How Mobile Apps Benefit Small Businesses

Mobile apps for businesses help get a message out and build brand awareness among an increasingly mobile-savvy user base. It has become increasingly important for both large and small companies to build mobile apps in order to maximize their business growth and attract more customers. 

As big tech and social media platforms fall in and out of fashion, mobile apps are becoming an effective way to engage with your audience. If you limit your business to web pages or current social media platforms, you’ll ultimately fail to get a full and clear message to your audience. Besides, there is just too much information competing for our attention. With mobile apps, you are able to build a stronger connection with your brand.

Maximize your business and marketing potential

A well-designed mobile app is a perfect environment to increase engagement and build brand awareness. Businesses have the opportunity to optimize logo placement and increase brand visibility. With a well-designed app, businesses can begin to optimize the hardest branding hurdle — building brand awareness. A stark contrast to most social media sites that prioritize imagery and content over logos, profile pictures, and slogan sizes with optimal locations on the screen.

Mobile Geotargeting ads

According to Tech Jury, “there are billions of smartphone users worldwide. More than half of smartphone users (about 57%) feel comfortable with apps that track their location.” Active geolocation, or GeoTag, gives marketers an opportunity to gather more information about current and potential customers in an effort to gain more customers or make more sales. There are many ways to use geotags successfully. One way is to send personalized push notifications when potential customers are within a certain geographic range of a physical store. There are drawbacks to this approach, however. If these targeted ads become too frequent, the user may decide to turn them off. A good balance is key when deciding the frequency of messaging customers.

Because more than 50% of mobile users agree to receive alerts, it is important to send push notifications that strike a balance between being casual and being sales-motivated. Businesses must also consider timing, relevance, and frequency when constructing messages. With these in mind, most people continue to receive push notifications when the messages provide value and relevance. 

Better exposure

Today almost everyone uses a smartphone. Most world estimates put the number between 6 and 7 billion smartphones in use worldwide, making up about 91% of the world’s population. People are looking for fast and efficient ways to get accurate information which allows businesses the opportunity to fill that information void. With apps, people have access to information like never before. As a business, you can build your own space to facilitate connection and connectivity.

Apps also work the other way around. While you’re busy pushing notifications or ads out, your users are also sending back useful data you can use to improve your business offerings. 

Building loyalty and strong customer relationships

Apps are no longer just for e-commerce or entertainment and can be used for more than just marketing. Clear and effective communication maximizes your chances of building a strong, lasting relationship with your customers. You have total control over how to build this close-knit bond. You can send personalized messages, reminders, and push notifications directly to your audience, which can have a much more personal effect. Plus businesses can save money on email marketing campaigns that generate countless unopened emails.

Using proven tech features — smartphones hardware

Smartphones have useful features and new technology that has improved dramatically in recent years. One such feature that has seen a meteoric rise in use is Near Field Communication technology or NFC. NFC is a touchless transaction that needs a cellphone to get close to a card reader to make a payment. Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, Android Pay, and countless others use some form of this technology. 

What was once designed to handle small purchases is now one of the most popular ways to pay for items. Billions of dollars have been pumped into the “contactless” payment markets in recent years, as data suggests users are likely to spend more with contactless payments. With drastic drops in upfront costs in recent years, small businesses are able to use contactless payments to significantly improve customer and employee experience in their daily activities.

The right tool for the job

There is one major drawback to web-based apps — eventually, we turn off the device and walk away from the screen. Mobile apps are intrinsically more useful for businesses because we carry our smartphones with us everywhere we go. They’re as much a part of our everyday lives as they are a part of our identity. With the right timing, messaging, and content, businesses can use smartphones to create an environment for customers to stay connected for long periods of time.

Types of mobile apps

Mobile apps have a wide range of convenient and useful purposes. Besides social platforms like Twitter and Instagram, apps can be used for entertainment newsletters, video streaming, scheduling, local news, customer loyalty programs, or even customer service. The uses are endless.  

For example, if you’re a local gym owner that has developed an app, you could build this app to do many amazing and helpful things. Firstly, the app could be the main source of gym news. The app could also double as the main point of contact after business hours or to connect with your members. If a gym member hasn’t been in a few weeks, you could send them a reminder to come back to the gym — even offer a discount code if they return within a few days. The app could also be the main way to pay when customers check out.

Summary

Mobile apps for businesses are the most effective way to reach your audience. As smartphone use continues to grow worldwide, mobile apps are quickly becoming the clearest and most effective way to market to your audience. Building your brand or customer loyalty apps provide the best way to do this. 

Custom development is often the best way to get all the features you want for your specific business needs. Regardless of whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise. A mobile application will set you apart from the competition and put you on a path to profitability.