How To: Create a Successful SMS Marketing Campaign [Infographic]

August 22, 2017
 
Ashley Rondeau

SMS and messaging apps are the most popular and frequently used apps on smartphones. On average, the world sees over 8.3 trillion text messages sent over the course of a year. If you do the math on that, it breaks down to 16 billion text messages per minute at any given time around the world.
Additionally, text messages are far more successful at reaching customers with your content than email. Industry experts estimate that people open and read 98 percent of all text messages they receive. That is a stark comparison to the open rate of e-mail, which is about 20 percent.
An SMS marketing campaign has a ton of potential as a channel for generating leads. However, the actual structuring and planning of a successful SMS marketing campaign can be a complex endeavor.
To help beginners navigate the many pitfalls and gaffs of far too many SMS campaigns, take a look at this infographic presented by Mobile-Text-Alerts with tips on making your text message marketing campaign a stand-out winner: Analyzing your audience, building your list, setting clear goals, making attractive messages, selecting the right keywords and more!

This is a guest post by Mobile Text Alerts.

So, if you don’t know where to get started with a blueprint for your app, Rocket Farm Studios can take the pressure off.

How To: Get the Most Out of Your App Developer

August 17, 2017
 
Ashley Rondeau

You have a great idea for an app. You have the money to get it made. You’ve shopped around and finally hired the app development company you want to work with. Now what?
We’ve been there, and we’ve got you covered. Here are the most common questions we ask during kick-off and throughout the development process. By asking yourself and answering these questions, you’ll be in the best position to get the most out of your app developer.

“What is the business idea?”

Too often clients don’t understand that an app isn’t a business. Rather, businesses need apps. Just having a “really cool idea” for an app isn’t enough, and it always leads to problems down the line when it comes to designing the app itself.
For example, if you don’t have a good idea of the market audience for your app, it will inevitably lead to design choices that may ultimately be wrong for the segment you are trying to target. Is the app for teens? Is it for adults? Does your monetization depend on downloads, in-app time spent, or ad views? Do you want to flow traffic back to your company’s website, or keep people engaged solely on the app? All of these are business decisions that translate directly into how the app will be developed.

So basically, you need to put in the time and plan out what your business plan for this app is, with as many specifics as possible. Trust us, you cannot get too specific. We have yet to say to a client “woah, woah, let us have some creative freedom!” On the contrary, the more specific you can be, the smoother the development process is. And the best way to be specific is to have a full understanding of how this app will be used in your business.
Many people might read all this and think “so I’m doing all the work? Aren’t I paying my app developer to do this?” Not true. The developer’s job isn’t to think through the business application for your idea; their job is to bring your idea to fruition. Remember, up to two-thirds of apps get fewer than 1000 downloads in the first year. Most apps fail, and not thinking through the business plan is the main reason why.

“When is good for our weekly call?”

Creating an app is not a small investment. So it’s always mind-blowing when clients don’t bother checking in or responding to communication requests regularly. Once all the details are in place and the developer gets to work, it’s very important to touch base at least once a week, especially during the first month or two of the process.
If you answer the previous question on this post thoroughly, there will be less questions the developer will have, but still questions are inevitable. And often, not having a question answered can result in developers twiddling their thumbs waiting on a response. This then leads to everything taking longer than expected, and somehow the app development team always takes the blame.
Like any other team, developers have set schedules and sprints as they work. Setting up a call earlier in the week (Monday or Tuesday) means having the rest of the week to design and code with the answers they need to move forward.

“Wasn’t this what we discussed?”

App developers hate to ask this question, but it gets asked all the time. Unless this is a planned iteration/update of an existing app, you are probably working on a minimum viable product (there are a slew of reasons to go with an MVP, which is for another blog post). Because of this, you want the MVP out fairly quick because only when an app is live for use can you start getting the feedback you need to iterate.
The problem is that many clients a) want the app to be perfect before it’s set live; and b) constantly deviate from the original plan/scope of the app. A good app developer will be savvy in knowing not to over-promise during the kick-off meetings, thereby understanding the scope and time-frame for development. Asking for changes, additions, tweaks throughout the process will severely hamper not just how long it will take, but is very often unnecessary for the MVP both parties agreed to build at the start.

Things always evolve during the development process. App developers know this. But over-iterating and second guessing beyond a certain point will cost a lot more time and money. So again, we go back to the first question in this post. The more you’ve planned out the app from the beginning, the less likely this will happen.

…..

Like hiring any other professional, clear initial planning, clear communication, and not deviating too much from the plan will help you get the best results from working with an app developer. Seems like no-brainers, but believe us: if more businesses asked themselves these questions, the entire process will be exponentially smoother for both parties.

So, if you don’t know where to get started with a blueprint for your app, Rocket Farm Studios can take the pressure off.

Why You Should Consider HTML5 With Your Next Project

August 8, 2017
 
Ashley Rondeau


This is a guest editorial from Alan Roberts, a freelance writer and editor and part-time coder living in Portland, Oregon. He’s passionate about all things tech, and that also means all things video games. When he’s not busy writing or trying to beat the final boss he can be spotted enjoying Portland’s restaurant scene.
After more than 20 years and countless updates it looks as though Adobe Flash will finally pull the plug. The software that had earned the ire of Apple has been pushed aside in favor of HTML5. Much of its demise can be attributed to the rise of mobile development. With the ever-increasing ubiquity of mobile devices in the digital market it has become imperative for a product or service to be optimized for smartphones and tablets. HTML5 does a lot of that work for developers, which is a a large reason that it has become the new standard for mobile browsers.
HTML5 was rolled out in 2014, and it swiftly gained popularity as the preeminent model of development for mobile. It was designed in order to maintain easy readability for actual people while also increasing its compatibility with a larger number of devices. In its nascent form it was often compared to Flash, although the two couldn’t be more different. While both provide features that allow users to play audio and video content within pages, they go about it in different ways. In Flash it’s done directly in the program itself, but in HTML5 it’s performed in conjunction with either Javascript or CSS3.
This versatility has allowed HTML5 to adapt best to mobile browsers and become the preferred method for consuming web content through mobile devices. The day of HTML5 supplanting Flash as the dominant interactive language of the internet was predicted by late Apple founder Steve Jobs in his infamous missive, “Thoughts on Flash.” He noted that Flash falls short in regard to mobile devices, and he went so far as to say that “new open standards created in the mobile era, such as HTML5, will win,” in an almost eerie display of prescience.
HTML5 has proven so adept at mobile development that it’s also become more prominently used for gaming. Modifying many browser-based games for mobile functionality used to be a tall order, but HTML5 has allowed mobile sites and apps to mirror their browser-based counterparts. This is particularly evident when looking at the online casino industry, in addition to console games. In both cases, we’ve seen established games available on larger platforms being adapted smoothly and easily for mobile devices.
Incidentally, the same devices are now the main place that people communicate, do business, and entertain themselves. As mobile continues to become the dominant platform for games (not to mention businesses, SAS products, and more) HTML5 has turned into a necessity for products to reach larger audiences.
It would seem that the battle for mobile supremacy is finally done. Adobe has announced that it will cease to support Flash in 2020. In the meantime the software will continue to be maintained, so users can still look forward to a myriad of updates for the dying platform before Adobe finally pulls the plug. Everyone has known that the end of Flash was coming sooner rather than later, but this is the most specific Adobe has been on when and how the product will be phased out.
Now that HTML5 will become the only game in town there’s likely to be a sharp increase in usage as more webpages and programs look to take full advantage of the burgeoning mobile market. The portable industry has become so large that developers choose to ignore it at their own peril. Sites and applications unable to make the transition to mobile devices are missing out on millions of potential users making HTML5 development more important than ever for companies.

So, if you don’t know where to get started with a blueprint for your app, Rocket Farm Studios can take the pressure off.