With so many agencies and developers claiming mobile expertise, it’s hard to know who has the right stuff.  There are some great developers who deliver a great app or service. And then there others who are jumping on the mobile bandwagon, and deliver an inferior product. Based on vetting quite a few mobile apps developers over the last couple of years, here’s what I look for…

Choosing a mobile apps developer – essentials you need to know

First of all, choose a developer who specialises in the type of app you want to build. Do they have experience and a track record in  either games, utility or marketing apps? These require very different skills, so make sure they align with what you need. Some other questions you may want to ask:

• What is their experience? Can they provide case studies and testimonials?
• What are their core strengths? Beware the one-size fits all approach – that sends alarms bells!
  

• What development skill set do they have in house? Do they only do native (iOS, Android, Windows or Blackberry), responsive/adaptive or cross-platform?How do the developer/agency manage older versions and make sure the current app is backward compatible?
• What cross platform tools do they use? Are they well understood? Best practice?
  
• Is what they’re developing backward compatible, i.e. accessible by older versions of the operating system?
• Who will be working on this development – who is the project team? How experienced are they?

• Can they assist with promotion? What ideas can they offer?
• Do they have a direct line into Apple and Google? How successful have they been in getting their clients app of the day?

• What performance incentives do they/can they propose?
• Do they have UX/design capabilities in-house?
• Are they performing all the work in-house and in Australia? Or are they using overseas developers? While that’s not a bad thing, outsourced development requires people on the ground with a great deal of experience.
• What are the hosting/maintenance options – and how much will it cost? Who will be working on maintenance? Is it the junior developer who’s using this as a training opportunity?
  
• What is the warranty period they’re offering?
• Who has ownership of the assets at the end of the campaign?

Let me know if there are any other criteria to add to the above.

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The rise of risk sharing

Melissa talked about the different models which are being explored at ABC Commercial, which include the sharing of IP or keeping IP and sharing revenue which means the developer in invested in the project – and the outcomes – for the long term.

ABC Commercial manages a number of contractors for mobile and website builds which deliver commercial returns, for example the Beached Az mobile app. Melissa gave sage commercial advice when appointing external digital agencies from the client perspective:

7 tips for managing digital services contractors

1. Appoint your own product owner or producer to the project who has decision-making authority and responsibility
2. Look closely at the development partner’s project management processes and practice. Can they articulate their process? Does it match with your  internal processes – is there a cultural fit?
3. A dedicated producer/PM is critical. Can your agency nominate a person who will be the project manager, who is not performing any other role? Unless you’re working with sole traders, and you’re managing the development team, your project manager should not be wearing any other hat.
4. Include QA practices

• Ask for detailed test plans or a test suite as one of the deliverables

• Do they automate testing?

• Use an online tracking tool for bug reporting. This will ensure that you are kept up to date, and that there’s nothing missed in your email inbox.

5. Be realistic about the platform / version combinations you’ll support.
6. Agree number of rounds of changes you can have for your budget
7. Include analytics implementation as a deliverable. Melissa suggests implementing and testing analytics pre-release.

What special attribute, skill or deliverable do you look for from a digital services contractor/developer?

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(Sources:  eMarketer, US Mobile Commerce Forecast, Jan. 2012; Arbitron Mobile, May 2011; IBM; PayPal).

What this suggests is that companies need to have different shopping optimisation strategies to cater for the different usage on different devices.

For local stats and trends on tablets, read this earlier post on tablet penetration in Australia.

With thanks to Paul Buchanan of PayPal Australia for providing the stats. You can follow him here on @paulabuchanan

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Marketing strategies used encompassed:

1. The right message – framing the messaging around the outcomes delivered to your customer ensuring that it passes “so what” test
2. Well written content
3. SEO (which is useless without well written content)
4. Multiple channels ensure repetition of the message
5. PR including mainstream media & bloggers

Paul’s explanation of the practicalities in approaching bloggers was really instructive. Each of the bloggers around the world was approached individually. It took a great deal of effort in understanding each one, knowing who they are, what they’re interested in and how they like to be reached. The emphasis here was opening up a conversation starting with a comment on an article rather than a request to review the game. While the focus was on mummy bloggers give the kids/family focus –don’t forget the daddy bloggers.

Paul advised to be prepared for 10 knockbacks for every request/ approach to connect.

Don’t be mistaken. There was a prodigious amount of work in the marketing strategy to launch the game. In 2011/12 Bubble Gum Interactive spent several thousand hours:

• Crafting content (text, audio, video) for three websites, six social channels and an entire game
• Sending personalised messages to over 350 bloggers, having over 100 conversations and got about 30 reviews
• Trying to start conversations with over 250 journalists, reporters and news outlets – now have about 50 ‘strong’ contacts. This has paid off with recent coverage in the Wall Street Journal.

The strategy has paid off, with tens of thousands of kids in 80+ countries logging in daily. Clearly the company is tracking very well, having just raised second round financing for $2.5 million – read more here.

His key takeaways:

1. Create valuable content, 2. Listen to your audience, 3. Engage in legitimate conversations

Paul is the Chief Marketing Officer, Community director & Co-Founder of Bubble Gum Interactive. You can follow Paul on Twitter @paulalexgray.

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• 1.5 million of PayPal Australia’s 4.5 million users have transacted on mobile.
• Mobile payment volumes grew 5 times in Australia
• Over  20,000 PayPal AU merchants have accepted their first mobile   payment since March 2011

This local activity is being driven by

• 500,000 Unique visitors to mobile web/day (86% year on year growth) (Nielsen – Jan 2012)
• Mobile shopping searches increased 220% year on year  (Google Jan 2012)
• 25% of 2011 Christmas related shopping searches on mobile  (Google – Jan 2012)

International trends in mobile commerce & payments

A great read on mobile shopping trends from the IAB USA (May 2012). Key stats include:

• The #1 reason for purchasing on mobile is convenience say 76% of respondents

• 53% of shoppers stopped an in-store purchase because of their phone. Finding a better price is the key reason behind this
• 73% have used their mobile in-store to:
  • Check prices
  • Take a photo
  • Send to others
  • Find product details
  • Find nearby sellers
  • Check for deals

PayPal recently launched their answer to Square, called PayPal Here which enables merchants to take payments via a device on the phone or iPad. No figures are available on the uptake of PayPal Here in Australia, while Square is only available in the US.

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