We rely on our smartphones and the apps in them for virtually everything we do, from communicating with others to ordering food and making purchases. Over 70% of the world’s internet traffic now comes from mobile devices, so it is only natural that businesses feel the need to tap into that traffic and market to mobile users.
Creating an app becomes the solution that every business turns to when it comes to getting closer to users. Apps reside in the users’ smartphones and offer the best experience overall. There are also plenty of reasons why creating an app can be a great investment for your business, and we are going to review them in this article.
Easy to Develop
The lower entry barrier to having a business app makes developing an app more appealing. There is no need to recruit developers and create an in-house development team at all. Businesses can work with third-party developers and partners in bringing their app ideas to life. Your business can take the same route too. There are plenty of resources to help you learn how to get started.
There is still the need for an in-house project lead or a small team that handles the integration and deployment of the app, but every other development task can be completed externally. The development process itself is less complicated than it used to be, which means you can bring the app that your users will love sooner than you think.
Testing is another task worth considering a solution for. You cannot afford to release an app that has a lot of errors and bugs, especially in today’s app landscape and market. This means you have to make sure that the app you develop functions properly. One of the ways to do that is by incorporating regression tests and other testing methods into the development cycle.
You can work with Global App Testing to outsource regression testing as well as other testing routines. The company is experienced in doing a regression test and making sure that new features added in updates don’t break the existing app. You offload the burden of maintaining a positive user experience through testing to a capable group of test engineers.
Good for Marketing
As mentioned before, the goal of developing an app is to be in the users’ phone. When you are already in their smartphones, you are closer than ever to them. It is much easier to engage those users, interact and connect with them on a more personal level, and even convert their attention into purchases or other actions.
An app presents plenty of marketing opportunities. The app icon itself is a start. You can add brand elements other than your main logo to the icon. Some apps now use the app icon to promote specific campaigns (i.e. a special flash sale like Black Friday) and capture users’ attention. Other apps use the App Store and Play Store pages to advertise their unique selling propositions.
Within the app, you have even more control over how you market your products and services. You will be surprised by how many sales you can generate just by bringing attention to an exclusive 10% discount you have available for app users. You can even utilize native features such as push notifications to expand your reach.
A native app is perfect for shortening users’ decision-making process. At the same time, you are shortening your sales funnel substantially. Instead of having to complete four to five steps to make a purchase, users who have already installed your business app can make their purchases in a couple of taps; that translates to a huge market advantage that you don’t want to miss.
A Pleasant CX
Customer experience can make or break your business. When users or customers are happy with their interactions with your brand and business, they are more likely to make purchases and remain loyal to the products and services that you offer. This is why a lot of businesses are investing heavily in tweaking their in-store experience and their customer experience in general.
With apps, you can tailor the user experience to your specific users. A pleasant customer experience could mean a product catalog that is easy to explore. It could mean adding augmented reality to allow users to try your products in a virtual way. It could also mean making sure that the best offers are available within the app itself.
You can take your app UX further by adopting user feedbacks. App development is never a one-time thing. You have to update and improve the app to keep users happy. Ask for feedback and make sure that you incorporate those feedbacks when refining the app. Add features as needed and don’t forget to focus on improving the features that users already love.
Having users heavily engaged is also good for sustainability. You’ll be surprised by how much more loyal customers who came from the app can be. They are more likely to promote your products and services to other customers. On top of that, they will keep you in their mind as long as your app is on their phones and mobile devices.
Online to Offline
Last but certainly not least, there is also the fact that apps are perfect for bridging the gap between the online and offline presence of your brand. Apps can be used to incite offline interactions between your brand and the users. Adding an exclusive promotional offer to be used for in-store purchases or creating a loyalty program within the app will help business sustainability.
You are using the app as a way to build and maintain customer loyalty. That’s not something that websites or another medium can do, especially when you consider how complicated they are to use at times. Even big names like McDonalds and Starbucks are migrating their native payment and loyalty programs to their own apps.
So, should your business invest in an app? If you find these reasons valuable for your business, the answer to that question is a definite YES. Building a business app is an investment that brings great advantages to the business.