With two months of the year 2017 already passed, if a business hasn't spent the time to upgrade its existing plans already, it should certainly be at the top of its task list for a coming couple of months. One of the fundamental areas that every business needs to give emphasis on when it come to marketing strategies in the previous year is how they handle mobile marketing efforts. Having a responsive website is definitely the important initial step, but this year it’s more than the basics of mobile marketing in order to succeed in the competition.

This is the time when businesses must turn their attention towards top mobile app development marketing trends that their strategies need to include to lead the competition and get the best marketing Return On Investment

• Mobile Payments

According to a technology research firm, by 2017, 50% of all the United States digital E-commerce income will be initialized from mobile. When big names like Google, Samsung, Facebook, and even Apple have adopted the digital payments options like Samsung Pay, Apple Pay etc. and the time is not too far when these digital payment platforms will become the standard payment options. Various smartphones will also have the wallets already installed by the end of this year.

• App Indexing and Deep Links in Apps

The mobile internet in the past year has rapidly grown to include more content from deep links within indexed applications. Just creating an application won’t be enough anymore. For increasing discoverability, engagement, and downloads, marketers need start indexing their applications and the content with deep links. Mobile search has continued to outpace desktop search since last year, and the potential for applications to be indexed with deep links on other platforms including Google has allowed progressing companies to inflate their online presence in the immensely competitive mobile space.

Google is not the only platform encouraging and implementing application indexing. Facebook, Apple, and even Bing have started to invest in app indexing to accept the challenge with the rapidly growing mobile audience. Moreover, marketers have already indexed their applications and deep linked their content in the previous year.

• Mobile Buying Through Social Buy Buttons

Social platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest have created an impact on various online buyers in the past several years, and they are immensely popular mobile applications too. Out of other established social media channels like Facebook, Instagram, twitter, LinkedIn, and Snapchat, only Pinterest is the one which was not in the top 15 smartphone applications in a June 2015 survey. When it comes to using smartphones for buying online, users rarely do that, rather they will make the purchase on their desktops.

With the rise of M-commerce, the next significant step for all the established social media platforms is leveraging their innumerable mobile users by providing a smooth shopping experience for brands to gain benefits.

Purchasing on mobile is not as same as buying on the desktop, though with the increase in all things mobile in past year, businesses must look for social media platforms and their continuously upgrading e-commerce features, to be an important aspect of mobile buying. As social media networks have included E-Commerce on their platforms, businesses must start looking for more mobile buying rather than just browsing in 2017

• Snapchat Marketing

Snapchat exists since 2011, and historically has been relatively unknown as compared to social media networks like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter that are generally known better. Ever since it released, Snapchat inclined towards millennials, as about 70% of its United States users range between 18-29 years of age.

In January 2015, it grabbed the attention while unveiling its “Discover” feature. Actually, the “Discover” feature enables users to access and view videos and photos from big brands, and by sliding up or down on these videos and photos, they are able to view more content that is uniquely presented and curated for Snapchat.

What will exactly make it a vital marketing platform in the coming time is how creative and organic the branded content on Discover is in contrast with the marketing options on other social platforms. By 2016, Snapchat has finally grown to be on the same page in terms of renowned marketing social marketing platforms.

• Applications to Rival Mobile Websites

According to a study, tablet or smartphone users spend more time on applications. Another study found that big brands like Apple, Amazon, Walmart, and eBay mostly communicate with their mobile consumers through applications rather than mobile sites.

When asked about the same, 18 years and older smartphone users claimed that applications are easier and suitable to use. Some users also said that mobile sites don’t look better or offer correct information on their mobile devices. Some of the added advantages of a mobile application include:

• More personalization for users

• Cloud integration

• Push notifications

• Enhanced security

• Offline/online access

• Branding freedom

Conclusion:

Possibly the biggest mobile trend that is expected in this year is more buying right on a mobile device. Whether that is via a mobile application, mobile payment solution or a social buy button, brands must position themselves digitally in such a way that is convenient for customers to buy on their smartphones. Brands that evolve and execute their digital strategies to implement mobile in an eminent way will lead the competition and can expect to gain benefits accordingly as increasing mobile application development is making the mobile devices a viable solution to analyze and make a purchase final.