Does my business need an app? Ask yourself these questions to find out

Nowadays, most businesses’ marketers implement multichannel strategies to communicate with their customers. According to a survey, about 87% of smartphone users can be found on the internet worldwide, spending about two to three hours on average, daily. As of 2017, internet users' most popular mobile internet activities were email, social media, online videos, news, and downloading software/applications.

With the rise in mobile users, most companies consider including mobile applications as the obvious upcoming marketing strategy to stay at the customer’s fingertips and expand their outreach.

Many believe mobile apps development to be an overly expensive methodology to be included in business investment, mostly when a business’ nature is not mainly in the e-commerce niche, for example. With the advance in technology and rising competition in the technological sector, the cost of developing an app has dramatically decreased. In a nutshell, nowadays it’s not that big of a cost to be included in the business investment than the customers it can bring and revenues it can generate. How much would it cost boils down to the features you want to include in your app, basically.

There’s no doubt that this kind of investment can bring tremendous results and can contribute a considerable bit to the overall business’ success.

Users installing the application is another indicator that the business is getting a permanent exposure opportunity and increasing its chances of pushing it to the sales funnel and obtaining repeated conversions.The App Store and Play Store are getting crowded every day. Looking at some of the success’ stories out there, building your own app can be tempting. Still, with limited space on the user's phone, the application must stand out from the rest, or the investment will be wasted if consumers only use the app once and then abandon it. So ‘does your business really need an app?’

Emerging trends of mobile app-based businesses

Many analysts believe that this positive trend in mobile commerce will continue for the next few years. Businesses are keeping an eye on changing trends to align their mobile app development strategies. With the growing popularity of smartphones, consumers use applications to order their favorite foods, listen to music, read books online, book airline tickets, conduct bank transactions, etc.

Mobile apps can be accessed from almost anywhere and many businesses have created mobile-friendly websites to ensure faster loading, optimizing user interfaces, and features to enhance browsing functionality.There are plenty of opportunities for mobile app-based businesses. Here's what you need to know to get started:

Is your site optimized for mobile users?

If your site is not mobile optimized, then you might need to reconsider. Develop a responsive website design to create a website that can run on all platforms. Focus on building your website in a mobile-first way. Simply put, your design and content need to be optimized for mobile users first.

What are your competitors doing?

Find out which competitors already have applications and analyze their work and success. Figure out ways to one-up them. Do they have downloads? What about reviews? If they don't have an app, that shouldn't stop you from entering the mobile arena. Use this as an opportunity to stay ahead of the game and try to take action to get more of the audience’s attention.

Are you able to communicate loyalty programs and offers to your customers?

Mobile apps are widely considered an effective means of building customer loyalty. It allows users to receive promotional offers and other information about the company with just one click, or maybe not even a click. These programs encourage customers to perform certain actions that produce benefits for returning customers. These options include: exclusive access to the latest product lines, extra discounts, gift cards, and coupons.

What other features of driving customers do you practice?

Here are some examples of app features and functions that can provide your audience with compelling value: easy product image sharing, instant customer recognition, GPS-based store finding, sale and coupon notifications, customized eCommerce shopping experiences, and biometric feedback.

Do you have a presence on social media?

Consider creating features that will allow your customers to share content. When you develop an app, make sure you understand how to use social media channels to increase application installations.

Final thoughts

The purchasing trends of consumers have changed a lot in recent times. Consumers want more information about products or services at their fingertips. Having a mobile app offers various advantages like a direct relationship, and instant engagement with customers results in growth in the customer base and increased loyalty. Whether you own a small local shop or well-recognized outlets, having an app is a worthwhile venture that can bring you huge profits.

Have you decided yet? If you are still racking your brain over this: please don’t. There are lots of teams out there with the expertise to get you going, and being part of the process is something our team loves. Drop us a line if you need any guidance!