Now that mobile-only customers seem to be outnumbering desktop-only ones, many users and businesses find themselves at a crossroads, as they have to choose between different IT communication strategies.
Many businesses are faced with a dilemma – whether they should choose a mobile app or a mobile site. In fact, there are good and bad things about either, as what works great for some customers may not work at all for others. In this situation, the essential need for communication, without which no business would be feasible, should be the ice-breaker.
Web and App
Mobile web and mobile app are quite different. The advent of mobile IT has forced web developers to make their websites responsive. This ensures quick automatic adjustment of textual, graphic, and media data to different screen sizes, as well as high compatibility with all popular platforms.
On the other hand, `mobile apps allow customers to view and manage content via applications, which are downloaded and installed on mobile devices. They communicate content from the Internet or simply download it, enabling users to read it even when they are offline.
Why Choose Web?
Websites are available across a large number of platforms and therefore embrace large communities, without needing to be downloaded and installed on devices. For this reason, they appear to be a better (more cost-effective) option for brands, who want to have a presence on numerous platforms. Today, websites are increasingly responsive and optimized to mobile devices and, as long as the mobile audience expands, so does their visibility across the mobile segment.
Why Choose App?
Apps are developed by companies, which use them to project their activity and exercise unique branding techniques. Unlike a website, an app directly targets customers or potential customers which are directly or indirectly engaged with the company. More specifically, app developers can tailor their products to the customers’ ways of life, preferences, interests, needs, behavior, etc.
Apps integrate with devices’ most advanced and popular features and functions (cameras, microphones, GPS, tap-to-call, instant updates, etc.) and act as advanced extensions of companies’ brands. Apps use a simple way to engage the audience and get it to read a particular content. They actually help brands take up residence on users’ devices and in a way guarantee a rapid increase in conversion rates.
Which One is Better?
Well, the choice depends on a particular company’s goals and, more specifically, its target audience. Simply put, companies, who seek a broader audience, are better off with websites. On the other hand, for those who want to target a loyal community and boost loyalty, mobile app would be a better option.
The debate between these two factions has been going on for several years, since the mobile segment caught up with the desktop one. And it is still far from defining the winner. Most likely, the fight is going to continue, as long as this whole fuss comes down to one thing: it is all about communication.
Although the mobile app segment has skyrocketed, there are no signs indicating that the mobile web is going to give in, as new web optimization tools and techniques are being introduced and implemented. Even though many users regard these two segments as antagonists, actually, they are not, as they make up a unified multi-segmented communication process. Rather, mobile web reflects the direct designation of the communication process, while mobile apps makes it versatile and multi-faceted.
