HEALTHCARE MARKETING: LEARN WHY MOBILE APPS FAIL : Healthcare, Digital Marketing and Market Access Strategy - John G. Baresky
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HEALTHCARE MARKETING: LEARN WHY MOBILE APPS FAIL

by John G. Baresky on 04/15/20

Mobile apps are no longer a slam dunk success in healthcare


Marketing mobile applications aligned with healthcare used to be an easy win. Adoption and use would climb with every upgrade and this produced more opportunities to generate user data as well as a channel to market products and services to the users. Healthcare and other industries are discovering the emerging issues and obstacles with mobile marketing and healthcare apps. There is much more critical thinking performed upfront to prevent misfires in healthcare marketing and mobile app initiatives.

7 reasons healthcare mobile applications fail
  • It's getting more difficult each day to earn an icon spot on a user's phone. Medical professionals, healthcare executives and consumers are much more selective now. The impulse trigger to automatically download an app or engage an offer has been modestly blunted and almost leans towards apathy.
  • The competition is fierce. The medical and business community plus households are presented with a storm of apps, offers and other messages each day via their phones. Unless an app is truly dedicated to niche purposes, there is overlapping competition that new apps must hurdle to get into place on a phone and even then there position is far from secure as rivals enter the space.
  • Poor strategic decisions upfront launch the development of apps that get user buy-in and use but don't generate revenue. The user sticks to the pure utility of the app but doesn't act on any features that enable the developer to earn more revenue from it. The developer is now stuck with maintaining an app that generates a lot of data that may or may not be useful nor is the app positioned well enough that an upgrade will automatically turn things around.
  • The design of the mobile app is outmaneuvered by a wearable option. Given that wearable technology is advancing by leaps and bounds, they are getting a piece of the mobile action. While some wearable and phone apps can be considered a tandem, this is not always the case. Even if they disparate, a user may prefer what the wearable does for them in terms of utility, data, display, mobility or other factor that the mobile app can't duplicate.
  • The app is feature rich and/or feature poor. It may do a couple of things really well and miss their mark on others so much that the app is abandoned even when there is not another one available from a rival. If the app can't seamlessly deliver well on all of its features tech-savvy users may find it unforgivable and give it the heave-ho. On the flip side, fickle users may find it has too many features and determine that it's too complicated and decide it's not for them. Even the simplest app with the highest expectation can fail based on poor integration of user experience and design concepts.
  • Clumsy upgrades are another main reason why apps fail. Users get in a groove on how they use their apps and when changes are not well thought out, users abandon ship. Developers believe what they are doing will make their app easier to use or provide even more value through new uses and features. What happens are the "enhancements" disrupt the user's comfort level enough that they decide to figure it out later and never use the app again or just decide they automatically don't like it and jettison it from their phone. 
  • Standards change and present apps don't measure up. If a healthcare app can't meet the standards of what a clinician requires or what has changed on their end that mandates a new level of performance, data management, security or other benchmark, apps become obsolete quickly. The tough part is if it's a sweeping change that is required due to organizational or regulatory decision makers, the app will be abandoned en masse even if users are reluctant to part with it.
Healthcare mobile apps requires strategic forethought. 

Don't be discouraged by the challenges involved with developing and launching mobile apps. First, take comfort your competitors may be making these mistakes and you can learn from them at their expense.

Second, the challenges cultivate focus and purpose. By thoroughly vetting the promise of a mobile app upfront, you position yourself for success which typically saves money along the way. The funds you save can be used to promote the app, put towards other healthcare marketing initiatives or be put right to your organization's bottom line. 

Finally, mobile apps reflect the healthcare industry we work in. Healthcare is driven by innovation, cost control, performance, technology and satisfaction. A slip in any of these categories means there is an opportunity to re-up your game and quickly prove yourself worthy to customers that value your organization and its app. When these happen to your competition, it educates you and your organization to avoid the same issue,







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