Get Plugged In!

It's time to get plugged in & stop resisting change. 

Many times we often hear entrepreneurs & business owners say statements like "I hate technology" or "I don't need to upgrade, I'm fine with where I'm at". Maybe your target market are all older and the likely chance of them using an iPhone is low, but reality is that times change and so do markets. It is better to get plugged in now, adapt & learn before it's too late. As a business owner you should always strive for continual growth for your business in every way possible and yes technology is one of those areas.

So for all of you resistant business owners out there, we just wanted to show you that adapting to mobile technologies is a must and pain free.

Begin with a Smartphone

The reason many business owners do not see value in a mobile app for their business is because they simply do not have a smartphone device. They do not use apps and it seems as a foreign language to them. But reality is, tons of people are using mobile phones & apps. 91% of Americans use cell phones and the number of people switching to smartphones is exponentially growing year by year. Currently, 34% of Americans go online primarily using their smartphone. This is amazing! Just a few years ago you could only access the web from a desktop or laptop computer. Now people use their mobile device over the other devices.

Start by buying yourself a smartphone, downloading apps & seeing the value. These apps provide so much value for your life! You can deposit checks from your device, transfer funds, check business analytics and much more. Just think, no more bank trips three of four times per week. Think how much gas you would save! So get mobile & get plugged in.

Next, is your business mobile?

Now that you are familiar with using mobile technologies, you'll find yourself using it almost daily. Checking emails, browsing the web and even catching up on your favorite Netflix series. But it is time to focus efforts on your business. Go to your website on your mobile phone and see if it is optimized or not. By optimized, we mean if you have to pinch and zoom...it's not mobile optimized for customers, leaving a very poor mobile experience that can turn away business.

You might even find it frustrating yourself that you cannot see your web page from your phone. So now it's time to begin your marketing for mobile. We recommend contacting a great company like Grand Apps to help you out or another local web firm to help you out. We suggest planning your steps before beginning. Here is a layout order for your mobile presence.

-New Website
-Mobile Freindly**
-Mobile App for your Business

So if your website is outdated, get a new modern website. After make sure it is responsive or mobile. Then launch your mobile app. Even though we are a little biased when it comes to mobile apps, we still recommend making sure you have a strong mobile presence before the app stage.

Takeaway...people are changing, so should you. 

The main takeaway here is that people are changing. They are adopting mobile apps, surfing the web with their smartphone and using for many other things. It's time to stop being resistant to change if you wish to grow your business. Taking small steps (with an open mind) can do wonders for growth. We hope this helped a little and we really hope to see you on the other side, the mobile side. Great success to your business and if you have any questions please email our support team.

support@grandapps.com

How Many Small Business Websites Are Not Mobile Friendly?

A recent report released from a company BaseKit surveyed over 500 Small Businesses and a shocking 91% said their websites are not optimized for mobile users. This report covered a poll of small and medium sized businesses and questioned them about a variety of technology related topics, including the functionality of their website and more.

Out of this poll, only 2/3 said they managed and updated their websites & 2/3 of those business owners used social media to help with online marketing.

There is a missing gap between business owners & consumers. More customers than ever before are accessing the web via Mobile Phones & Tablets. 

Slowly but surely, small businesses are starting to understand the magnitude of this mobile movement and are picking up on this optimized trend. Recent numbers are showing that 50% of new traffic to the web comes from smartphones. We can also back this with a client of ours, read this article to see the mobile traffic numbers from their Google Analytics report.

There is no doubt in our mind that mobile is not just a movement, but it is a lifestyle shift. Users are unplugging from the wall of tangled cords into freely roaming the streets on mobile devices, accessing apps & the web. It does not take detailed reports to see the trend, just look around at all of the people who own smartphones & tablets. Mobile is here and it is here to stay for quite some time. There is still huge opportunity for the early adopter business owners to get mobile and gain competitive advantage over their slowly advancing competitors.

But for those business owners ready, contact Grand Apps today to learn how we can help!

What's Changing In Mobile? Types of Mobile Marketing Tips

Mobile apps, mobile phones, mobile screens, mobile and more mobile. The word mobile is a hot word in 2014 and you are probably hearing or seeing it everywhere. What's changing in mobile this year? Well, you must read on.

1.4 Billion
This is the number of smartphones in use in 2013. That is approximately 1 in 7 people worldwide.

57% 
This is the percent of users who won't recommend companies with a poor mobile site. You read that right, they WON'T recommend business your way if your website is not optimized or you have a weak mobile marketing strategy.

1in4
That is how many online searches that are conducted on mobile devices. This means 25% of searches are coming from mobile. Again, this is average. We are working with clients and seeing numbers closer to 40-50% of searches coming from mobile.

57,293 hours
The average American spends almost 2 hours per day on a mobile device which adds up to 57,293 hours over a lifetime. Two whole hours every single day staring at their mobile smartphone.

$400 Billion
By 2015, it is expected that mobile marketing in the U.S. will generate $400 billion compared to $139 billion in 2012.

Just looking at some of the numbers above,  you get the picture how important mobile marketing is. We now wanted to break down some different types of mobile marketing for you during this changing mobile environment. As a business owner, you realize there are millions of ways you can possibly do marketing for your business but we are shedding light on the mobile marketing game and some ways to begin.

Mobile Apps
You can definitely get a mobile app for your business and begin promoting that. About 45% of US mobile marketing campaigns employ app downloads. At Grand Apps, we strictly develop for businesses and pack our app with useful features that will drive traffic and help your business out with an app. Even a mobile app has many ways to begin your mobile marketing campaign, but just getting an app is a great start.

Mobile Image Ads
You can also display ads and begin running mobile ads, you know like those annoying little pop ups you get while trying to exercise listening to your favorite Pandora station.

QR Codes
QR codes are a baby step into mobile marketing getting people engaged with their smart device and your business. You can post QR code specials, redirects and much more. QR codes, in our opinion are awesome, but highly underused in the US. Time will only tell if they begin to trend as more people purchase smartphones.

Mobile Website
We really didn't want to put this on here, because this should be a must. This is equivalent to making sure your pants are on before leaving the house. Mobile websites are critical with over 25% of searches coming from smart devices.

Summary...

Well, pretty much mobile is changing the marketing game. People are spending massive amounts of time on mobile and the numbers are changing to see even bigger increases. Having some type of mobile strategy in the future years is critical can we recommend you begin planning in 2014 if you have not already.

Mobile is not the future, it's the now.

2013 Mobile Statistics, The Numbers Are In!

Mobile is important, our readers get it and so do we. But sometimes convincing your boss or the decision maker to invest in a mobile friendly website or mobile app can be almost as painful as pulling teeth or harder than explaining how to tie a shoe to a three year old. We have searched endlessly for some awesome mobile statistics in 2013 and have brought them to you. You simply can't argue with numbers and showing your boss this post might just help....enjoy!

1. There are over 1.2 billion people in the world accessing the web from a mobile device.

2. 2013 marked the first time in history that smartphones exceeded the number of exports and imports over dumbphones.

3.  Sources such as Internet Trends 2013 have stated that Global mobile traffic accounts for 15%.

4. 61% of people have a better opinion of brands when they offer a good mobile experience. (Source: Latitude)

5. Numerous sources state that almost half a billion tablets will ship in 2013 - 2014.

6.  25.85% of all emails are opened on mobile phones, and 10.16% are opened on tablets. (Source: Knotice)

Sure these stats are fun to read, but really how applicable are they? Also are users really using smartphones to access websites from their mobile phones or tablets?

The answer is Yes They Are! We actually asked one pizza shop client of ours to send over their Google Analtyics for mobile vs desktop overview. Check these numbers out.

They found almost half of the traffic was coming from mobile searches alone, which is incredible! You can bet we already set them up with a mobile website and mobile app. They are set for the mobile worlds and seeing great returns already. 

Conclusion

The final words can be wrapped up in three words, Mobile Is Important. As always, thank you for reading over our latest post and if you found it useful, give us a Google +1 just below. 

Mobile Apps | Chiropractors 2013

Grand Apps specializes in mobile app development for the chiropractic industry and today we are bringing chiropractors across the world a very in depth look at mobile app development and mobile app marketing for the chiropractic industry.

Before we jump into this article, we wanted to share why we specialize in mobile app development for chiropractors. Grand Apps was founded by a chiropractor, Dr. Jacob Canfield, the owner of Simple Truth Chiropractic. Dr. Canfield noticed a need in taking his marketing efforts to the next level and with the upcoming trend in mobile, he decided to invest and help start Grand Apps back in December of 2011. Since then, Grand Apps has been working on mobile app development for chiropractors and showing the benefits of apps in their practice. 

Why Mobile?

We understand that some chiropractors may not fully understand mobile app development or why and how it could possibly benefit your practice, which is why we want to share some outstanding statistics about mobile. 

As you can see above, mobile app consumption is on the rise. People are almost spending as much time on mobile apps as they are watching television. We even have statistics proving that people are doing both at the same time! According to Google, 33% of smartphone users are using their phones while watching television. 

Now, hopefully we can all agree that mobile app development is crucial for your business because more and more people are spending massive amounts of time on mobile apps and mobile smartphones, even while consuming other types of media. Your marketing plan may call for many different needs to best fit your practice, but this should be one of your top priorities taking the next step. Unlike ever before, you now have the chance to be in front of your patients 24/7 on their phone with your mobile app. 

Mobile Is Easy.

Our goal with mobile apps and mobile app development is not a simple marketing ploy to intrude in your patients privacy, not even close. Our goal is to create a friendly experience for your patients. Our mobile apps make your patients lives a little easier by making their experiences with your practice a little more efficient. Mobile should be easy, engaging and useful.  

Grand Apps provides many useful features that will save your patients time with their mobile app. Below are a few examples of some features and how they are useful.

• Contact Us - This feature allows the mobile app users to contact you on the fly. Instead of opening their browser, searching for your practice, waiting for the internet to load, trying to find your phone number on a non optimized website, and then calling you...your users can simply open your mobile app and select contact us and get a hold of you in just two touches. 
• Scheduling - This feature allows patients to schedule on the fly by opening the app and logging into their account in the mobile app. No more hassle calling in and waiting on the phone. The mobile app allows users to schedule whenever they want, wherever they are. 
• Messages - This feature allows users to view push notifications you sent out, just in case they missed them. For example; Let's say you closed your practice because of an emergency and wanted to let users know. You can send out a simple push notification to let them know and if they miss it, they can simply check their messages. 

Above are only three different features that we offer with our app development. We have tons of other great features that will help your practice, but we wanted to keep this simple and show you that simply by implementing just three basic features, you can make your patients lives a little easier. 

What about Mobile Websites?

This is a great question and one we often get from numerous clients and see in blog forums. There is a difference between mobile websites and native mobile apps. 

Mobile Websites

This is a version of your current website, but it looks better on a smartphone...that simple.

Mobile App

This is a prebuilt program that is installed on your phone. So instead of going to your browser to get information, you can open your app. Mobile apps also have many more useful features that websites do not offer. 

You may have come across a few websites on your phone that were optimized for mobile and some that were not. Checkout the versions below to see the difference. 

Not Optimized

Optimized

As you can see above the drastic difference between an optimized website and a not optimized mobile website. Simply put, the mobile friendly website will look better and fit to smartphones. The not friendly website will force you to pinch and zoom and play hide and seek with their information. This is not fun. Consumers are demanding mobile friendly websites and mobile apps. We know this because consumers are even likely to turn to competition with a friendly mobile website. 

Grand Apps also offers mobile website development, not just mobile app development for chiropractors. We help you get your mobile marketing campaign started by helping you implement mobile websites and mobile apps into your practice. 

Final Thoughts

Hopefully now we have shed some light on the mobile world in chiropractic. We also hope that we can agree on a few things;

• People are spending more and more time on mobile apps
• People are on apps almost as much as other popular media (i.e. TV & Internet)
• Mobile apps should be easy to use, engaging and interactive
• Mobile websites are just as important as mobile apps (in the consumers eye)

All of these are proven by numerous surveys and the majority rules, smartphones are here and they are here to stay. Mobile apps and mobile websites are a must in today's evolving marketing world. Chiropractors across the country are now realizing this before their competitors and implementing them. 

Grand Apps prides itself in app development for chiropractors and would love to work with your practice soon. If you have any questions about any of this information or would like to learn more, email our support at support@grandapps.com

or visit our website at www.grandapps.com

A few apps in the market now. Simply click the app icon to view it in iTunes. 

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