With constant new trends in the arena of technology, today it is not just enough to have a well-crafted and properly optimized business website alone to meet your digital marketing goals. The business environment today demands much more. The online activities are moving to mobile owing to the increased usage of smartphones. In fact, virtually no person in today’s times can imagine their life without mobile phones and this is what businesses should be trying to cash into.
Mobile apps are the need of the hour for every business
There are significant ways in which mobile apps can prove to be wonderful for any business like they enhance interaction with the customers and allows the businesses to showcase their products and services to the customers. All-in-all, not just big businesses, but even small businesses can benefit by the mobile apps as they can use these apps to promote their products as well as provide the customers with great user experience & customer services.
Are you a small business owner?
In case yes, then you are at the right place. In this blog, we will be discussing in detail about how your small business can reach new milestones by investing in mobile apps. You must be wondering how this small-package of a mobile app can provide great support to your small business and make it bloom. Well, it is not without any reason that most businesses nowadays are heading towards mobile app development. Time is progressing and more and more business owners are realizing the benefits offered by mobile apps.
A survey reveals that about 42% of small businesses own mobile apps today and around 30% are already contemplating to invest in creating one. This same research also reveals that 55% of millennials who own small business have their own mobile app for the business.
Earlier small business owners used to be in two minds about investing in a mobile app, as it used to be an expensive affair, however, times have changed, and there is a myriad of mobile app development companies and app developers available out there. There are several of these firms and developers who offer their mobile app development services at affordable prices. In fact, if you choose to get your app development in a region like India, the cost to develop an app will be much lesser compared to getting it created in Europe or USA regions.
Now heading to the reasons why small businesses should invest in the mobile app, let’s explore them.
Why Small Businesses must invest in a mobile app to attain success faster?   Â
Today people are constantly in front of their smartphones and do most of their tasks on it. This way, a mobile app remains in front of the customers whenever they tap on the screen. Here we have discussed how mobile apps can help in streamlining your business operations and offer better customer services.
Direct Marketing Channel
With a mobile app comes the opportunity for small businesses to create a direct marketing channel where they can provide the desired information and details with their customers. Information like product details, special offers, price details, business information, booking form & procedure, message history, user account, and a lot more can be provided to the customers with just a few taps on the screens. The mobile app helps to generate alerts and reminders in real-time and the small business can really benefit from it.
These mobile apps serve other marketing tools as well in the form of beacon and geolocation technology, which help business owners to track the customers in real-time and send certain messages when they are near your store location. This greatly helps in reducing marketing cost and the businesses can deliver to customers just what they are looking for.
Great for brand awareness
A mobile app serves as a great medium to create brand awareness. For instance, a mobile app is very much a blank board which you can choose to design just the way you want. Whether you want to keep your app trendy, informative, functional, it is all your choice. But what can really make your app worthy for your customers is integrating features that would be loved by your customers, and at the same time, it should be captivating, with great user-experience and well-branded. The more engrossed your customers are with the app, they sooner will be their chances to buy your products and services.
Meanwhile, while you start creating an app, keep in mind to make it unique. The market is already full of millions of mobile apps and in order to ensure that your app is not simply forgotten in this race, keep it unique. However, noting the fact that yours is a small business, consider yourself lucky as there are not many small business apps out there, so at the moment the competition is comparatively less for you. But hurry up!
Earns Customer Loyalty
Customers appreciate real and sincere connection, and billboards, roadside banners, newspaper ads, coupons, websites, Facebook ads, or email marketing doesn’t offer that. In fact, this massive advertising had somewhere affected the real connection with the customers. On the other hand, a mobile app allows staying closer to your customers 24×7, without bothering them. They appreciate the fact that any kind of assistance they require from your side is just a click away. Thus, these apps help to build customer loyalty and trust and brings you closer to them.
Increased Customer Engagement
Engaging with the customers is crucial for any business and the same holds true for small business as well. Your customers should always be able to reach you and by integrating messaging or help desk functionality in your app, you can ensure the same. This way customers will be able to conveniently get in touch with you whenever the need arises.
Also, a mobile app stays in the smartphones of your customers which they are usually addicted to. This way there are more chances of them using your app quite often and this will boost customer engagement with your business.
Receive valuable customer feedback
In times of huge competition, in order to stay longer in the race in it vital to keep your customers happy. But how can you do that via apps? The mobile apps provide your small business customers a platform where they can come and share their reviews and feedback about the products and services used by them. These are the valuable opinions of your customers and they help you know whether your products & services are serving the customers’ requirements well, or in case there is a need for improvisations. By taking the reviews given by your customers seriously you can surely excel.
Schedule Appointments
In case you own a business that is basically a service-provider like restaurants, spa, salon, laundry, etc. then the apps will allow you to schedule customer appointments and send them notifications to remind about the upcoming appointments. This will reduce the waiting time for the customers, something they will surely appreciate. Same way if yours is a restaurant business, then you can send alerts to your customers about the upcoming reservation.
Increased Revenues
Better customer satisfaction and increased customer engagement will have a significant impact on your sales and profits. Experts say that 70 percent of the buying decisions of customers depends on how they are created by a brand while the buying process. So, when with your mobile app you allow effective interaction and quick order placements and hassle-free transactions, the customers have all the chances to leave happy and return more often. This way your business will gain more loyal and satisfied customers. This is just great for revenues.
Offer outstanding Customer Support
By integrating real-time chat support into the app, you can give an instant response to your customers, who would be very pleased with this kind of instant service. Needless to mention, the extraordinary service will make your customers feel special and will boost sales openings. A customer may contact customer support for many reasons like to ask for more information about a product or service, process returns, and other hassles with the issue in making payments or the app acting up. When customers receive immediate help from the business side, it leaves a positive impression.
Conclusion:
By now it must be clear to you why mobile apps are significant for small businesses and why most business owners planning to have one for their business. It enhances the overall experience of the customers and increases the chances of attracting more and more customers to your business. Hence, investing in a mobile app is a wise move and you should waste no time further and get in touch with the right mobile app development company soon to make the most it.
