In May in the tram, in the subway and in a sweater. Wherever we are, our smartphone is with us. Our friend, friend, love, confidant, who, like Sam from “The Lord of the Rings”, faithfully follows his Frodo, carrying his manatees. It combines our applications and our connection to the Internet, so that even in complete seclusion we are not helpless and left to our own devices. Unless there's no coverage. Then we are. But even then we can use the mobile application — admittedly probably without some of the functions, but nevertheless. Well, responsive website or app — that's the question!
The good and bad sides of RWD
On one side of the discussion panel, let's welcome the responsive page. It is arranged so that all its elements automatically adapt to different screen sizes - laptop, smartphone, tablet - and so that on each of these screens the website looks equally good. Anyone can access it at any time — just enter its address. And since we are already at the address, a well-optimized website can build us a really good reach if it ranks high in the search results. In addition, the advantage is that we can analyze very carefully who viewed the site, what specifically interested them, how much time they spent there - we can know our target audience.
And the disadvantages? Our site can be one of a million other similar sites — it is not personalized unless you have an optional account creation. It certainly won't work offline either.
Who will benefit from the mobile application?
On the other side is a mobile application. It is only for the selected ones, because it requires you to install it on the device yourself. However, thanks to this we know that the people who have it are really interested in what we do. This is a little deeper level of communication with the client, because we speak to specific people — and if so, we can personalize the offer for them very well. The application with GPS access allows you to locate them, so we can try outdoor advertising and even ambient marketing — that is, to go wild in the field, where the fans of our brand are the most. However, going back to the smartphone screen, the application has another advantage — and that is the icon, that is, our logo. So the user is often in contact with it and at some point it may come to a point where other brands in our industry will no longer even interest him.
It's time for flaws. Of course, the cost — much higher than when creating a website. In addition, it is a fairly exclusive form of contact with the client, which requires a lot of commitment from him - the application will not install itself, and when we make any changes to it, they also need to be updated.
Not everything for everyone
It rarely happens that a customer immediately rushes to a mobile application, for example an online store, if he has not heard about this store before or has not tried it. The application is already a deeper relationship with the customer. The choice between RWD and the mobile application therefore turns out to be not too difficult if we know our audience, the specifics of the industry and the needs of our brand. The site is to open the door to our backyard for the customer, while the app is to invite them into the living room for a comfy couch.
