How To Be Your Own Mobile Publisher (Without a Developer)

Consistent, personalized customer experiences are critical; 65% of consumers would switch to a competitor if a brand fails to connect with them. But without professional developers, pivoting to an omni-channel digital business model can be a challenge. We launched Experience Cloud in 2013 to help all builders use low-code tools to rapidly create any kind of digital experience, for any industry, on any device – and connect it to their customer relationship management system (CRM). But times have changed, and so has our technology. With Mobile Publisher, Experience Cloud can also build beautiful, CRM-powered mobile experiences.

Mobile apps are one of the most effective means for brands to stay connected to their customers and partners. More than half of us spend five hours or more daily on our mobile device. Always-connected consumers demand to engage with a brand whenever they pull out their phone.

What is Mobile Publisher? How does it work?

Customers expect to have a consistent experience across all of your brand’s digital channels, but building a secure and custom iOS or Android mobile app is not easy. It often requires more specialized skills than building a digital portal or site. And organizations have to make sure what they build for the desktop is consistent with the mobile experience.

Mobile Publisher in Experience Cloud makes it easier than ever to extend the digital experience – from content, to design, to layout – into a branded mobile app downloadable from the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Mobile Publisher’s low-code innovations help any business build, brand, and distribute a custom mobile app with Salesforce. Here’s how it works:

1. Build your digital site with Experience Cloud.
2. Upload your app details, such as description and metadata, an app icon, and splash screen images.
3. Salesforce assembles a beta version of the mobile app for your review. 
4. Stakeholders approve the mobile app, and your admin submits the finished product.
5. Mobile Publisher manages packaging and submission for the app to the marketplaces of your choice.

Mobile Publisher also automatically updates and publishes changes to your mobile app based on changes you make to the desktop version. The result? Your digital experiences are consistent, no matter where your customers access them.

How can a mobile app benefit your business?

We’ve seen customers such as State of Rhode Island, Spalding, and RBC Wealth and Asset Management connect with over one billion members and 370 million users across tens of thousands of customer, partner, and employee sites; portals, and forums. We love helping our customers innovate, and Mobile Publisher for Experience Cloud is a huge part of their success.

“We needed to scale our student counseling model in a way that was relevant to their needs,” said Rebecca Joffrey, IT innovation officer at Cornell University. “Email was the only option for outreach, but it didn’t match with students’ communication preferences. Our students are on mobile devices and that’s where we needed to meet them.”

If you’re trying to reach a broader audience, a mobile app adds flexibility and more opportunities for outreach and connection. And since Mobile Publisher and Experience Cloud are both built on Salesforce, brands can extend the full power of their CRM. Use cases include:

• Brand marketers that can inform customers of promotions with rich media mobile push notifications. 
• B2B and B2C commerce customers who can seamlessly order products via mobile. 
• Extend your CRM data, processes, and resources to channel partners via mobile app to keep them productive on-the-go. 
• Mobile becomes another channel for your self-service portals and help centers.

Native mobile capabilities capture customer engagement

Mobile won’t replace desktop, but Mobile Publisher helps brands provide customers with unique native mobile capabilities, such as:

• Custom branding: Brand your app with a custom app icon, splash screen, and app name.
• Persistent authentication: Once a user logs into the site built on Experience Cloud, they can close and reopen the mobile app without logging out.
• Local file access: Users can upload to the app with local files and photos on their phone.
• Custom push notifications: Keep your end users engaged with instant alerts and updates to their phone homescreen.
• Mobile app security: Offer authenticated and guest modes for unregistered users.
• Multi-channel updates: Changes made in your digital site are instantly updated in the mobile app. 
• SDK-free: No third-party integrations or mobile SDK is required.

By empowering admins, marketing managers, and developers to build beautiful, connected mobile apps, you can ensure that your customers and partners have a consistent experience on every channel.