The world has been in the digital age since the 1980s, but it’s only in the last two decades that modern technology has become more prominent than ever. This is especially true since most, if not all, consumers are using their mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets for their day-to-day needs.
By simply tapping their phone screens, consumers can shop for what they need, place their orders, and pay for them too. They can transfer money from their bank account to their digital wallets. Or they can order food from any restaurant and have it delivered straight to wherever they are located.
That’s the beauty of being mobile-friendly in the Internet age. And that’s also what you’re potentially missing out on by not having a mobile app for your own business. You may think that it’s not worth jumping in on the digital trend since your business is still doing good, but nothing is ever certain.
The advantages of building a mobile app for your business will clearly outweigh any disadvantages that it brings, provided that you can maximize its potential for your growth. If you’re still not convinced about the benefits you can enjoy, here are three reasons why your business needs a mobile app:
Build Brand Awareness and Recognition
Official business websites were necessary to establish an online presence and build credibility because consumers used computers to accomplish what they needed. Then when consumers were turning to smartphones and tablets, these websites were made to be mobile-friendly.
But after optimizing websites for mobile, the market demand shifted to the development of mobile apps. Following this trend will make you more visible to your existing and prospective customers, mainly because you’re meeting them where they frequent—on the Internet.
You can take advantage of this opportunity to build awareness for your brand, which can then lead to your brand being recognized more easily. Plus, since mobile apps are basically blank slates, you can create an app that your customers will love and often use so that you can drive your sales upward.
Improve Customer Engagement and Loyalty
Mobile apps are much easier to use and navigate than online websites. By having your own app, your customers won’t have to go through the hassle of finding where they can place orders, contact your business, or leave their feedback, encouraging them to become more proactive consumers.
This can then improve your overall customer engagement, especially since your users will see that you’re determined to make communication easier between both parties. For instance, you can include a feature that will allow your customers to send inquiries and receive immediate answers through the app directly, so they won’t have to wait long for customer service to get back to them.
By creating a mobile app optimized to make your customers’ experiences better, your customers will likely be motivated to continue using your app over others. This could often lead to customer loyalty, which will do wonders for your business’s bottom line.
Create a Direct Channel for Marketing
Lastly, the best reason to build a mobile app for your business is that you can create a direct channel for communication with your customers. So, instead of just randomly putting advertisements out into the world, you’ll have the appropriate channel—in-app push notifications—to reach the customers who actually want to hear about your business’s promos and new offerings.
That being said, you shouldn’t stop marketing outside of your app because that’s how you can reach a wider audience. But you can take advantage of being one of the few businesses in your industry that have seen the potential of going mobile and keeping up with tech innovations.
Furthermore, you can also monetize your app itself by generating revenue from video ads. Of course, you’ll need to have the right video player SDKs for mobile devices to make that happen, but it’s not a long shot, especially if your mobile app is free on the app store. With the right tools, you can give your users the best experience they could have while working with your business.
This is not to say that having a mobile app will be the end-all-be-all solution for any problems that your business is going through, but it may help you avoid tech issues moving forward. Developing a mobile app takes time, and you might have to deal with lots of bugs or user interface issues along the way.
But if you can launch your mobile app without any problems and attract a large market for it, then it may very well be the driver for your business’s success. So, what are you waiting for? You have nothing to lose and everything to gain by going mobile.
