Mobile Phone as a Fundamental Communication Device - Essay Example

? Mobile Web Introduction Mobile phone has become a fundamental communication device in the world today. Of utmost concern is the access of information and subsequent utilization. Research has shown that over four million of the world’s population either has access to a Smartphone or own one. Inventions and innovations today aim at improving the accessibility to this information. Business entities are aware of the fact that the mobile web presence is in its infancy and is to grow rapidly (Hay, 2011). This explains the apparent rush by businesses to establish mobile web presence. Fortunately, the ease of accessing resources to facilitate this process of developing mobile web presence is increasing with time. This will soon allow small business owners to be able to create a mobile presence. Unhelkar (2006) explains that mobile web presence is of critical importance in the world’s economy today. Developing organizations easily deploy many resources to ensure mobile web presence. The fastest growing businesses have become media savvy and attributed their fast growth to adopting the latest online platforms and the marketing tools available. This arises as an effect of competition in the economy. It, therefore, calls for the improvement of the market awareness strategies and the development of new and more efficient methods that would confer ultimate web presence. Incorporation of web presence is the ultimate tool to maintain information exchange by the business entities. Mobile Platform Mobile platforms allow businesses to access information. Further, it serves the sole reason of gaining access to the largest market. Companies aim at taking advantage of this knowledge to give them an edge. Companies have also learnt that the mobile platform helps them advance their goals. Further, it allows them to widen or expand their reach to the most remote markets available. For most companies that have incorporated the mobile platform as a marketing strategy, it is evident that the mobile platform trumps the location-sensitivity created by most markets. This is particularly crucial for an organization as it aims at promoting its products and services. Most companies are embracing mobile platform to achieve the ultimate interaction with consumers. Zuckerberg Statement The so-called “Zuckerberg Statement” brings into perspective the use of web presence. This is evident in the massive acceptance of Facebook as social media. It is evident that the use of facebook as social media received quite a boost since the establishment of mobile web presence. This allowed most of the population to access the social media from their mobile phones. This statement, therefore, manifests the importance of a mobile platform. This is extremely essential for companies that aim at accessing the vast market that the mobile platform brings. Theories Underlying the Mobile Web Presence Mobile web presence confers quite an edge to any company or organization that utilizes it as a marketing strategy (Unhelkar, 2006). However, for the mobile platform to be effective in achieving its intended purpose, certain key aspects do apply. This renders every attempt to achieve mobile web presence subject to a given set of rules. Device Integration The mobile platform has to allow one to utilize all the device capabilities. This is mainly because most of the available devices include network communications. Further, they also confer the user certain interactive capabilities that the mobile web presence developers take advantage. This is evident in the most recent mobile applications. These utilize the current mobile device capabilities. Nevertheless, the developers are always free to take control of the mobile phone devices to manipulate them in such a way that the serve those who use it efficiently. Data collection is a priority, and the mobile web presence should allow one full access to such data when it hits the web. Consequently, the developer should ensure that the developed mobile web presence allows those who employ it to feed information into the web in real time. This implies that the mobile web presence should allow maximum connectivity to the web. This would serve to ease the marketing and advertising needs of the company. Application Market Integration For the mobile web presence to be effective, it has to emphasize the need for the application market in the mobile platform. This, however, works best with mobile applications. In this way, the mobile applications developed would be able to achieve a global status. It is also evident that an application market strategy allows the developer to monetize the mobile application. This occurs at the discretion of the business owner. The mobile web developer can now take part in the market ecosystem. This is because on submitting the relevant distribution file to the application market. Hay (2011) elaborates that the business owner then takes the time to monitor the utilization of the mobile application and keep track of each time purchase at all times. One collects the information and logs it. This is relatively cheap since the current web solutions can easily achieve this invaluable feature. Though it is effective to use the current mobile web presence development strategies, the fact that new and more efficient methods are available should not underestimate the importance of the mobile web presence conferred. Synchronization This is most commonly referred to as offline synchronization capability. Most mobile devices are rather prominent for their slow network connection. This is a significant disadvantage for the many business systems that use the mobile platform as a marketing strategy. Mobile web presence via mobile applications, therefore, should be able to offer offline capabilities and synchronize data accessed via the mobile web. This is critical in exchange of information by many business systems. The new development strategies for the mobile web should ensure unlimited access to the available local storage devices of the mobile phones (Unhelkar, 2006). This would allow one to maximize the online storage capability established by the web presence without being wary of the slow network connectivity of the mobile devices. The developer also exhibits flexibility in designing a storage synchronization that customizes the available mobile application. Features Certain features have to be considered when developing mobile web presence. This works at different stages of the business development, and their efficiency is relative. The three main features that prove to be most effective in conferring mobile web presence are social media, mobile websites and mobile applications. Social Media Researchers suggest that social media is one of the simplest, but fairly effective way to develop mobile web presence. However, it is a small step into the idea of developing mobile web presence. This notwithstanding, it can be immensely useful as the first step into the big idea of market awareness. This is because it alerts the market one aims at developing more effective ways to appeal to the market via mobile phones. The most common of social media include facebook and twitter. These can prove to be immensely valuable. The reason behind this theory is that most of the people who access to the social media do so via their mobile phones. With the current models of smart phones, one can easily access these social media. Unhelkar (2006) gives a vivid illustration of when a client, either existing or prospective, constantly views updates on their desired products or service. The client will no doubt have a preformed choice whenever they encounter a demand for the relevant product or service. It is also evident that the social media will allow a company to ensure timely updates on their products and services. This would serve to ensure the clients or customers are up to date with the new products available and also the improvement of the services rendered by the relevant companies. One exceedingly fundamental aspect that makes the social media a powerful marketing tool is that it is easily accessible for all business entities. This means that all entities, both small scale and large scale, can utilize it as an initial step into achieving mobile web presence. Social media also enhances the use of search engines. Exposing the business entity to the web allows the search engines to recognize it. The world uses search engine on a daily basis. These include goggle, bing, yahoo, ask and many others. This makes the business entity accessible to all that are in need of a related service or product whether they intended to view the web page or not. Search engines, however, prove to be most effective when individuals use the search engines on their desktops. This does not underestimate the mobile web presence the search engines confer to the company using them. For this reason, most organizations take note of the slightest opportunities to use it as a mobile web presence technique and endeavor to take advantage of these services. Despite the fact that the efficiency of the search engines does not exceed that of the social media, it is worth noting that social media is the initial drive to ensure the search engines recognize the relevant business entity. Mobile Websites Most business entities have business websites. The business websites are readily accessible through the desktop. However, the business websites can hardly be accessed via the available smart phones and other mobile devices. This calls for the development of mobile websites that are compatible with most of the smart phones and the available mobile devices. This would serve to develop or enhance mobile web presence of the employing company. There is a public outcry by most business owners that most available mobile websites are of compromised aesthetic value. This is a downgrade that compromises the creativity of the website. The websites become less appealing and may affect the number of people that access them. There exist cost-effective solutions to the apparent lack of creativity in mobile website development. Certain platforms prove to be highly effective in remedying this setback. They do this by providing a platform for conversion of the companies’ site to appealing versions. These would be effective tools of mobile web presence. The most popular platforms include GoMobi and bMobilized, which thrive at assisting many businesses, publish the best quality mobile websites in real time (Hay, 2011). The mobile websites guarantee positive returns to the business entities that employ them. This establishes cost effectiveness of using the available platforms to develop mobile web presence. It also offers incentives for building the mobile websites. Mobile Applications It is evident that creating a mobile application is an extremely expensive endeavor. Most business entities, especially small businesses are reluctant to adopt it as a method of establishing mobile web presence. Nonetheless, it is the most effective way of achieving mobile web presence. It is rather lucrative since a success in developing a business mobile application comes with enormous returns. Mobile applications rate the most valuable market access strategy by most of the fasted growing business entities (Hay, 2011). It is worth noting that the mobile applications are particularly effective if they take into account the three most valuable principles of mobile web presence. These are device integration, offline data synchronization and application market integration. On maximizing these qualities and incorporating them into the mobile application, the company experiences ultimate web presence. Benefits of Mobile Marketing Platforms Marketing on a mobile platform vastly creates market awareness for the relevant companies. Mobile web presence improves the awareness of the target market immensely, and any business cannot overlook this. It allows even the remotely tech-savvy individuals to gain access to the content under promotion (Hay, 2011). For any organization, mobile web presence helps to maintain its competence and utter competitiveness in the ever-growing target market. The use of mobile marketing lowers the overall cost of marketing for the company. If one considers this together with the expected returns from these strategies, realization of tremendous profits cannot be overlooked. This can be used to develop the business. Mobile marketing platforms are favorable because they are not specific to the phone used (Unhelkar, 2006). In essence, the mobile web presence achieved allows the use of the currently available mobile devices to access and process information. User interaction as applied in the use of social media depicts the relevance of the mobile platforms. The developers could go a notch higher and introduce customer care services for the business organizations. The mobile platform is beneficial since it ensures timely update of the customers. The customers, therefore, get first hand information on the developments made by their preferred companies. This also enhances the company’s competitiveness in the economy since the most aggressive entities win the market. The most effective mobile marketing strategies are those that incorporate data security in the service. Though the mobile marketing strategy should allow complete access to the company’s services, it should not create any security risk. Failure of data security would allow competitors to use dubious means to manipulate the efforts of the mobile marketing strategy. Unhelkar (2006) explains that mobile marketing platforms provide a low risk marketing strategy. Further, it is cost effective for most of the well-established companies. It allows these companies to get additional clients beside the existing client base. Challenges of the Mobile Platform The biggest challenge that faces prospective users of the mobile marketing platform is the expensive nature of this endeavor, especially the development of a mobile application. This applies mostly to the small and medium enterprises. This can be countered by developing mobile website as a secondary measure to the use of social media. It helps with location sensitivity since the websites can be accessed from the locality and beyond. The mobile marketing platform needs prior publicity so as to be effective. This may prove a challenge since it would otherwise be time-consuming and would take time to reach the target market. This could be remedied by the use of well-established media for advertising the new developments. Referral of clients to the mobile applications and websites is also a consequence of established media (Hay, 2011). Poorly developed mobile websites and applications can cost the company a fortune. This is because certain individuals are unscrupulous and endeavor to take down such applications. This is a setback that relates to data security. It can be remedied by the development of mobile applications only if the resources available are sufficient enough to maintain them and ensure normalcy. Conclusion With proper usage, mobile marketing platform is a hugely influential strategy that proves effective in accessing the market. It therefore would guarantee the necessary gains that make it a worthy endeavor for the employing company. For the best results, the company should, however, ensure that before the company proceeds to the mobile marketing platform, it develops a favorable customer block that will allow it sustain such a critical endeavor. Bibliography Hay, D. (2011). Bootstrapper’s Guide to the Mobile Web. Dublin : Linden Publishing. Unhelkar, B. (2006). Handbook of Research in Mobile Business: Technical, Methodological and Social Perspectives. Hershey PA: Idea Group Reference. Read More