10 Reasons Why You Should Use Mobile Apps for Business

If your business doesn’t have any mobile apps yet, it might be time to start designing. Using mobile apps can make a big difference in your business. Keep reading to learn 10 reasons you should be using mobile apps for business.

If your business doesn’t have a platform on a mobile app, the time is now to get a developer and get on on it. Having a mobile app for your business can make a huge difference in your overall success. Here are 10 reasons why you should be using mobile apps for business.

This year there are about 2.53 billion smartphone users worldwide. Studies have shown that the average consumer spends about 5 hours a day on his or her cell phone. During this time these consumers are likely using apps like Facebook and Instagram to connect and even find out about other businesses. Why not make your customer’s life that much easier by having your business in an app on their phone and at their fingertips? Now every time your potential customer opens up their phone, they’ll see your app and think about using your business. Isn’t it time you took advantage of this platform? Being this accessible to your potential customer lets you get insights from your audience. Now you can easily get data and identify quickly what are the most successful regions, demographics, and customer needs. Then you can use this information to make product enhancements, point out new opportunities and even develop new products and features that your customer wants. Your app will also help build traffic since Apple app store and Google Play get millions of hits a day. There’s a chance that someone looking for your competitor (who might not have an app) finds and uses you instead. Or someone could be searching for something your business does and finds you instead. You just need to make sure that your app is properly designed for the app store so you can attract more downloads and get more traffic to your website. There’s really an art and science to building a successful app that’s easily found in an app store, so make sure you use the mobile store to boost website traffic, with consistent app maintenance.

Your app can do many things like give general information, prices, booking, search features, messengers, news feeds and so much more. One of the best things about a mobile app is all the information you’re giving your customers, like sales and promotions, which is now right at their fingertips. E-mails can get lost or overlooked, but a notification on an app rarely goes unnoticed. Push notifications let you get an even closer direction connection that reminds your customers about products and promotions seamlessly.

Your app will give value to your customer, now they have on hand information and essentially a loyalty program. They can scan a code on your app, instead of carrying around a bulky key card to get loyalty rewards and discounts, which will keep them coming back to your business.

Your mobile app can help build your brand and develop recognition. Your mobile app is essentially a blank billboard sign. You can do whatever you want with it in terms of style, function, and features. Your goal should be to create an app that has features your customers will love while still being well branded and functionally designed. Your app also creates recognition. The more often your consumer uses your app the sooner they will be persuaded to buy your product or use your service. In advertising this is called “effective frequency,” a general rule is hearing and/or seeing your brand at least 20 times is what will get your company noticed and remembered.

It doesn’t matter what you’re selling, your customer needs to have an effective way to reach you. Having a messaging or help desk feature on your app can really improve the customer experience. OpenTable built their whole business around this idea. You can never get through to restaurants to book a table, but you can with their app. It makes sense when you think about it. More customers today prefer to communicate over text than make a phone call.

Even with the plethora of apps out there, mobile apps for small business are still rare. If you can build an effective app for your small business you will stand out from the competition. Not only that, there’s a good chance for loyal customers from your competitor might come to you instead because you have an app and your competition doesn’t. If you’re the first of your competitors to have an app, potential customers will respect you more for being technologically savvy and up to date.

Mobile apps really help increase your customer loyalty, more than a banner, billboard, flashing sign or Facebook ad ever could. There’s so much noise out there and no one is paying attention to any of it, because we’re all on our phones. Mobile apps make your customer experience feel more personal, like having their own concierge or butler, available 24/7 ready to make whatever sale or booking they want immediately without any hassle. While mobile apps won’t save your business, it will keep your customer closer to you, as now you are at their fingertip and on their most prized possession (their phone). All you have to do to get this loyalty is make your app, you can do this by hiring a development agency or bringing in your own in-house app development team. This all depends on how much you want to invest in your mobile strategy. There are some great mobile app builders like Como, BuildFire, or AppsBuilder that will handle all the coding and technicalities for you.

Mobile apps are the future of business. The choice you make today to make this app or not will set the groundwork for your business. It’s up to you if you want to be a frontrunner in your field or not. In 2014 the CEO of MentorMate Bjorn Stansvik described the three major indications we were living in the mobile era and how businesses can benefit from that. Big companies like Facebook, Apple, and Amazon were already making their websites mobile friendly with apps and since then their companies have grown even more. Whole Foods partnership with Amazon has really helped their business boom. Now Amazon has even more data thanks to Whole Foods and now Whole Foods has more loyal customers. Now Whole Foods has lower prices and an app that can even deliver their groceries to your door and you can also save instore with their Amazon Whole Foods app. Having a mobile app for your business prepares your company for the future. Mobile apps aren’t going anywhere, you might as well get involved so your company is ready for whatever the future brings.

Mobile apps open you up to new opportunities because of the way they are used. Now you have a way to put the technology to work while meeting and fulfilling your customer’s needs. Your app drives innovation by giving your customers new products and services. Take a fitness studio for example. If you run a yoga studio, having an app can let your customers see your schedule and sign up for classes at any hour of the day. Now your employees can focus on paying attention to the in-studio customers instead of being glued to the phone answering questions or booking classes that can easily be done with your app. Mobile apps help your business have a more integrated, efficient and user-friendly experience with accelerated product innovation.

Having a strong brand image is crucial to your company’s success. You want your business to appear to be sleek and up to date, not out of touch and falling apart. Mobile apps help make your brand image look connected and aware of modern trends. Having a weak brand image can affect your company’s performance and future prospects. You will stand out from the competition with a strong brand image that connects the dots for your customers giving them a pleasant streamlined experience, as they use your app with ease. When your company has a mobile app, you look good. Your brand looks ready for whatever the future brings and ready to serve your customers with ease.

Now that you know how Mobile Apps for Business can strengthen and improve your company, isn’t it time you get a mobile app designer to start making your app today? Mobile Apps for your company is the best way to directly connect with your customer and will help drive traffic and even make you stand out from the competition. Mobile apps are the future, you’ve seen how they’ve made bigger corporations more successful, isn’t it time to see how a mobile app can help your small business? The future is now, and the future is mobile apps. For more information on how to improve your business’ web and digital presence, check out our blog.