Month: September 2017

Cross Platform Mobile Application And Its Pros And Cons

Posted on by Jay

So, let me guess you’ve decided that your business needs a mobile app. Well then, Congratulations!

Now, let me ask you a super important question – “Are you planning to build a native or cross-platform app?” If you’ve not thought about it yet, then start questioning to yourself and to your team, to your consultant or to the technical consultants of Andolasoft.

Before that let me tell you why this question – If your target audience is divided between iOS, Android, and Windows phones, then designing and developing for multiple platforms might make sense, in one go.

Cross-platform mobile app development has the same features like the web application to make the user interaction more productive.

No doubt, mobile apps are widely acceptable by huge numbers of Smartphone and other handheld users. Business owners are showing their interest to develop mobile apps because they know that within a minute mobile app can provide the right information to users with respect to their questions.

So now you might think – how one app would work on different devices on different networks and on different operating systems?

Do not worry keep reading below and you will get the answer.

Yes, sure… you are not the one who fails in the same… While working with different clients of different parts of the globe; and they have asked so many questions on mobile app development to us.

Let me share few of them,

  • Should we build a native or cross-platform app?
  • How will I manage my target (iOS, Android, and Windows phones) users?
  • How much does it exactly cost and how it will match to my budget?

Single Answer: Cross-platform mobile app development is the solution for all the above questions and to your doubts as well.

The cross-platform app pulls the power of simplicity and works in multiple operating systems with a single code base. It’s the unique look & feel as well as the user-friendliness that improves the user retention rates.

Cross Platform Mobile Apps and Its Pros and Cons

(Source: DBbest)

“According to Pavel, the popularity of cross-platform mobile applications can be attributed to the growing demand for enterprise mobile applications (which will soon outstrip the available development capacity by 500%).”

The aim of this article is to clarify you about the Pros and Cons of Cross-Platform Mobile App development. Before that let me tell you the common difference between native and cross-platform mobile apps;

# A native mobile application meets the requirements of a particular operating system by using its SDK.

# Whereas a cross-platform application is compatible with multiple operating systems and can run on any smartphone or tablet.

Cross-platform Mobile app development Frameworks:

Xamarin: C# codebase is used in Xamarin to develop a robust cross-platform mobile app for Android, iOS and Windows devices which allow code sharing on multiple platforms.

Appcelerator Titanium: It’s a JavaScript codebase cross-platform mobile app development open-source tool. It helps to develop the app faster and developers can reuse codes in developing iOS, Android, BlackBerry, as well as HTML5 and hybrid apps.

NativeScript: is the single code base – JavaScript open-source framework for developing native iOS, Android, and Windows mobile apps. It simplifies the mobile app development to increase productivity and support UI which can be used in other supported platforms.

RubyMotion: This cross-platform mobile app supports both iOS and Android but needs separate GUI for iOS and androids. This is widely used, across platforms.

QT: This is the oldest cross-platform framework support both for iOS and Android. QT uses C++ along with QML to develop mobile apps. It’s not easy for programming using C++ but an experienced developer can be productive with QT.

Pros of cross-platform mobile app development- this is the interesting part…read carefully.

  1. Speed:
    Cross-platform mobile apps are faster in terms of development as compared to native iOS and Android apps. One codebase can be used on multiple platforms instead of creating codebase for each platform.
  2. Less Development Cost:
    The development of the cross-platform mobile app is cost-effective & of course a smart way to develop your app. It saves your time and money.
  3. Simplicity:
    You can upgrade the app at any moment and fix the bugs without any problem. With technologies like PhoneGap and Appcelerator, the mobile app developer can easily deploy changes in cross-platform solution.
  4. Consistent Design and Easy for Marketing:
    Cross-platform mobile apps are consistent in design and well navigated. It helps the mobile app developers to design different apps in different platforms and helps in proper sync between two different mobile apps. Though it fulfills the demands of specific sets of people, it also makes marketing easier and creates better opportunities.
  5. Significant Reach:
    The cross-platform mobile app can reach global users with all types of smartphones or tablets, whether they are operated on Android, iOS, windows or any other operating system. It seamlessly runs on all operating systems without any glitch.

Cons of cross-platform mobile app development

  1. User Experience:
    Developing an app for different OS and screen layout is a bit challenging for mobile app developers. It’s always important for an app to run seamlessly in major operating systems. Major successful apps are built with native iOS or Android OS to create a better engagement platform with more users.
  2. Integration challenges:
    Integrating cross-platform app to local setting and engaging third-party cloud service is difficult. This is the biggest disadvantage. HTML5 hybrid apps depend on callback-style programming to communicate with native plugins, which makes the code unnecessarily complicated. Also for some tasks, this might lead to impractically slow solutions.
  3. Platform limitations:
    Each platform has a unique set of features and functionality to make the native app more creative. In cross-platform apps, these functionalities and tools are not available while developing an app for multiple platforms. Native cross-platform SDKs is not mature yet and its GUI needs to be coded each time for platform-specific look and feel.
  4. No more Flexibility:
    A medium level phone doesn’t have high-level hardware configuration to read HTML 5 animation and show the exact GUI and the browser components also vary from platform to platform. So it’s relatively painful to support old operating systems. To upgrade the app with latest features needs lots of development work for app developer after upgrading the latest version of SDK.

Conclusion:

Cross-platform mobile app or Hybrid mobile apps offer good performance in a cost-effective way but native apps give 100% performance and highly productive in nature.

Are you looking for a Native mobile app or Cross-platform Mobile App – Let’s Discuss Now

Important Factor To Look For While Integrating CRM And Automation Tools

Posted on by Chirantan Patel

Both CRM (Client Relationship Management) and MA (Marketing Automation) at first glance seem to be similar, but in reality, they are a lot different.

Marketing Automation tool is used by a quarter of all B2B companies and 76% of world’s biggest companies and 84% of every top performing company are planning to use it. More than 75% of companies who have integrated marketing automation software have earned many positive outcomes in a year.

CRM tools aim at maintaining the client-vendor relationship by managing database related to company’s clients, in turn, aiding in understanding customer needs, gathering feedbacks, retaining old clients and building a good rapport between the company and its clients.

On the other hand, the marketing automation tool deals with the automation of marketing campaigns by lead nurturing, utilizing mass media platforms, tracking emails, testing, etc.

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Thus, in short, CRM is Sales-centric and MA tool is marketing-centric.

As both Sales and Marketing technologies get evolved, it improved the scope of ROI by integrating CRM and MA tools.

Marketing Automation Tool(Source: cetrix cloud services)

The integration of CRM and MA software provides a dual benefit of lead generation capability of MA and the capability of CRM tool to convert those marketing qualified leads into sales opportunities. This helps in keeping track of the achieved Sales targets from marketing leads.

So, let me share the top key points which you need to consider while integrating CRM and marketing automation tools.

Selecthub(Source: Selecthub.com)

  • Nurture leads And Create Better Relationships With Customers:

Your marketing team looks after the purchasing process. Buyers make their 57% of journey in knowing about the products before they even talk to the sales person.

Only 25% of buyers reveal their interest in the early stages of the buying process. It leaves a burden on marketing to retain the attention of every uncertain customer for a definite period of time.

Instead of sifting the attention on collecting data on every lead, you can rely on the crm and Marketing Automation tool. It creates an average 451% growth in qualifying leads. 

Lead nurturing increases sales productivity by 14.5% and trims marketing overhead by 12.2%-kapost

  • Know The Data To Be Synchronized

There is an ocean of data stored by the CRM and MA tools about the client; it is wise to know which data is relevant for the Marketing and Sales team to generate revenue. The data on which the lead-cycle relies should be accurate, updated and well organized to ensure minimum glitches after integration.

  • Ensuring Two-Way Data Flow

The integration should ensure seamless communication between Sales and Marketing. The data flow should be bi-directional. Any changes made on the Marketing side should be reflected on the Sales side and vice-versa. A well-integrated system helps in notifying the Sales team of highly qualified leads generated by Marketing by applying lead routing techniques. This leads strings to the analysis of data on a single platform by creating a centralized data hub.

  • Target Audience

Being aware of the target audience helps. One should know which type of leads are expected from the Marketing side, and that should be worked upon by the Sales team and turned into opportunities, helping in ease of data filtering.

  • Method Of Integration

 There are various modes of integration for CRM and SFA Software:

  • Most MA tools offer in-built integrators that allow automated integration with leading CRM platforms via an application program interface (API). This is called Native Integration.
  • Third-Party Integration method refers to the use of alternative tools when native integration is not supported. Third-party tools are preferred for small enterprises as they have limited features and data fields.
  • Custom Middleware helps the Marketing team customize objects or entities within the CRM software. This method is generally used by medium and large businesses that deal with a large amount of data.

While implementing the integration, one should ensure a suitable test environment and data mapping.

  • Integration Timeframe

The integration time frame is decided based on the size of an organization, integration methods used, the amount of data to be handled, etc. A well-planned integration methodology comprising of risk mitigation techniques will lead to successful completion of the integration process of CRM and MA software within the anticipated timeframe.

  • Accurate Cost Estimation

 The most important factor to be decided is that of the cost of the system integration including implementation, running and maintenance costs. The cost parameter is to be decided considering prices incurred by each software components. In some cases, training of organization staff is also required to get familiar with the new environment.

  • Utilization Of Resources

Integration of CRM and MA tools should allow the Sales team to seamlessly utilize the resources created by the Marketing team like email templates, graphics, campaign data, etc. This will help the Sales team to easily make the client aware of the services provided by the Enterprise.

  • Generating Reports

Data analytics and reporting are an essential requirement of keeping a track of the changing market scenario and also to make Marketing and Sales processes more efficient. Each platform has different analytical strength. The reports reflect the ROI achieved after implementing the integrated system.

  • Control The Inbound lead Creation:

As all inbound leads are created equally. Some leads can be immediately feed into the CRM tool, whereas others can be in entirely different stages in the sales funnel. Early funnel leads are converted into great customers for an email nurturing campaign. Therefore it is important to have control over the leads that can convert as CRM Leads.

I’ve worked with the team at Andolasoft on multiple websites. They are professional, responsive, & easy to work with. I’ve had great experiences & would recommend their services to anyone.

Ruthie Miller, Sr. Mktg. Specialist

Salesforce, Houston, Texas

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You might also want to consider your required field in the sales automation CRM and these fields can be easily entered in your automation tools living on your website or landing pages. With these you can save lots of your marketing time that is spent on updating information that is auto populated incorrectly.

  • Timely Monitoring

After the successful integration of CRM and MA tools, supervising the system performance by monitoring the Marketing and Sales processes helps in discovering the scope for any further improvements needed. And helps enterprises boost their success stories!

Wrapping Up

CRM and Marketing Automation Tool can help make better customer relationships and maximizes the sales of any business with proper planning and integrations.

Wakeupsales is a smart, agile and Ranked #1 CRM software of the Year 2017 to make everything easier relating to sales and customer management.

Wakeupsales CRM is completely free. Get Started Now!

 The leading vendors of CRM tools comprise of Salesforce, Pipedrive and Wakeupsales software’s provide outstanding customer relationship whereas Marketo, Silverpop, Pardot, and Eloqua are some of the best marketing automation tools. Have you started with a CRM yet!