The news that the web is dead is grossly exaggerated!

Recently I saw a post on the NEMOA Linked In chat board with the headline “The web is dead, long live apps”.

Remember back in the mid 90s when the mantra was “Catalogs are dead, get on the web”? While catalogs have lost ground to web, they are clearly not dead. In fact, many DM companies still have the majority of their sales generated through catalogs. So what’s one to think now that the “demise” of the web is around the corner?

Clearly, just like the catalog, the web’s death prediction is a bit of an exaggeration. What’s really happening is customers have yet another option as to how they will interact with your company. What is critical for any marketer is to understand what communication methods your customers prefer to utilize and what they expect to get from them. If you find through primary research that your customers are using mobile apps to purchase your products, then you should really be looking at building that. If on the other hand, your customers are using apps for other non-business informational purposes and prefer to do business with you via web or catalog, then development of apps may not be the way to go at this time.

The bottom line is to have your customers decide what are the ways to interact with your company, and not be seduced by cool new technology.

Remember, “Just because you built it, don’t assume they will come”.