The latest IAB/PWC figures show ad spend on mobile has doubled year on year. This has been fuelled by an increase in users accessing the internet on their mobiles and by the new possibilities presented by smartphone devises (phones offering advanced capabilities, often with PC-like functionality). One hotly discussed topic in this area is the development of applications (known universally as apps).

Over 1.5bn apps have been downloaded from Apple’s app store since July 2008 and many brands are keen to get in on the act. While branded apps can provide a novel platform for your target audience to interact with your organisation, it’s important for companies to first research the mobile behaviour of their audience before getting carried away with the hype.

For example, the iPhone currently only holds a 4% market share in the UK (around one million people have an iPhone). Of these people, how many are within the student population and how many regularly download apps? Also, smartphones from other manufacturers (such as Nokia and Google Android) are gaining in popularity and mean that it will soon be hard to build an iPhone app in isolation.

Ali says: For a mobile app to be successful it needs to be compatible with the most relevant smartphone devises, should be well marketed and easy to find, provide instant utility, have a high frequency of use and encourage word of mouth.