Do You Really Need a Mobile App to Grow Your Small Business?
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As a small business owner, you might be wondering if you really need a mobile app to grow your business?
The honest answer is maybe, you see, you can use a mobile app to improve customer experience, engage customers more deeply and provide them access to your content and services, even when they aren’t able to come to you. Despite this, a mobile app won’t solve all your problems or ensure your success. This blog is going to talk about why a mobile app might be a good idea, and the various components of a mobile app whether or not you need a Mobile App for your business.
Why do businesses have Apps in the first place?
Considering so many businesses are getting apps, you might be wondering what’s all the fuss about. Well, there are 7 main reasons for this.
1. Stay visible to customers at all times
Statistics show that people generally spend an average of 3 hours and 15 minutes on their mobile devices every day. Despite the fact that only a few apps account for most of this usage, each user must unlock, scroll, and scan their device in order to find the apps they want.
Being “in the way” can benefit your company, as our minds unconsciously record every image and text, or in this case, well-designed app icons, that we see, even if it happens unnoticed.
2. Create a Direct Marketing Channel
Apps perform a wide range of functions: they can provide general information, pricing, booking forms, search functions, user accounts, messaging, news feeds, and more.
One of the biggest benefits of having a mobile app is that you can improve customer experience by providing your customers with all the information they’d like. This includes special sales and promotions– all at their fingertips. By sending push notifications through your business mobile app, you can bring your customers even closer to a direct interaction and easily remind them about your products and services whenever it makes sense, brand loyalty has never been easier.
3. Provide Value to Your Customers
Speaking of on-hand information, how about digitalizing that loyalty program you have in place? Forget the old point-collection card, make it possible for your customers to collect their rewards via your mobile app. The result? More downloads and more return customers.
This is one of the main features we see when we are developing mobile apps for our clients, see our Sites to Apps services for more information.
4. Build Brand and Recognition
Developing a mobile app for your business can greatly contribute to your brand awareness. This topic is best broken down into two aspects, which when combined create a winning business app:
Brand
Similar to a billboard, business mobile apps are like blank canvases. There are no limitations to what you can create with it; you can make it stylish, hip, functional, shocking, or informative. Ultimately, you want an app with features that improve customer experience, which your customers will love, while at the same time being well branded and beautifully designed.
Recognition
The more often you can get your customers to interact with your app, the sooner they will be inclined to purchase your small businesses product or service. In advertising this is called the “effective frequency”: as a general rule, hearing and/or seeing your brand approximately 20 times is what will get you truly noticed.
5. Improve Customer Engagement
Whether you are a florist or a spa, your customers must be able to reach you. Messaging within your app (or a help desk feature) can make a big difference in how you communicate with your customers and the whole customer experience. OpenTable actually built its entire business model around this principle. Instead of calling a restaurant, you can book a table with less than five clicks on their platform. Think about it: how many customers would prefer to communicate with you via text rather than by phone?
6. Stand Out From the Competition
At the small business level, having a business mobile app is still relatively rare, and this is where you can set yourself apart from the competition. Offer a mobile app to your customers before anyone else in your circle or neighbourhood. They’ll be impressed by your forward-thinking approach!
7. Cultivate Customer Loyalty
Lastly, and possibly most importantly, developing your own mobile app will ensure that you earn loyal customers. As a result of all the advertising out there – roadside banners, billboards, flashing signs, newspapers, flyers, coupons, websites, website banners, Facebook ads, and email marketing – we gradually lose our impact on customers. It’s time to reconnect with your customers and make them loyal fans of your products and/or services. Mobile apps won’t solve all your business problems, but they can help you be more accessible to your customers and build Customer Loyalty by being just a “fingertip” away at all times.
To App or Not to App? That is the question!
Now that we’ve covered why businesses benefit from having app, before you rush into it, just check that your small business is ready. As mentioned in a Forbes Article
“Not all businesses benefit from an app, but every business needs to build mobile apps. Every company is being forced to become a software company to compete, and companies are building hundreds of internal apps to increase competitiveness. The internal or “shadow” app market is a well-kept secret as these apps solve internal business problems away from traditional app stores. – Max Lynch, Ionic
So as you can see, it really depends on what your business does and how it interacts with customers
In many cases, a mobile-friendly website can be just as effective as an app and require fewer developers and less time and energy to develop. Ask yourself what the customer experience would be like on your app. Would it be significantly different from an optimized website?
Your next Steps
Convinced? Feel ready? Small business owners with the desire to grow and the means to afford one should definitely consider a business app.
You have now seen the many advantages of creating a business mobile app, what is next?
Here are your two options:
- You can hire us at Hel of a Beauty or another app development agency, take a look at our Site to App services, you will be pleasantly surprised with our packages and easy process.
- You use one of the fantastic mobile app builders like App My Site , BuildFire, or AppsBuilder to build your own mobile app without having to worry about coding and technicalities.
Regardless of how you choose to implement it, with no sign of mobile devices going anywhere mobile applications are going to be a standard part of most businesses in the future. The choice you make today is going to set the foundation for the future of your business. It’s on you to decide whether nows the time for you.
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