Note: Dr. Bill Smith is a longtime member of the CoSIDA New Media/Tech Committee and frequent national presenter on new media topics. He is currently the Assistant AD for New Media at University of Arkansas Athletics and heads one of the most savvy new media efforts today in college athletics. U of A Athletics recently launched its new mobile application called IHog, designed by Smith. In this guest post, he writes about the nine things you need to know about mobile applications. You can follow him on Twitter @Doctor_BS.
Mobile applications are the most important part of the
three-screen strategy for information dissemination. This is not because it is the new web thing to do, nor is it the place where your fan spends the most screen time. Increasingly first screen - television - is homogenized; more networks, less local differences. Second screen -Internet presence- is also dominated by one major network in the college space, much to the detriment of individual look and feel. Third screen - the mobile device - can become the separator, both positive and negative. Good mobile is very hard to do, and nothing ruins the very personal web more than unreliable or under performing apps.
Mobile is personal, both in scale and usage. A fan is seeking a simple interface that brings the information they want about your team to them in a easy to use way. Here are nine things you need to know before getting a mobile app.
1. Use an experienced mobile programmer: As a rule of thumb, contract with no one who cannot show you at least two real-world applications they have successfully launched. The last thing you want to do is pay with your programming dollars for their experience. I didn't pull that out of thin air - that is both experience and listening to the experts. Anyone can write and compile code. Doing it efficiently and within Apple's parameters absolutely requires experience with the process. While building apps is easier in the Android world, efficient coding still requires experience. And, if you are building one app, do not assume your programmer has the skill to just convert it to another platform. Insist on seeing skill in each one you need.
2. To skin or not to skin: A fast and less expensive way to achieve an app, particularly in the iSpace, is to work with a company at can rework the template of existing apps. Almost every radio station app is a "reskin" of one of three major groups. The downside is that fans will compare, and it will not take long for them to realize the "U" has the same app as "State," just different colors.
3. Spend time on the architecture: Think through what you want your fans to reach quickly, and what add-ons allow them to interact with you directly. Is news the primary function? Study the layouts of the major wire services and newspapers
(look at the Wall Street Journal's). They get you to the headlines from the opening, and one click to a full story - not a RSS summary.
4. Be social: Even though they may have their own clients, embed social media elements like official Twitter and Facebook pages, and create interactive like the
CoverItLive blogs.
5. Beware of cheap apps: Notorious in this area are faux apps that are really nothing more than RSS readers. When you choose a category, you get the headline and the summary that is generated by your website's feed, and no full story or photo. The worst of these will actually open your mobile device's browser and pull up your regular website. If that kind of experience is what you wanted, you would have simply given your fans a bookmark.
6. Custom work costs money: When using outside agencies, be prepared to spend from $5,000 to as much as $20,000 to complete the task. It sounds like a tremendous amount of money, especially compared to the likely cost of your website - free against the advertising revenue taken from you. Like no where else in your media budgeting, you absolutely get what you pay for. "Free" apps tend to crash, lack features that speed the experience and lack customization.
7. Media costs even more: Streaming audio and video do not cost a lot to program into an app - the major platforms have their built in players. But, that is the problem. To stream into the iSpace requires a non-Flash file, very different from what you currently use on-line. Android and Windows are reported to be preparing to support Flash, but the cell networks require a very compressed, and again, separate and specialized file format. If your web provider can't interpret your steams into mobile friendly formats, you will need your own media server and some expertise in the conversions.
8. Know your rights: There is a high likelihood that you have signed away the ability to have your own app, but most Internet providers, when challenged with the specific needs you have, are willing to walk away from the high cost and perceived low return. Worse, they may have a skinned app that is less than useful. Insist on the functionality you require.
9. Go audio, not video: Another rights issue. More and more athletic conferences and regional networks are retaining any of the third screen streaming rights for member and client video. That should prove the value of the mobile space - networks rarely hang on to rights they don't think are important. The one area that institutions remain in control are their audio rights - radio play-by-play. For this reason, we have concentrated on getting our audio into the iSpace. We will not have wasted money on programing that could get turned off in a year or two with expanding rights. Plus, audio streaming takes less bandwidth, less battery and works nicely with the multitasking of the more powerful phones. Listen to the game, and open up another program to participate in interactive blogs - something you cannot do while watching streaming mobile video.
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