Clowder Blog

HR teams know that the employee experience is as important as the customer experience. But keeping employees happy doesn’t just happen; it requires an ongoing effort to implement strategies that will resonate. Employees crave two-way communication, team building, feedback, recognition, and the belief that they are valued for their contributions. Today’s mobile-first workforce uses apps to manage most of their personal and professional lives, so it stands to reason that a dedicated organization app is a clear solution for fostering real employee engagement.

Social media influencers are the hottest form of marketing right now. Think of them as a combination of today’s version of celebrity endorsements and word-of-mouth marketing. A company or brand uses a personality that is well-liked and credible to spread awareness and tout their product with the hopes that their adoring fan-base will be compelled to purchase. An authentic endorsement from someone you adore and respect is more impactful than a generic advertisement or promotion. Today’s marketers and PR firms are increasingly using influencers and according to Mediakix, a leading influencer marketing agency, for good reason:

Just as the world of commerce has changed drastically in the last decade, the banking industry has seen some rapid changes in the past couple of years. Leading for-profit companies have yielded great results by launching mobile apps—increasing their customer base and gaining loyalty by creating value with consumers. Banks have joined the ranks with other big brands to leverage the benefits that a mobile app can offer customers.

As far as the website vs. app debate goes, it’s not an Either/Or Situation - both are needed. Just as we always like to say – websites are for attention, apps are for retention. It’s time to put your website’s most utilized features and resources in a native app so your members can access them right through their phones. When it comes to keeping your association engaging, it’s important you know your people, what they need, and how to best deliver that.

When your organization makes the wise decision to invest in an app, you have some choices to make. The most important being, “Should our app be native or web-based?” To help answer that, we've illustrated a helpful scenario:

Mobile devices have become invaluable business tools and the primary channel people conduct many aspects of their personal and professional lives through. The proof is indisputable - mobile has overtaken desktop and apps have overtaken websites. Even back in 2017, a study conducted by Samsung to gauge mobility trends at the workplace found that 93% of respondents used cell phones at work to complete professional tasks, reporting they spend 33% of their workday using their phones. In the two years since then, it’s very likely those statistics have increased. 

All organizations understand the necessity of a web presence. Your website is how your audience finds you and accesses the information, products and resources you provide. It should reveal a bit about your culture, your values and your personality. It’s an invaluable tool for communications and for personal and consumer transactions. However, nearly 80% of internet usage in 2019 is likely to be mobile, so simply having a good website isn’t enough.  

A common misconception among smaller organizations and often regional chapters of larger organizations, is that because of your size, you don’t need a mobile app. We would argue that that perspective is flawed because it’s not about how many people you are reaching, it’s about how you are reaching your people. How many members or partners you have is beside the point when determining how to best reach them and how they choose to consume content. Whether it’s 250 people or 25,000, your goal to provide an excellent service and experience is the same, isn’t it? 

Pushback is inevitable when pitching a new technology solution. Mobile solutions in particular are commonly subject to much apprehension. That’s because many organizations are still in the early stages of understanding the full value of a comprehensive mobile strategy. But to the uncertainty of mobile we ask: What’s your alternative? Is it more email? More web pages? More in-person meetings? What’s a better answer to decreasing engagement and increasing membership churn?

When your organization’s employees and members log in to your web site, membership database, sales tools or HR dashboard, do they use one set of login information to access all the applications? OAuth 2.0 is the industry standard protocol that allows organization to authenticate user data across all applications. Without geeking out on the technical aspects of OAuth 2.0, here’s an overview of why it matters.