Search Engine Strategies is set to take the stage next month in Toronto (June 8-9). Mobile Apps, as usual, will be one of the hottest topics at this year’s conference. Mitch Joel, President of Twist Image will be moderating the panel: “Follow the Carrot: Cool Mobile Apps” so I thought I’d get some of his insight on the topic of mobile. Check out our chat below:[Mitch Joel, Twist Image]: We have been saying that almost every year for the past decade. At this point, I think it’s just going to happen at some point and five years later we’ll look back and go, “wow, 20XX really WAS the year of mobile… and we didn’t even acknowledge it!” Mobile will become a viable marketing strategy once agencies and brands actually start focusing a lot more of the marketing side of it, and less on the pure push/interruption advertising side of things.
[Manoj]: How has the iPhone changed the game in terms of what a mobile phone represents. It’s way more than just a communications device, it’s a status symbol.
[Mitch Joel, Twist Image]: I would not say that it’s a status symbol so much as it is the remote control for our lives. The real promise of mobile will be that. Using it for the phone should only be a small portion of what you can do with a mobile device, and I think the iPhone is one of the many devices that has really highlighted that. With well over 1 billion iPhone apps being downloaded, clearly we’re getting to the point where people are realizing how much more amazing stuff they can do. That’s the real “game changing” nature of the iPhone and the newer BlackBerry (I’m also hopeful about the new Palm Pre).
[Manoj]: How do you think mobile apps have changed the way we do business in the digital age?
[Mitch Joel, Twist Image]: It has (and will continue to ) make everything very “in the moment.” Mobile apps really do highlight the context of the consumer – where they are and what their needs are at an exact moment in time. Being able to harness that and deliver apps that meet those goals will continue to rise and, in so doing, will change a lot of the B2B and B2C aspects of how we connect and do business in this mobile age. Even with all of the applications currently available, we are just getting started to see the breadth and depth of how this is going to change business as we know it.
[Manoj]: What’s the simplest way a company/individual can get into the mobile apps space?
[Mitch Joel, Twist Image]: I don’t know if I would recommend starting with an app. The first step would be to truly define your overall business strategy. Once that is done, I’d look to see how a full strategy on Digital Marketing rolls into that, and how you connect the two. From within that, it would be smart to plot out a strategic mobile plan. If all of those strategies point to some kind of application, then go for it. Basically, what I am saying is that creating an app is a tactic, creating a mobile strategy is much smarter. Once you know the strategy, the tactics are fairly easy to execute. On top of that, I don’t believe that anything in the Digital Marketing space is “simple.”
[Manoj]: What are some of your most favorite mobile apps?
[Mitch Joel, Twist Image]: Snap Tell, Stanza, UrbanSpoon, Tweetie, Facebook, Google App, Around Me… and countless others.
