ARCHIVES: This is legacy content from before Marketing Dive acquired Mobile Marketer in early 2017. Some information, such as publication dates, may not have migrated over. Check out the new Marketing Dive site for the latest marketing news.

Focus on user engagement rather than app downloads: CTIA panelist

ORLANDO, FL - Applications are ideal for today?s mobile culture of rich media snacking on the go. However, companies should focus more on content rather than on the download numbers, per panelists at CTIA Wireless 2011.

During the ?What?s Next: Defining the App Strategy,? speakers discussed the top challenges in the application space and whether apps are here for the long haul. The panel was moderated by Athena Polydorou, director of wireless Internet development at CTIA.

?Download numbers are pretty deceptive,? said Michael Scogin, vice president of mobile at MTV, New York. ?How many users are really using it on a regular basis?

?We?re looking at active and repeat users ? those drive the ad impression and monetization,? he said. ?We?re trying to go wherever the audience is.

According to Beth Jacobs, general manager of mobile at The Washington Post, Washington, downloads are not the most relevant answer for success.

?It?s engagement,? Ms. Jacobs said. ?We want to be one of those 10 applications that you go into and utilize and see value from overall use."

Repeat users
According to the panelists, it is important to drive repeat engagement.

Companies should focus on how to keep users engaged on a daily basis.

Having a user download an application is no longer good enough. It is just the first step. Users have to be engaged with the content to keep them coming back.

?The No. 1 thing is user engagement,? said Paul Reddick, CEO of Handmark, Kansas City. ?Nothing kills a great product like bad marketing ? it has to be a great app.

?We?re fairly app focused and I don?t think customers care if it?s HTML5, Web or apps,? he said. ?They just want to have a great experience.

?We?re not trying to solve and make it easy for developers. We try to make it easy for users.?

HTML5 ready
Robert Hyatt, executive director at AT&T, Basking Ridge, NJ, said the company recently announced that it will be using HTML5.

According to the executive, not every company might want to use HTML5. Many might rather work with native applications.

?We made an announcement in January that HTML5 support will start in beta in spring,? Mr. Hyatt said. ?Maybe for the big platforms you can go native.

?When we think about it for the stuff we built, there are some apps that apply well with HTML5,? he said.

Rob Gelick, senior vice president and general manager of CBS Mobile, Atlanta, said that HTML5 is still an incredibly fragmented marketplace.

However, it is changing the game for many companies.

?HTML5 has changed in certain ways,? Mr. Gelick said. ?It certainly helps us.

?You want to do these apps because you can take advantage of the rich enablers ? the screen size and the resolution,? he said. ?At the same time, you have to balance the limited resources with pervasive technology.?

MTV?s Mr. Scogin said that MTV is also experimenting with HTML5.

?I think that solution will work with some stuff that we?re doing,? Mr. Scogin said. ?We are trying to figure out a few things that make sense.?

All about consumers
Additionally, the executive said that aside from smartphone and tablet user engagement, brands should not forget about the lowest common denominator ? feature phones.

?Feature phones are still a majority of the market,? Mr. Scogin said. ?Don?t forget about SMS.
?Yes, an app is great, but if I have a feature phone, I want to still be able to participate in things,? he said.

There is a high percentage of mobile Web users that also download applications, per The Washington Post?s Ms. Jacobs.

It?s important to look at users and see their mulitscreen consumption habits.

?Especially for publishers, you want to follow where the users are going,? Ms. Jacobs said. ?We don?t want to replicate the newspaper experience on the tablet, we try to take our journalism and put it in such a way that is more interactive and multi-dimensional for our audience.

?We see an interesting dynamic with consumption throughout the day,? she said. ?For us, it?s important to see that intersection of consumption habits by device so we know how to day-part the product for users.?

In addition, Ms. Jacobs said that the mobile Web is still the place for scale and mobile is all about scale.
Companies should invest in their mobile Web site.

Ms. Jacobs also said that mobile advertising has changed.

?The advertising is definitely there,? Ms. Jacobs said. ?It?s no longer a branding play or branding experiment.

?They?re looking for transaction-based results,? she said.