acceptability rate of Instagram is more to the businessmen. They tend to promote their business via Instagram. As the posts reach more customers or target audience, it ensures more conversion rate. 

Wrapping it up:

After reading this post, a question can come up in your mind as should you run your social media content in both the platforms? Why not? Both social media platforms can give you a satisfactory amount of ROI. Therefore, it is always wise to use both platforms. However, you need to follow certain tricks and understand which ad will bring in more customers via which platform. You need to set certain strategies based on your target audience.

As Instagram has more young users, you can ensure more conversion rates from Instagram if your target audience is Gen Y. On the other hand, for attracting the old generation, Facebook is an inevitable platform. Decide accordingly and run your campaign intelligently. Good luck with your business!

We must thank the world of technology and evolution as we are living in a world where 80% of internet traffic is owned by mobiles. Mobiles have become an essential part of our technological environment.

It has become mandatory for all businesses to include mobiles as an important part of their business and marketing as mobiles have become a business tool that offer several benefits.

Therefore, many businesses have to face a scene quite parallel to “The road not taken” by Robert Frost, which focuses on the choice between the mobile application and mobile website.

Mobile website and mobile applications both have pros and cons. Considering the B2B world, it is thought that a mobile website is more than sufficient to fulfill business requirements.

It opens new opportunities for purposes of marketing as the message can be pushed by notifications as a business desires. We can a clear advantage of the application in the frequency of usage, considering both time and numbers.

Mobile Websites

We must first understand the definition of a mobile website. A mobile website is basically a normal website which provides enhanced experience on mobile devices.

We don’t bear any separate expense for a mobile website. It is no longer a bonus in today’s world of technology. An enhanced web presence is provided by most technological platforms and content management systems which are responsive to the device from which is it accessed.

 Advantages of a Mobile Website

One of the most favorite advantages of a mobile website for many businesses is that it does not lead to any separate cost to be developed. Thus, the only cost required is for the development of an excellent website. There are other advantages as well in addition to this advantage.

There would be no problem for a properly developed website to fit comfortably into major operating systems, Android and iOS. It can settle itself comfortably with Google Chrome and Safari as well.

For the mobile website application that you have developed, there is no need for you to regularly push for any updates. Once the mobile website gets loaded, any change at the server level is going to take effect.

Rapid availability is another huge advantage of a mobile website. With a fast internet connection,  users can access the website whenever they desire unlike applications and the business does not have to be concerned about the application uninstalls.

Disadvantages of a Mobile Website

A mobile website has disadvantages with advantages as well. As much as we enjoy instant access to a mobile website, the moment a website is closed the access is lost.

The closing of the browser closes user’s access to the website as well as your access to the user. There is no possibility of understanding and calculating the behavior of a user once the person has lost access to the website.

These reasons might get us in favor or against mobile websites but we must not jump to conclusions.

Mobile Applications

Mobile applications have traveled a long way to gain importance. We have witnessed mobile application becoming an essential business of a few companies. For example, Rovio, the creator of Angry Birds game.

When we view the world of mobile applications for business after putting on our marketing goggles, building a mobile application might seem a great idea but it is a separate cost altogether. This might not appeal to a lot of businesses but it has massive benefits.

 Advantages of Mobile Applications

Designing the UI / UX is the biggest factor contributing to the cost of building a mobile application. However, this cost immediately returns to the business. UI / UX server not only makes it user-friendly but also restricts the user from quitting the product.

Mobile applications generally lead mobile websites in speed. The user does not have to wait too long while the vital elements of the app interface are loaded.

Availability of some basic features is also possible even when the device is offline. One advantage that mobile applications provide is pushing notifications. It is similar to having the authority to have access to your user whenever you want.

We have to make ourselves understand that the world of mobile applications is more like an ecosystem. Here many applications can communicate with one another to produce a business strategy which can be helpful ahead.

We are aware of how Google fit tags along many fitness-related applications which gather data about the calories and the steps taken.

Disadvantages of Mobile Applications

One of the biggest disadvantages of mobile applications would be the cost of development. Each platform requires a different mobile application and thus the disadvantage digs deeper.

We further need to choose the platforms for which we require to build the application. And this needs a separate cost.

It would be a great idea of developing an application and testing it with only one platform just as Instagram and Prisma as they worked only for the iOS ecosystem.

This plan, however, failed on the Android side. Development costs must be a concern for you when you talk about users of Windows Phone and Blackberries.

The mobile application has the value of the asset for the business and it needs to be installed. It requires a separated cost for the promotion and marketing of the app. Some businesses would be interested to keep their users connected without worrying about the involved cost while other businesses might be a little tight.

Final Words

We cannot present any clear verdict in relation to these two platforms as they both are continually evolving in competition.

However, it can be concluded that it all depends upon the nature of the business and the value calculation provided by the application in relation to the cost that was involved in its development. A mobile website is like a live-in relationship having to guarantee the length of the partnership.

On the other hand, an application is similar to married life having freedom of communication, sense of commitment and sense of security at both ends.