Mobile applications have steadily grown in popularity over the past few years and you may be wondering what to make of this. Mobile apps are becoming multi-billion dollar business themselves (take Snapchat and Uber for example.) Mobile apps are hot and it’s only going to keep growing. As a business, it is important to innovate and grow in different ways to provide value. Having a mobile app for your business in 2020 is one of such ways to innovate.
There are many reasons why having a mobile application is vital to the growth of your business today and in the near future. In this blog post, you’ll see how apps can play a vital role in helping your enterprise blossom.
Mobile apps can:
- Provide More Customer Reach
- Open Doors to Technical Possibilities
- Improve Customer Experience
- Increase Profitability
Let’s explore these benefits further.
Provide More Customer Reach
Profit is key to the survival of every business, regardless of the sector. Profitability is dependent on various factors, one of them being the number of customers. There are millions of people using mobile devices today, with about 251 million users in the USA. These numbers are also quite high in other countries, which creates an avenue to reach even more customers.
In the past, healthcare was limited by location as people will only visit health centers close to them, but mobile apps break that barrier. Users can access any software on the various app stores and health businesses can take advantage of this to provide services to people in different parts of the world.
Depending on the age range of your target market, Millennials/Generation Y, will often spend an average of 3.2 hours on their phone and the Baby Boomers/Generation X, will spend about 1.5 hours. It is only fair that users won’t spend all on their mobile time on your app, but apps provide an ability to send push notifications. With push notifications, you can call the attention of the users when you want and keep them excited about your business or simply stay top of mind.
Open Doors to Technical Possibilities
Today’s smartphones come equipped with various features that can be put to good use within apps to provide amazing functionality for your customers.
For example, a mobile app can make use of the phone’s camera to take pictures of products to confirm their originality or take pictures of lesions to make basic diagnosis. The GPS can be used to suggest the closest physical location of your business to your users. Many applications take advantage of the ability of mobile phones set an alert. You can do the same and remind your customers of the most appropriate time to use your product or to make an appointment with you. These examples are the tip of the iceberg when you consider the rate at which Augmented Reality features are being used in mobile apps.
Moreover, both Android and iOS devices get frequent updates with new features. Mobile phones are also released frequently, and they are becoming more powerful. By building a mobile app for your business, you can take advantage of these improvements as they get pushed.
Improve Customer Experience
It is hard to argue today that most people cannot live without their smartphones. With so many apps out there targeted at every interest, you’ll agree that it is important to provide the best possible experience to make your app stand out.
User Interface and User Experience, commonly known as UI/UX is vital to the success of mobile apps today. The use of software in general is supposed to make the life of users easier, improve their experience. Do this and you will endear yourself to your customer base.
Keep in mind that a mobile app also provides customers with access to your content at all times. In cases where the connection is poor, mobile apps can store information for use offline, giving your users constant access to your brand.
A quality mobile app provides convenience, and results in the kind of unique experience that turns customers into a cult following.
Increase Profitability
From the points raised in the article so far, it is not hard to see than increased profitability is a side effect of building a mobile app for your business. When you create value for your customers and package it with convenience, they won’t think hard about handing their money over to you. With mobile apps, you are able to provide value, provide convenience, make money and also convert potential customers.
On the app stores, applications are reviewed by the users and if your app serves its purpose well, there’d be lots of positive ratings. The effect this has on your business is that your app ranks well on the app store, and advertises itself. This doesn’t mean you should stop advertising, but it serves as an effective form of marketing without putting in a lot of work.
As a business, mobile applications provide an efficient means to reach out to customers through push notifications. You can send information about the latest offers, educational blog posts, coupon codes and promotions. All of this is possible via notifications and without your customer even opening the app Depending on how well you present the information to them, you can increase the conversation rate on different products and services.
Conclusion
With 81% of Americans owning a smartphone, having a mobile app is no longer a luxury for businesses. Apps have gradually become a necessity and can often be the reason why some businesses are more successful than others. Consider what features your customers need immediate access to and make it happen!