Main Reasons Why Your Business Really Needs A Mobile App

We live in the golden age of mobile apps. It’s pretty common for businesses all around the globe to have their own app, even if it’s small or mid-sized. But some people still don’t believe that the mobile app can somehow help them find new clients and of course make more money. In this article we take a deeper look into the subject and try to find out if every business is even suitable for it and give you reasons to have an app developed for you.

First of all, it’s very important to distinguish between a mobile app and a website optimized for mobile devices, because those are two different things. An app is a stand-alone product with its own engine and structure, while the mobile version of a website is pretty much similar to what you see on the desktop, but providing a better experience for the smaller-sized screens.

Let’s take a look at how the apps are changing some of the industries to better:

• Music — arguably the business that has benefited the most, the streaming apps like Apple Music, Spotify or Pandora Radio have attracted loads of attention and popularity since their launch;
• Social networks — of course, having your Facebook, Twitter or other social media platform you prefer in your pocket is very comfortable and handy, so being able to design their own apps been a huge step forward for the companies in this business field;
• Insurance — some apps allow you to keep ID cards, documents, coverages and discounts all in one place, which makes the life so much easier;
• Healthcare — a rather surprising position on this list, but these new apps like for example UpToDate by Wolters Kluwer Health that help you avoid going to your doctor (of course if it’s not a really bad injury) and provides reliable therapy recommendations;
• Delivery, restaurant and other on-demand services — this is pretty much self-explanatory. You can track your orders, book everything you want and order food right from your phone, just a couple of taps are needed for it. Amazing, isn’t it?

Now let’s get to the essence of the article and find the main reasons why it’s so important that your business gets a mobile application as soon as possible. It needs some investments of course, but there is little doubt that you can immensely boost your business with this new addition to your marketing set.

1. Building strong relationships with the customers

This is really important for any business, every single one of them needs to interact with their users and customers in order to provide a better experience for them, gain a better reputation and simply get better and bigger. The relationship with the user is extremely important. Even simply putting a feedback button on your website is a huge advantage; imagine how helpful it will be for you to launch an app with a separate section where users can leave their wishes and feedback or just contact you whenever they feel an urgent need to do so!

Another perspective on this matter is the possibility to interacting with your users within an app. It’s kind of mindblowing really, how far the technologies have come. The great example here are the countless taxi services (Uber being one of the most prominent examples), where you can order a taxi without having to call someone, just by tapping the phone screen a couple of times. But of course they also provide a “call the driver” function, if someone needs it.

The user experience improves a lot with a mobile app; if it is really great and helpful it may go viral – the users will their friends about your company simply because they like working with you. This leads us to the next reason.

2. Gaining the bigger audience

Yes, there’s quite a big chance that if your app is a high quality product, the people will spread a word about you and share with their friends and leave positive feedback on App Store or Google Play Market. Of course it’s not the only way to increase your target audience and get new customers. The latest researches show that the users spend 90% of the time on their smart phones using the applications.

And of course lots of people are constantly looking for the new apps at the stores and can find yours even accidentally.

Moreover, if you launch an app for an already successful service, you’ll automatically get a big part of your loyal users ready to join, just because having all of your favorite places and service on your phone is so easy and comfortable. If your target audience mostly consists of teenagers or people just above this age, it’s absolutely out of question if you should develop an app or not.

The answer is definitely YES, because the younger generation tends to spend most of their time on the phone, and is also most active in the web, which increases the chances of your brand getting the exposure it deserves.

3. Let the users show their loyalty

It gets so easy to lose a customer nowadays, it’s even a bit scary. One wrong step, one wrongly performed ad on TV or radio, one little marketing failure and the people start leaving for the rivals. It’s certainly impossible to prevent it once and forever, but one can try to reduce the amount of times it happens. Speaking generally, your application itself already is a good instrument to attract and keep the clients, because of the increasing mobility and better experience it provides.

The stats show that if a customer has installed an app and liked it, there’s a much higher probability of him staying put for the longer time. But there’s one more way to increase the people’s loyalty to your product, and there’s no surprise that it’s generally called a loyalty bonus system. Basically it means giving some kind of bonuses to the people, who use your app for a long time, bring their friends via a referral link or simply leave the fair and important feedback.

It may not look like the most profitable system, but keeping a client, especially a satisfied client should be considered a priority in every business, even if you need to invest in it or lose some straightforward profit on it — it will recoup really fast, if you do everything right.

4. It gives you a chance for free promotion

Your app is your territory: you are free to do whatever you want there. We already mentioned loyalty bonus systems today and that’s a great example of what you can do. There are also different competitions, quests, giveaways and so on that you could set up. If you earn yourself a reputation of a generous, client orientated company, it’ll be much easier to attract new customers to add to already existing base. It’s also another reason for people to tell their friends about you and how cool you are.

The role model in this sense is probably one of the biggest fast food companies in McDonald’s and Burger King. They have great applications that not only make you familiar with their current pricing and hot offers, but also gladly guide you to the nearest of their restaurants, or show them on your city’s map.

5. Leave your rivals behind

And one of the most important reasons, especially for the industries where it’s not yet common for every business to have an own app, is to get ahead of your rivals. There’s a number of ways to do this, whether it’s just an effect of something new and unseen yet, or some exceptionally well working features that make your app a ‘must-have’ for everyone interested. The mobile app can really be a huge advantage for you in this fight for a place under the sun.

So, let’s draw some conclusions basing on what you just read. First of all, we surely don’t want to make you think that we put pressure on you in any way and say that everyone who doesn’t have a mobile app yet is a dinosaur and does something wrong. In some areas mobile friendly websites work just fine and you don’t really need anything on top of that. But we believe that reaching out to your target audience with an app is the most effective way forward as for now.

The mobile app is a new and upcoming wave in our reality, and there’s not a single sign of this trend going downhill in the foreseeable future. Statistics says that in 2021 there’ll be three to four times more app downloads than there are now. And we are more than sure that the sooner you start adapting to the new, ‘applicationized’ world, the better it is for you and your business’ future. Contact us today to start building your own app for business!

The article was originally published in Octodev blog.