Marketing Business Mobile App for General Mobile Users

Marketing Plan: Mobile App for General Mobile Users Marketing Business Mobile App Smartek Inc. is going to introduce new mobile applications package that includes alarm and reminder snooze, appointment setter, note taker, and financial management applications. The new mobile apps package will be introduced in the United States and will mainly target students and business professionals along with ordinary individuals that have smart phones, personal digital assistants, tablets, and other smart gadgets. This paper presents a comprehensive marketing plan for this mobile app.

The opening section of the paper presents a situational analysis for the company for this particular mobile app using market summary (industry trends and outlook) and SWOT analysis (internal and external environment). The competitive analysis section gives an overview of the company's existing and new rivals and other competitive forces using Michael Porter's Five Forces Model.

The 'product offerings' sections gives explanation to how the product meets the individual needs of the target market and what features it will bring in its first version? The next section 'Keys to Success' explains the major areas where the company needs to focus in order to succeed in the market in the most profitable and competitive fashion. In contrast, the 'Critical Issues' section highlights the major factors which can impact the company's operations and financial performance in a negative way.

The 'Marketing Strategies' section comprehensively explains the mission, marketing and financial objectives, target market, positioning strategies, marketing research, and marketing mix strategies of the company for this particular product offering. The control section explains the implementation, marketing organization, and contingency planning for the company so as to ensure an effective implementation of this marketing plan. The paper concludes by highlighting the major points from the whole discussions.

2.0 Situation Analysis Situational analysis gives a comprehensive overview of a firm's internal and external environment which can affect its business operations and financial performance in one way or another. This analysis starts with the assessment of market structure and industry performance and proceeds by highlighting the internal strengths and weaknesses of the firm as well as external opportunities and threats present in the market. Situation analysis also includes the evaluation of competitive forces, key success factors, critical issues, and products or service offerings of the firm.

This section presents a complete situation analysis for the newly introduced mobile business applications package: 2.1 Market Summary The mobile applications industry has grown sharply during the last few years. This trend can be seen around the Globe where billions of applications are developed and marketed by thousands of IT companies every year. This industry has become one of the most profitable and well-functioning industries in the world.

There is an equal demand for free as well as paid applications; however, free apps industry has proved to be more profitable than the former (Kuittinen, 2012). Mobile applications developers and IT companies are expending a huge amount on R&D, development, and marketing of their products. Where popular applications are giving long-term Return on Investments (ROI), new applications are snatching their market share by introducing innovative features and greater convenience and flexibility. The only way to make profits and satisfy the customers is to be competitive and innovative.

Today, the most visited and profitable application stores are Apple's App Store, Google Play (Android), Nokia Ovi Store, BlackBerry App World, Windows Phone Store, AT&T, TIM, China Mobile, and GetJar (Solsman, 2013). It is predicted that App Store and Google Play will continue to dominate the market in the coming five years (Dredge, 2013). One of the most popular Research firm 'Gartner' has predicted that annual revenues for the mobile applications industry will increase by 44% in 2013 as compared to the previous year (Dredge, 2013).

Now, it is important to know which factors drive this rapid growth in the mobile applications sales. First of all, the tremendous growth of smart phones and tablets industry has developed the interest of users in trying new applications and having entertainment and convenience in their day-to-day life (Dredge, 2013). Secondly, billions of mobile applications are available free of cost which have also increased their demand worldwide.

Moreover, mobile application developers keep in view the changing requirements, preferences, and tastes of the consumers in order to attract them in a more effective way (Kotler, Brown, Burton, Deans, & Armstrong, 2010). 2.2 SWOT Analysis A. Internal Environment a. Strengths b. Weaknesses The biggest strength for this mobile application is its multi-feature capability. It entails a bundle of functions; which include alarm and reminder snooze, appointment setter, note taker, finance manager, etc.

By using this application package, mobile users will be able to manage their important day-to-day tasks in a more convenient and efficient way. Due to its multi-feature capability, this application will become an alternative to various other mobile applications which are marketed and sold separately. The users will also get an advantage of price discount by purchasing a set of applications in a single package. They will not have to pay for each application separately. 'Anywhere, anytime' usage feature. Very limited need to have internet connection. Personalization Person-specific. One-to-one app.

Affordable and truly practical application designed by keeping in view the needs of professionals and students. Needs very low memory to be stored and function properly. No third-party advertisements in the application. One of the major weaknesses of this mobile applications package is its low-graphics interface. In order to make it lighter and efficient in memory usage, the company has used light color schemes and graphics. On the other hand, its competitor applications are more attractive and full of graphical themes.

Another weakness of this application package is its compatibility with operating systems. Currently, the company has developed this app for Android systems only. Therefore, consumers having Nokia's Windows phones, Apple's iPhone, and BlackBerry's smart phone will not be able to use this application. Due to a large number of competitor brands that offer similar applications, this mobile app package will take reasonable time to develop itself among target consumers. This application does not have any security feature in it which is essentially required by most of the consumers.

Reason being, financial calculations, personal notes, and meetings must be protected from unauthorized access. B. External Environment a. Opportunities b. Threats Although this package has been introduced with different useful individual mobile applications; there still exists an option to add more features with the passage of time. The company has planned to provide an option of personal customization to those users who will actually buy the full version of the application package.

Moreover, the free full version of the applications package to the first fifteen downloaders of the trial samplewill be helpful in getting their feedback on its usability and practicality. This feedback will then help the company in improving the features and compatibility of the application package in its next version. The sale of smart phones and tablets has been showing an increasing trend which is also a positive sign for mobile applications developers. Most of the high-tech phones come with internet capability, multi-function support, and minimal memory usage.

Keeping in view the value of entertainment, convenience, flexibility, and time in the day-to-day life of today's generation, Smartek can develop similar applications and become a well-recognized name in the industry (Dredge, 2013). With this useful mobile application package in hand, Smartek Inc. can also develop its brand image in the market and introduce new applications with innovative features and better speed.

In order to become a competitive and profitable firm in the mobile applications industry, Smartek can develop applications that can best meet the cultural, social, demographic, and economic preferences of the general consumers in the United States. This strategy will help the company's marketing department in boosting up sales for this particular product category. Steadily growing customer base is also an attractive opportunity for Smartek to introduce this application in the most potential markets in the country.

By setting a competitive price for this application, Smartek can compete with other similar mobile application developers in a more effective way (Kotler & Armstrong, 2008). Most of the mobile applications packages are available absolutely free over the Internet; whereas Smartek Inc. is only giving a free trial version of the package and offering to buy it at a reasonable price. In order to continue using the application, the user will have to purchase the full package.

This pricing strategy will become a competitive advantage of numerous similar application packages that are sold free over the Internet -- thus, creating threats for this application package. The rising costs of Research and Development, advertisement and promotions, and dealers' commissions are putting direct negative pressures on the company's operational and financial performance. Due to the risk of data theft, the consumers prefer to use applications developed by well-recognized brands only. Smartek Inc. is quite new in the market and has very limited product range.

In order to develop its image and win the consumers' trust, it will have to develop reliable and innovative applications and sell them at competitive prices. This mobile applications package is the first application of its kind developed by Smartek Inc. Therefore, it is also a big risk that users hesitate to buy it from Smartek. There also exist a number of technological barriers pertaining to this mobile applications package.

These barriers include screen size, display resolution, memory usage, and delivery processfor the smart phones, tablets, personal digital assistants, and smart gadgets. Therefore, the company will be able to target very limited number of customers that have smart gadgets compatible with this specific applications package. 2.3 Competitive Analysis Since this mobile applications package is compatible with only Android operating systems; there will be a stiff competition from similar mobile applications that run on Symbian, java, iOS (Apple), Windows Phone operating systems, and BlackBerry operating systems.

At the same time, it will compete with similar Android applications available on Google Play. Michael Porter's Five Forces Model In the light of Michael Porter's Five Forces Model, it can be said that the competitive position of this mobile applications package is low to moderate. Reason being, Smartek Inc. is not a well-recognized brand in the local mobile applications development industry. Therefore, it will have to work harder than its top competitors to attract potential customers from the market.

The analysis of competitive environment using Five Forces Model is discussed below: a. Rivalry among Existing Competitors: Smartek's mobile app only supports Android operating systems. There are thousands of similar individual applications and app packages on Google Play which will act as the direct competitors of Smartek's mobile app. The existing rivalry among these competitors is quite strong due to their high demand among general smart gadgets users. Therefore, it will be quite difficult for this mobile app to develop itself in the presence of such a stiff competition. b.

Threats from the New Entrants: In addition to the existing rivals, the company will also have to compete with new mobile applications developers that have introduced alarms, personal notes taker, financial calculators, etc. For smart phones, personal digital assistants, tablets, and other smart gadgets. These developers have also entered the industry at the same time when Smartek introduced this mobile application. Competing with these new and existing competitors with this mobile application will become a big challenge for Smartek Inc. c.

Threat from the Substitute Products: The substitutes for this mobile app include all those applications, software, or programs that satisfy the same needs of the general users. The consumers have an easy reach to these substitute products. Moreover, they are available at very competitive prices on different app stores and most of them also meet the quality standards often desired by the consumers. Therefore, they will serve as the biggest threat for the company for this particular mobile app. d.

Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The suppliers for Smartek include IT services companies, hosts, application developers, hardware and software vendors, etc. All these suppliers require attractive commission for their services in order to allow the companies to make long-term relationships with them. Smartek has to keep in view this strong bargaining power while developing and marketing this product over the Internet. e.

Bargaining Power of Customers: Like suppliers in the mobile applications development industry, the consumers also enjoy a very strong bargaining power against mobile application developers and IT companies associated with this business. Reason being, there are only few brands that provide the most reliable, competitive, and top quality applications. Therefore, consumers prefer to buy applications that are either developed by top market leaders or choose only free trial versions for their smart gadgets for small brands. 2.4 Product Offering The application will be largely useful for business enthusiasts, professionals, and students.

The features will help them save their precious time, synchronize their information altogether and access it easily whenever needed, and do calculations on their smart gadgets. The company will offer the trial version of this product absolutely free and charge a very reasonable price for the full version. The application will use very limited memory to be stored and run. Unlike many other similar applications, this mobile app package will be free from third party advertisements which will further reduce its memory usage in the smart gadgets.

The 'anywhere, anytime' feature of this mobile application package will also provide greater convenience to its users. The applications available in the package do not require any Internet connection; all they need to have with them is their smart phone. They can set alarm, take notes, set appointment schedule, and do calculations. However, they will need to have internet connection if the meetings or appointments are to be synchronized according to external events.

This mobile app package will be compatible with low-power handheld devices like smart phones, tablets, gadgets, or personal digital assistants that run Android operating system. Therefore, it will enjoy a quite large target market as compared to Apple's App Store or BlackBerry's App World. 2.5 Keys to Success Smartek performs customer satisfaction surveys to keep itself updated with the changing preferences, tastes, and increasing expectations of its customers; especially in the potential segments. It integrates its cultural values at the heart of its everyday business operations.

It puts into practice the values-based managing practices in order to satisfy the customers, employees, and all the stakeholders that are directly or indirectly affected by its operations and performance (Homburg, Sabine, Harley,2009). The keys to success for this particular mobile app package include high sales volume, attractive profit margins, large customer base, and visibility over the Internet platform, and positive customer reviews after they use its free trial version (McDonald, 2011).

Moreover, the company will also need positive reviews from the major digital magazines, business analysts, and mobile technology experts in order to attract more and more customers to buy this product package for their smart gadgets. 2.6 Critical Issues One of the major critical issues for the company is the intensity of competition in the market. The existing as well as new mobile app developers are offering similar products at very competitive prices.

Therefore, it will be harder for the company to compete in a fast paced environment with this new application package. Secondly, the macro environmental factors like political and legal forces; economic forces; social and demographical forces; technological forces; and the most importantly, Globalization and international competition will create the most critical issues for the company's operations and financial performance in the industry. First of all, it will have to adhere to the local laws and regulations that govern mobile app development industry.

Secondly, it will take an economic impact from the industry patterns, consumer behavior, inflationary pressures, unemployment levels, etc. which are an integral part of its macro environment. Similarly, technological barriers and environmental protection issues may become serious threats for its business operations at any point in time. 3.0 Marketing Strategies This section presents some important marketing strategies which Smartek can use to promote its mobile app effectively. For example, the marketing objectives will define the areas on which the company should focus in the short and long run.

Similarly, the marketing mix will help it in designing the product, place, promotion, and pricing strategies which it can follow to present its mobile app in the most competitive way. The marketing budget will give it an anticipation of the costs to be incurred on the promotion and advertisement efforts for this mobile application. Smartek believes that only marketing department is not responsible for its products' success or failure; it requires coordination and mutual efforts of all the employees in the organization.

Full support from the leadership is also ensured in a view to keep them directed towards one goal. Smartek clearly defines its target market. It does not make its segmentation with respect to profitability; rather on demographical and number of customers. It makes the segmentation of every target market according to consumption patterns and income levels. In this way, it keeps the marketing campaigns focused on what to communicate, and which category or segment to be target. It discovers what a customer actually wants in every product.

3.1 Mission Smartek is a purely profit-motive organization with an aim to continuously strengthen its customer base and market position with the passage of time. However, the mission statement for this specific mobile app and the overall product category entails its concern for the primary stakeholders; by proving reliable and high quality mobile app to the customers, attractive compensation and growth opportunities to the employees, and contribution to the existing mobile app development industry through superior products and services.

The company also wants to become the most reliable, competitive, and fastest-growing business entity in the long run. The strategic objectives of the company are largely focused on gaining high market share in a short period of time, strengthening customer base, and giving superior financial performance and attractive returns to the investors. 3.2 Marketing Objectives Smartek Inc. aligns its marketing strategies with its overall organizational objectives. It wants to become the best mobile applications development brand in the United States.

The quantitative objective of Smartek is to make its sales revenues always show an increasing trend while the qualitative objectives are to increase the number of Smartek brand-lovers, reach the top most position in the market and beat the competitors with full strengths and competencies. Major Qualitative or Marketing Objectives: To establish its brand image in the local mobile applications development industry in the short run; and globally in the long run.

To strengthen the customer base and maintain strong customer relationships To gain high market share in the mobile applications development industry To run effective marketing campaigns that can communicate the company's mission, vision, and objectives to its customers and primary stakeholders in an effective way. To render the most reliable and efficient customer services over the Internet platform. To make it convenient for the potential customers to purchase the company's products in the most convenient fashion. 3.3 Financial or Quantitative Objectives To increase the company's overall sales from this mobile app.

To ensure continuous sales growth in the expansion and maturity stage To earn attractive revenues for the investors and become financially strong in a short period of time. To distribute the marketing budget in all the marketing mediums according to their significance and effectiveness for this mobile app. To run all the marketing campaigns within the specified marketing budget 3.4 Target Markets The target market for this mobile applications package will include professionals, businessmen, entrepreneurs, engineers, analysts, and students that require the applications for their daily professional and study needs.

The applications will be offered at very competitive price. Therefore, there is no target market segmentation on the basis of income class or life style. Since this mobile application will be initially available at the local level, it will target the potential customers from all over the United States. 3.5 Positioning The company will position this mobile app as a low price application suit that can best meet different study and professional requirements of different kinds of individuals from all types of societies and income classes.

The app will only support Android operating system which is the most widely used mobile operating system at the moment. The positioning of this mobile app cannot be done on the basis of demographic or economic factors. Reason being, this mobile app will be equally affordable and liked by the students and professionals from all the walks of life without considering its price.

However, being a less-recognized brand in the United States mobile app development industry, Smartek will face difficulty in attracting potential customers towards this application (Hochbaum, Moreno-Centeno, Yelland, & Catena, 2011). 3.6 Strategies Smartek will use all types of marketing and promotional strategies to make this product successful in the market in the shortest possible time. First of all, it has designed its features suit that can best meet the individual needs of students and professionals.

Secondly, it has set a very reasonable price for this product so that all types of consumers can afford to buy it for their smart gadgets. Moreover, the company has designed a full-fledged video campaign for this mobile app to be run on YouTube and other social media networking sites and video sharing platforms over the Internet. All these marketing strategies are backed by qualitative and quantitative objectives which the company aims to achieve through this mobile applications package.

3.7 Marketing Mix Marketing mix is a combination of some core marketing strategies which are essential for presenting, promoting, pricing, and delivering a company's products to its most potential customers. It consists of product or service strategies, promotional strategies, pricing strategies, and place or location strategies (Shaw, 2012). These are now discussed below for Smartek's mobile applications package in detail: i. Product Strategies: The mobile app will primarily target the professionals, businessmen, and students that want to get their day-to-day important tasks and calculations done in an effective, efficient, and reliable way.

The mobile app includes a bundle of functions; for example, alarm and reminder snooze, appointment setter, personal notes taker, finance calculator and manager, etc. With the passage of time, the company can also offer additional features in the mobile app in order to increase its brand strength and become more competitive against its industry rivals.

All these features in the mobile app will enable the company in targeting a large customer segment all over the United States and become a successful mobile app developer in a very short period of time. The successful future of the company in the mobile app development industry depends upon the quality of its products and the value which it can give to its customers against their money.

It will have to make every effort to ensure that its products and customer services are fulfilling the requirements of its customers in an effective and efficient way. ii. Pricing Strategies: Most of the mobile applications packages are available absolutely free over the Internet; whereas Smartek Inc. is only giving a free trial version of the package and offering to buy it at a reasonable price.

Competitive Pricing Strategy: In order to beat the competition effectively, the company will have to charge a competitive price for this mobile app, i.e. The customers must not feel that they have purchased their desired app at a higher price than the market rates. The low pricing strategy will also help the company in retaining its customers for a long period of time. They can also promote the company's app to other potential clients through word of mouth.

The productrelated strategies and competitive pricing strategies will collectively make the company grow in its industry in the most competitive fashion. That is, the company can offer highest quality of mobile apps at very affordable rates in order to attract and retain its customers. iii. Promotional Strategies: The best promotional strategy for the mobile app is to promote its features individually over the Internet and combine them in a single app package in a marketing campaign.

Alternatively, the company can place ads of the mobile app on its own website so that the customers can explore their features and place orders for them. Secondly, the company should make every type of information available to the clients on its website. The most important information for clients while evaluating a mobile app is its reliability, compatibility, price, and brand image of the company itself.

For this mobile app, the company should provide a separate section on its website in which the customers can create their account, review application features, and compare them with other similar applications on the Google Play or on the company's own website. All these techniques and steps will help the company in promoting its mobile app in an effective way.

Marketing and Promotional Mediums: The most effective way to market and promote the mobile app is to use social media networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Digital Point Forums, Google+, Google AdWords, Design Bump, Digg, Google Buzz, Hacker News, Google Profiles, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc. The video developed by the company will also be posted on YouTube and other major social media networking and video sharing sites at the global level.

Establishing its presence on these social media networking sites will create awareness of its mobile app among the potential students, professional, and businessmen that are also present on these networks. The company can also use public relations and business development agencies to promote its business. These agencies or firms can bring potential customers for the mobile app and grow its customer base in a faster pace. Moreover, digital magazines can also be used to advertise the mobile.