Planning is paramount when considering iPhone apps for marketing

It seems that everyone who has an iPhone loves the apps that are available for download. In fact, the iPhone has become a major player in the cell phone market in part because of its apps, apps that the user can purchase or download for free. These applications can be for anything from an application that runs Yahoo! Send apps to your phone that guide you through your own exercise program. Considering the impressive growth in popularity of apps in recent years, it’s no surprise that all marketers and advertisers are eager to jump on the bandwagon.

Releasing apps with brand names embedded in them has become all the rage for business owners today. But relying solely on the popularity of apps to promote a company’s brand is akin to committing professional hara-kiri. “The App Store is not a marketing vehicle; it’s a distribution vehicle,” says Raven Zachary, president of digital creative firm Small Society, in an article in Adage magazine.

Keep in mind that the iPhone has almost 48,000 applications, a number that is constantly increasing. As a result, if you simply create an app and let it sit in the app store, the chances of it being discovered are slim to none. Therefore, you should not only widely promote your app, but also create one that is completely different from what is already out there. Otherwise, consumers will have absolutely no reason to choose theirs over others. And since developing an app costs quite a bit in terms of time and money, you should be absolutely sure about your idea before you decide to invest in it.

“Mobile apps (specifically an iPhone app) are not for all brands,” Neil Strother, an analyst at Forrester Research, said in an article on Mobile Marketer. “You need to understand your customers and how they use mobile devices and services, and ask yourself if you can provide something of value through a mobile app.”

It’s also important to find out if your target audience even uses an iPhone. According to a survey by Solutions Research Group, the median age of buyers willing to spend on an iPhone is 31. Of these, the percentage of men interested in buying an iPhone is 72 percent compared to 28 percent for women. T-Mobile subscribers are the most likely to get an iPhone, while Verizon subscribers are the least likely.

If the people on the receiving end of your app prefer to use BlackBerrys or other smartphones, you’d better build apps for those phones. In a research report written by Strother, he cites an incident that clearly illustrates the above point. “A mobile device developer described an early meeting with brand managers who asked him to develop an iPhone app: He noticed numerous older smartphones in the room, but none with an iPhone,” the report says. “Bad start. Marketers need to be fully engaged with these devices to gain a knowledge advantage.”

Don’t let this discourage you. Applications are like any other advertising medium and a close one. If your product were a men’s deodorant, you wouldn’t focus your advertising exclusively on Better houses and gardens. Similarly, if your target market doesn’t use iPhones, there’s no point in wasting time and money developing an app for iPhones. Being a fairly recent medium, apps need to be thoroughly researched for them to be successful for your business.