The Benefits of Mobile Apps for Businesses
We are developing into a mobile-centric society, and mobile apps are at the center of development. In this article, we provide you with 8 reasons why you should have a mobile app for your business.
If you have a business, you are probably interacting with your customers online through a website or a service you provide to your customers (online store, a product configurator, a booking system, etc.) via a web portal. Developing a mobile app for a business can provide valuable marketing opportunities and help reach your target audience. We will go into 8 of the top functional benefits that will help put you ahead of the competition:
1. Builds brand awareness
With traditional advertising campaigns you might struggle to keep your brand always at the forefront of the customer’s mind. However, with a mobile app you can push notifications that will put your brand right in the palm of the customer’s hand. If a user has already installed your app, you can be sure that they will encounter your brand multiple times a day, especially if you have created built-in features in your app that lets you engage with users constantly.
2. Increases customer engagement
Mobile applications have shown to be effective in customer engagement and communicating new services, product launches, promotional offers, improved features, and discounts. This is because push notifications are more personal or direct than email marketing or social media. With a mobile app you can schedule push notifications that ping their devices whenever you have special offers that you want to bring to their attention. This notification invites the user to interact with the app and is a great way to keep the customer engaged with your brand. Another effective tool that apps provide are analytics that give insights to further increase engagement. The analytics can help you see what the majority of the customers are viewing and areas of the app that are never looked at. From there you can cater to the customers and push content that will keep them engaged.
3. Provides added value to your customers
The most important trend of our time in the business world is digital accessibility. Businesses should always focus on making their services or products easily accessible to customers because this adds value that customers appreciate. A mobile app can allow your customers to place an order with the tap of their fingers from anywhere, at any time during the day. Increased accessibility to services and products combined with better customer service will add noticeable value to your brand. For example, when a potential customer requires a product or service, there is a higher chance that they will look it up on their smartphone instead of their laptop. Research shows that most searches are done on the go while socializing, traveling, or waiting for appointments instead of leisure time when you have access to your laptop. Apps are quicker, more interactive, and easier to navigate than websites. Apps also provide an easy way for customers to receive help with any customer support issues they may have. Customers appreciate it when complaints or concerns are resolved as smoothly and as quickly as possible. Apps help add this type of value through an online help desk or another type of online forum that is accessible through the app.
4. Strengthens your product or service
Website analytics were revolutionary with the rise of online stores, as it allowed businesses to utilize website analytic data about their customers. As previously mentioned, with mobile applications you have access to even more data about your users. For example, with a mobile app, you can access a customer’s location if they have enabled location sharing in your app, which is something you are not able to do with a website. You are also able to analyze behavior; what users search for, what FCQs are consumed the most, and how long they stay on different pages in the app. When using this data properly through analyzation, not only can you use it to increase customer engagement, but you can improve your own products and strategize your campaigns.
5. Increases Revenue
A tricky and critical aspect of building a business is attracting repeat customers. A business app could help you attract these second time buyers because it lets you create a connection between your brand and the customer through notifications and reminders. Reminders make it easier for customers to be aware of the products and services you offer, and it also encourages customers to make another purchase. Research shows that when a customer needs a product or service, they are more likely to turn to a familiar app and quickly purchase that product rather than scrolling on the web for longer periods of time. The app analytics that we keep talking about is another way that can increase revenues. When the location sharing feature is enabled by the customer you are also able to set up push notifications that notify customers of local promotions going on that activate when they are close to your store. Targeted notifications lead to more traffic which then could lead to more sales.
6. Helps you stand out
Apps can also help you differentiate yourself from the crowd. Even though we are turning into a mobile-centric society, apps are still rare, and by having one for your business, you can grab the attention of potential customers and grab a large part of the market share. If you act before your competition, you can actively stay one step ahead and focus on effectively managing customer engagement and building a solid customer base. A mobile app for your business can also help boost brand recognition. There is so much happening on social media and other forms of advertising that it makes it hard to stand out. However, if you combine an app with advertisements, you will rate higher on customer engagement, which can significantly help your brand stand out from the rest.
7. Provides improved visibility
Another advantage a mobile app will provide you with is improved visibility. Research shows that there has been a significant shift in how people look for products and services in the last couple of years. The preferred way to go about it used to be word-of-mouth recommendations and website browsing, while people now prefer to search for products and services on the go directly on their smartphones. Apps are a great marketing tool that makes the most out of this development. It grabs customer attention, targets your audience, and improves the visibility of your business.
8. Builds Brand Loyalty
A key aspect of running a business is building and maintaining brand loyalty. Apps are a great way for business to maintain customer loyalty because they allow for the customer to easily connect with the business instead of using the traditional ways of calling by phone or using email. This allows the customer to have a sense of connection and feel like they are just as important to your business as any other customer. Also, mobile apps have unique features, such as instant rewards, which can be used as an incentive for customers to stay loyal. For example, customers can collect points based on the amount they have spent on your business that can be converted into rewards that will keep the customer loyal to your brand and hopefully make them a regularly returning customer.