If you have an Android phone you may have been trying to figure out what happened to your Android Market in the last few weeks. Well, it isn’t gone! Google just rebranded and you can now find it labeled as Google Play. As of March 2012, Google reports there are over 450,000 apps available in their market and Apple has over 600,000! So how do you know what apps are worth your time and effort? Each month The Launch Pad will review what apps can help you be more efficient from your mobile device.

Check out our past posts on the following apps: Encamp, Google Analytics, GoToMeeting, RDP Lite, Mighty Meeting, Intuit GoPayment, Springpad, Scan2PDF and Documents to Go.

Salesforce
There are many SMB’s that use Salesforce as their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool and with the Salesforce mobile app you will never have to lose touch with any part of your business! For executives you can make sure you are connected to the dashboards and data that matters most 24/7. The sales team can also have access to information, respond to hot leads, update log calls and provide notes on meetings immediately after an appointment without having to wait to get back to their computer. The Salesforce App is free and available for Apple, Android and Blackberry but you do need to be a Salesforce customer to access all of the functionality.

Lyris HG Mobile
Almost all companies use email marketing as a marketing strategy. There are a lot of different tools that you can use such as Constant Contact, iContact, Exact Target, Vertical Response, etc. To enhance functionality and enhance conversion tracking, some email marketing providers such as Lyris have introduced a mobile app. The Lyris mobile app allows you to view, report and manage campaigns from your mobile device. You can schedule emails to be sent, preview/proof emails, cancel sends, track bounces and view real time delivery statistics. Lyris HQ Mobile is free and available for Apple and Android devices.

*Many other email marketing companies have mobile apps that provide the same information as well.

LinkedIn
You can have access to your connections, profiles and network updates from wherever you want with the LinkedIn mobile app. LinkedIn can help you understand a lot more about the person you just met at a networking event or about the people you are about to have a business meeting with. A quick glance at someone’s LinkedIn profile and you can discover what school they went to, what companies they have worked for and who is in your mutual network. Make sure you are prepared before walking into any business meeting or connect with a professional right after meeting them by using the LinkedIn mobile app. The LinkedIn mobile app is free and available for Apple, Android, Blackberry and the PalmPre.

Check back next month for our next Mobile App review and comment below if there is a particular App you would like for us to review in the future. If you are interested in learning how mobile technology can help your business contact us for a FREE technology assessment.