Benefits of Mobile App for Your Business

It is more important than ever for a business to diversify.

Putting all your eggs in one basket leaves a lot up to chance. It is common practice for a business to have a website and some social media accounts, but not every business has taken advantage of the mobile app. Mobile apps are considered one of the most powerful tools at a business's disposal. Nearly every adult has a smartphone and that phone is packed full of apps. There are numerous reasons every business should look into the benefits of having their own mobile app that we will now cover.

Easy Visibility

A study by Flurry Analytics showed that most Americans spend more than two hours a day on their phones. 88% of users spent those two plus hours using apps of some kind, whether that be games, social media, entertainment, productivity, or something else. Only 14% of that time out of 2+ hours were spent on an Internet browser. People are far more likely to use an app, and that is good news for businesses looking for a new way to reach customers.
Anyone with a smartphone knows the feeling of swiping through screens looking for a specific app. In the end, you click on the one app you were looking for, but you look past a lot of other apps in the process. Even if you are not aware of it your brain records all the apps you looked past. You may never open those apps but, you will subconsciously remember them. This is where companies can take benefit. Simply by being “in the way”, customers will remember your app, especially if you have a well designed icon. This is essentially free advertising. Users will recognize your app form it being on their phone, which increases brand recognition.

Audience Building

Apps offer an innate advantage over websites in terms of ease of access. You do not need to remember a website URL or use a search engine to open an app. Every new user that installs your app is now part of your community. The app users combine with website users and followers on social media,so the larger your community, the more potential customers you have.
Not only is increasing the number of platforms your customers can use a good idea, but it will set you apart from the competition. As of late, not many medium or small sized businesses have their own app. If your company is one of the first, then you are tapping into a market your competition is ignoring. Impress your customers with your technological advancements while leaving your competition in the dust.

Easy Access For Customers

Apps serve many functions, but above all else, they need to be beneficial for customers. If the app is of no use to customers, no one will bother installing it. The more valuable you make the app the better. Design your app to make life easier for your customers. Fill your app with general information, prices, sales, forms, features, rewards, and other services. Think of everything a customer might want to know or have access to. You can even add push notification options so customers never miss an update.
Many companies offer some sort of loyalty rewards tied to a customer account. Maybe a customer accrues points after a purchase, a customer would want to know how many points they have. By building a rewards program into the app, a customer can check what rewards they have or redeem those rewards points.

Making Your Own App

Making an app is hard work. It takes a lot of programming and testing, but there are tools to make the process easier. App builders like Como, BuildFire, or AppsBuilder take care of the coding and technical requirements. You can build an app from scratch, but this requires technical know-how. APIs and libraries will make it easier, but those need to be properly researched before they are added to any code.
Mobile apps are a powerful tool in many aspects of modern life, especially business. An app acts as advertising, as it builds your customer community and makes life easier for your customers. A well built app is a huge asset to any business and its customers.