Websites are not applications (...usually)

One of the increasingly blurry lines in the online world is the concept of websites vs. applications. Since the rise of the iPhone and its app store (and the corresponding app markets for platforms such as Android and Blackberry), the word "app" has rapidly spread into the mainstream. This is largely a distinction of marketing -- an "app" is really no different from what we've previously called "programs," "software," or even "games." But it also has started to overlap with the definition of "website."

For example, think of something like Google or Facebook -- these are websites. But they can also function as applications -- tools that you use often. And indeed, both have released "apps" for platforms such as the iPhone. But whether you use them in "app" format or "website" format, they function pretty much the same. The primary difference, really, is that an app is catered to the particular device you are using (although, with browser detection capabilities, a website can cater itself to your device as well).

The problem with this increasing overlap is that a lot of companies are misunderstanding what it means to have an "app," and they don't think about why other companies even have (or need) apps in the first place. I suspect a lot of people see the "social media" revolution and the increasing dominance of smart phones, and think they need to get in on it -- Make an app! Integrate with social media! Create user profiles and personalize based on each individual person! It's a marketing mantra that seems sensible -- reach your customers where they are rather than forcing them to come to you. So if Google and Facebook are websites, and they have apps, if I have a website, I should have an app too, right?

Well, no, not necessarily.

The fact is, most websites are NOT social media hubs or tools. Most websites are standalone pieces that people may visit once in their whole lives, or perhaps once every few months or so at a maximum. You might visit a furniture website when shopping for a couch and never come back. Maybe you need an exterminator and find them online, and then you never need them again. Perhaps you're going on vacation and check out a spa online at your destination, which you might never visit again. These are websites that deliver value at the time you use them, but you're not going back again very often (if ever). You're not going to make that exterminator's website your home page. You're not going to download the spa's app. And you're probably not going to set up a personal profile at a furniture studio's website.

But what about your favorite pizza delivery place? Your bank? Your favorite local clothing store? You might visit all of those places often, and would benefit from apps, profiles, or other long-term connections. Here's a few questions to ask yourself before you start thinking you need to be investing in these alternate methods of customer connection.

1. Do you provide a service or sell things that people tend to purchase frequently -- and can they make those purchases online?
If yes, you might benefit from an online profile that lets customers save their payment info and other preferences. You might also consider a simple mobile phone app that does the same thing.

2. Is there a useful (free) tool that you could provide online or via an app that your customers would use often and find valuable?
If yes, then you might benefit from providing an app or online tool. For example, I worked on Tide's "Stain Brain" website and app -- it gives tips for removing small stains on the go, which keeps Tide in the customer's mindset without requiring them to pay anything to use the app.

3. Does your business interact with the community in a way that engages people in a non-customer role (e.g., you sponsor a charity event with participants who aren't necessarily customers)?
If yes, then you might benefit from branching out via a stronger social media presence -- people are happy to support a cause by posting about it on Facebook or sending messages on Twitter to ask their friends to donate or help, and your name gets out there in the process.

If you can't answer yes to any of the above questions, there's a good chance you may not be in need of apps, social media, and user profiles. Any of those avenues done wrong can actually harm your image -- a useless app ends up looking like little more than an ad taking up space on your phone, a Twitter feed that is never updated just looks like you don't care about your business, and adding a user profile for a site you may rarely visit just frustrates the visitor and may serve as more of a barrier than a convenience.

So while everyone is shouting about the next wave of "customer enablement," keep in mind that it's not just whether or not you have an "app" -- it's a matter of whether or not that app (or profile, or Facebook page, etc.) actually offers any value to your audience.