Why it’s still important to deliver a ‘mobile-first’ strategy in 2016

The term ‘mobile-first’ has been used widely across organisations, due to the tremendous growth in the use of mobile. Recent statistics shared by impact branding and design show that mobile email opens have grown by 180 per cent in the last three years – and 79 per cent of people use their smartphone for reading email, a higher percentage than those who use it for making calls.

But mobile-first doesn’t simply mean having a mobile presence, it means thinking strategically about if and how mobile functionality can enhance your product, service or user experience. Impact branding and design also reported that 83 per cent of mobile users feel a seamless experience across all devices is crucial – and 57 per cent wouldn’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site.

Mobile-first thinking is about knowing which communications best serve your users’ needs, about designing an optimum online experience for the mobile and, where relevant, making mobile the priority platform for communications to be centred around. And if you consider anything from email, video and instant messaging to data storage and apps, mobile is the predominant platform.

Last year, IDG Connect posted the results of an interview commissioned by FeedHenry – which saw technology market research provider Vanson Bourne interview 100 UK organisations on their mobile strategy. Despite having a clear understanding of the benefits of mobile-first, the majority of companies still had an ad-hoc approach to app development and were only beginning to consider platform selection to help them formalise their mobile strategy.

However, it’s certainly safe to assume that end-users are more likely to recommend and buy from a business that has a better mobile experience.

The IDG research summary goes on to suggest five steps to becoming mobile-first, which include:

• Select open standards – mobile app projects demand rapid innovation and short, iterative development cycles. To maximise agility, enterprises must avoid vendor lock in by using mobile application platforms that support open standards

• Focus on data rather than devices – evaluate your enterprise data capture and backend system integration requirements. The ability to unleash data efficiently, securely and seamlessly to your employees’ devices is critical

• Consult users prior to deployment and work collaboratively – fast IT teams should adopt a strong partnership approach with the business customer. Allow employees to select the mobile device, app features and user interface that are most suited to their role and working environment

• Consider the whole app lifecycle – apps require frequent updates and upgrades so choosing an infrastructure that reduces the management burden by enabling updates to be pushed or pulled from the cloud or an enterprise app store will pay dividends

• Take a MAP with you – selecting a Mobile Application Platform (MAP) allows enterprises to plan their mobile app strategies, without worrying about redeveloping code for every new batch of devices or new OS.

You can find more explanation on these steps within the article. And to find out more on how Adam Phones supports ‘mobile first’ companies, visit our website.