StoryDesk

iPad App As A Media Channel

The early twentieth century bore rise to radio as a means of delivering content and advertisement to mass audiences in an effective and scalable manner. The 1950s ushered in the television revolution – allowing marketers and advertisers to disseminate content both visually and audibly to consumers across the nation, and eventually, the world. The advent of the Internet at the close of the century further upended content delivery and introduced new channels into the marketing mix including social media, display ads, email marketing and more. The recent, but furious adoption of mobile devices including smart-phones and tablets en masse signals the ascension of yet another marketing channel – the App.

Here are several reasons why we regard tablet apps as yet another channel in the continuum of content delivery:

1) The iPad is the world’s most versatile content delivery system

It’s easily updatable, relatively cheap (compared to $3000+ LED Screens) and most importantly- it’s bidirectional. Interactivity is the name of the game when it comes to iPad applications. Studies have shown the more engaged consumers are- the more effectively they retain information. Interactivity necessarily lends itself to increased engagement as users are meant to focus on and interact with the content at hand. This content should be reflective of your brand and arranged in such a way that your call to action is unmistakably visible and comprehensible to the end user – the consumer. Furthermore, this content can be centrally-controlled, edited, and disseminated to the relevant parties instantly and seamlessly.

2) Traditional displays are cumbersome, expensive and predominately non-interactive.

Traditional in-store displays, of both the digital and print varieties are cumbersome, expensive, and predominately non-interactive. Banners, LCD Screens, and brochures are uninteresting, uninspiring, non-engaging and non-measurable. iPad applications have the ability to be interesting, engaging, inspiring and measurable. Moreover, the iPad is significantly cheaper to purchase and maintain as compared to flat panel displays and simply outdated, dowdy in-store banners. We’re more than a decade into the twenty-first century – its time industry adapts to the adoption of mobile devices en masse and utilize the app as a marketing channel.

3) Capture Important + Relevant Metrics to fine tune messaging and branding

The iPad is not only an effective content delivery device, but an apt content capture device as well. Through built-in analytics, ascertain what customers are clicking on, how much time they’re spending on each screen and more and relay this data directly into your CRM. This, in turn, will arm your marketing team with not only the information they need to more effectively target, acquire and convert shoppers into customers – but also to fine-tune messaging strategies and measure consumer sentiment.

Here are a variety of potential use cases for the App as a channel:
• iPad as an in-store kiosk.
• iPad(s) as a window-display device.
• iPad(s) as an in-store, “mini-billboard” displaying content on a closed loop.

In summation, it is imperative that marketers begin to think about the app as a portal with content as the main pillar. The application lets us bring to bear content, plus a range of other functionality, all in a neat little package. So let’s start to use the other 99% of the tablet’s function.