156235 Social Media & Digital | Health Navigator & Charitable Trust

Arni & Laddha (2017) asserts that attracting prospective audience who in this case are the youths and the elderly using a smartphone app is effective as most of them use their phone to handle several issues. According to studies, larger percentage of human beings prefer using mobile apps compared to websites which is a compelling reason for them to employ the use of mobile app to reach their clients. In order to opt for mobile application, it largely depends on the targeted audience, usability of the application and the desired features.

In line with (Amberton & Stephen 2016), there is better personalization offered by mobile application. For any organization to offer quality services its clients, it is always rudimentary for them to understand the behavior of their clients. The use of mobile app will enhance tailored communication to the subscribers based on their interests, needs and behavior/ location. Presence of these apps will offer personalization thus the organization will be able to deal with the exact problems or challenges/give out legit and the right information needed by the client. The application has the ability to enable users to set their preferences from the very genesis. This will enable HNCT to serve their clients with customized content. Furthermore, the use of the app HNCT to reach the youths and the elderly will enable the firm to keep track of user engagement and thus they can be able to update users with relevant information unlike the use of website that is not easy to keep track of the user is currently being served. The reason as to why I support HNCT to continue with the development of this app is because the app will enable the experts working at HNCT to be able to identify the location of the user and if the health issue being addressed has spread, it becomes much easier to contain the situation (Amberton & Stephenm, 2016).

Kübler et al (2018) denotes that as opposed to the use of website, the use of mobile app will make it easier for HNCT to send notification concerning the emerging issues to the app users. HNCT can use this app since it may give it an upper hand in spreading breaking news about current trends in health and warn people of a given region about certain diseases. The notifications which can be used here are majorly of two types, the push and in-app notifications. This will enable the organization to communicate with their clients in a more exciting manner rather than sensing their privacy. Am also for this opinion given the fact that HNCT sometimes need to communicate argent information to New Zealanders.

As opposed to the use of the website, HNCT will find it more useful to deploy the use of phone application more effective since mobile apps have the ability to use localized rather than native features of the phone device to propagate user experience. It can also make the interaction between the clients and the experts more fun with the aim of solving the problems faced by the clients. These features furthermore will lead to time saving given the fact that it will reduce the time through which the clients will take to perform certain tasks (Winterich & Yinlong Zhang, 2014).

Given that not every New Zealander has ready access to net or being online, some of the phone application can still be used on the offline mode. The main difference between a website and a phone application is that a phone application can be used in the offline mode while a website depends totally on the net. The most valuable importance a smartphone application is the fact that it can be utilized in the offline mode. Clients can be able to formulate their views and questions when they are offline and even take photos or videos concerning the areas they need the experts to address and send them without the use of internet unlike website which is absolutely dependent on the net (Winterich & Yinlong Zhang, 2014).

In addition to this, HNCT can also enjoy the freedom to design its own features without much restriction like website that must be affiliate to specific browser platforms. Applications created for smartphones do not require these features. These apps can be created with more simple and complex functions for instance tapping, swiping and pinching among many others. The use of this app will increase the participation of the clients since most of them will be in apposition to communicate with HNCT experts. Not every person is computer literate thus will tend to avoid using the website, as it may be difficult for him or her. On the contrary, even the illiterate have the ability to use smartphones and the application will enable them to benefit from HNCT and give their contribution concerning the issues that arise among them concerning health (Dahiya & Gayatri, 2018).

HNCT should also proceed with the creation of the application since most applications have the ability to work faster than website. Many users always spend much time in applications than they do in websites. When mobile apps are designed in a proper manner, they tend to perform their tasks in a faster way unlike the use of website. HNCT should incorporate the use of the smartphone app as they have the tendency of storing raw information on native’s phone unlike websites that tend to use servers to access information. In this case, when communicating with the clients through HNCT, it becomes easier to retrieve information, as it is locally stored in the device (Dahiya& Gayatri, 2018). They happen also to give the users a number of option on how they can save their work preferably. Moreover, as the app continues to store information at the background, the client can finish his work quicker at the front platform of the phone thus enhancing the user experience. The application will enable the organization to access both the top and bottom of the funnel users (Roberts & Micken, 2015).

In addition to the above, phone users always do spend more than 87%of their time using mobile apps and only 13% using mobile websites. It is also good to note that the duration spent on using the mobile phone apps is increasing. Many youths and the elderly spend much time on social media apps. The nature of HNCT requires a platform where more conversation can be handled thus creation of the app is quite necessary. HNCT aims at increasing the conversation between the New Zealanders and the experts thus creating the app will be of great importance. The importance of creating this app lies in the fact that smartphone applications are more specific in nature that is their utility value and content hence can be manipulated to access specific users in the funnel unlike websites whose users are diverse and difficult to filter and get specific information (Critchlow et al., 2016).

Recommendations

Suggestion of features to be included in the HNCT mobile app

The targeted audiences for HNCT are majorly the youths and the elderly who are at the risk of encountering various diseases thus the application should be modified in a way that can be effectively help the New Zealanders. Some of the features that can be incorporated in this app are; the app should be simple in design. The application should be simple in nature. It should not be complicated in a manner that it will strain the clients to use. Talking of design, this refers to how the app will function. Even if the logics and algorithms involved are very complex, the nature of product should be simple. Can easily be used, navigation from one tab to the other should be easy given the fact that the elderly population do not have time to digest the rubrics thus simplicity is rudimentary (Schiele & Chen, 2018). The app should comply with the general data protection standards (GDPR). When developing this application, HNCT should ensure that personal information given out by the clients is protected. GDPR targets to shield and protect the raw information of the clients based on legal regulations and levels. HNCT should ensure that the application is designed with privacy and security properties.

According to Schiele & Chen (2018), the application should be in a position to provide a rich experience. It should focus on developing and providing an experience that has never been felt before so that many users will subscribe to it. Given the fact, many youths have higher affinity towards fancy applications; HNCT should ensure that the application is more enticing to the youths. Providing utility value to the clients can be in the form of offering viable solution mix to the client’s problems that cannot be found in any other site. The most important thing to be done when developing the application is to have the clients/ users in mind. What will the product be like.is there any genuine reason for developing the app?

Another feature to be embodied in the app is intuitiveness and easy of navigation. The app should be easy to use. The key success to drawing more users to the application is by making it easy to navigate the application and general stability that are the basic functions, which clients are looking for. The app should have the ability of allowing the user to minimize the tab and open other windows without interfering with their current conversation or work (Kankanhalli et al, 2018).

The app should also be able to provide seamless checkouts for the clients. This can be achieved through offering asking the clients to give the details that are only required for identification such as name and password fields. The process can even be made much easier by using autofill information based on zip codes. Given that the apps will be used in the smartphones, the icons should be large enough for selection using the fingers (Arora et al., 2017).

In addition to the above said features, the application should be in a manner that it can be hosted in different devices and should be responsive for varying screen sizes. Not all users utilize the same type of phone. There are varieties that are supported by different operating system. The range of screen sizes should also be considered. HNCT should ensure that all clients can benefit from the app that is they ought to provide an app that can fit to any user’s phone so that they can all have stellar experiences. Creating an application that can be hosted in all the platforms so that not all the users who are off the bat should be alienated (Makoe & Shandu, 2018).

Marketing campaigns that can be used to achieve the objectives of HNCT using the app

 The main targeted clients for this application being developed by HNCT for mobile are youths and the elderly people in New Zealand. The first marketing strategy that can be used to draw more users into using the application I the use of popups. Their main function is to bring about a strong feeling for action. They compel the user to take action. The essence of using this technique is to enable you to collect the email address of the users so that it will give you an opportunity to bring them back to using the application in case they stop using the application created (Makoe & Shandu, 2018).

 According to Kübler et al (2018), the acquisition of the email address is of paramount importance since it is easier to use emails to convert more than other channels. Given the fact that emails are the most personal online environ that can be found on the net. Having the go forward tick to send messages to them brings a high standard absolute non-interference attention for your advertisement that may not get a chance in other online channels. With this method, HNCT is assured of getting more audience to use its platform. Youths tend to be quite adventurous and may want to explore many things thus popups may lure them into downloading the application (Mcilroy et al. 2017).

Kübler et al (2018), another digital marketing strategy that can be applied by HNCT in advertising the application to clients is using Digital add –on. This refers to online creativity that makes it possible for an individual’s company to stand conspicuously. They may be in the form of precise animated videos, which are appealing to the eye. They maybe in the form of motion banners and motion pictures. They utilize a number of collaborations. A good add-on that may be used by HNCT should be compelling to both the youths and the elderly. According to Arora, Hofstede, F., & Mahajan, V. (2017)With the aim of engaging the prospective clients, who are mostly the youth and the elderly, HNTC can use captions and add-on to entice the youths through the use of captive topic in health which affects most youths and the elderly. When these strategies are implemented, HNCT will be sure of getting more of its clients into the ongoing conversation.

Digital marketing campaign calendar

Conclusion

The introduction of a mobile friendly application by HNCT is one of the biggest projects that will facilitate the on-going communication between HNCT experts and the New Zealanders since most of the citizens spend most of their time using mobile application rather than siting opposite a computer looking at the website. In this case, HNCT has to use digital campaign strategy such as the use of popups and digital add-ons to capture the attention of the youth and the elderly so that they may take part in the ongoing conversation. Unlike website, smartphone applications are easy to handle and retrieve information in addition to the fact that they can be operated even when somebody is offline.

References

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Critchlow, N., Moodie, C., Bauld, L., Bonner, A., & Hastings, G. (2016). Awareness of, and participation with, digital alcohol marketing, and the association with frequency of high episodic drinking among young adults. Drugs: Education, Prevention & Policy, 23(4), 328–336. Retrieved from https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=s3h&AN=117876744&site=ehost-live

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