Key Benefits of Developing a Mobile App for Your Brand

Not that long ago, mobile apps were reserved for large businesses and corporations, but that's changed rapidly over the past few years. Today, even the smallest of companies are able to serve their clients better and build stronger brand recognition by providing a mobile application. Not only are mobile apps more accessible to all companies, they are a great way to provide customers with a service that simply can't be achieved with a mobile-friendly website alone and see your brand enjoy a higher return on investment.

No matter which way you look at it, humans – even the introverts – are wired to be social creatures. Nobody wants to be left out when it comes to what is going on in the world, and the fact that mobile is a social concept simply can't be emphasised enough. Businesses today can push sales using mobile devices – and whilst creating functional and regularly updated social profiles is great, it is often simply not enough. Today, the bottom line is quite simple – in order for your business to grow and succeed, an app is often essential. Here are some of the main benefits of investing in app development for your business.

The average person spends a whopping five hours per day using their mobile devices, including both smartphones and tablets. And globally, there are over a billion smartphones alone. When you see these numbers, it becomes pretty clear as to how having a mobile app for your business can significantly boost brand awareness and visibility. Not only will you be able to send push notifications out straight through to customers' devices to inform them about updates, sales, promotions and offers that they may be interested in, but the simple fact that your app logo is there on their device to see all the time can boost brand awareness more than you realise.

You probably already know the importance of having a responsive, mobile-friendly website for your business. However, whilst mobile-friendly sites can do a lot for your brand, there are several restrictions compared to having a mobile app developed for your business. For example, a mobile friendly website will not be able to offer features such as integrating with smartphone functions like the contact list, camera or photo app in the way that an application can. And when it comes to customer services, having an app that offers these additional features can often be the edge that your brand needs to stand out and grow. You can check out ten ways to build a successful app from the Appetiser blog here - https://appetiser.com.au/blog/10-steps-to-building-a-successful-app/, with more information about the various features that will help you app stand out from the crowd by offering a superb customer experience.

Most of the time, people are going to be more likely to look at the push notifications that come through to their smartphones compared with checking and reading marketing emails. Yes, you might want to consider SMS marketing as an alternative, but this can often be considered as too invasive. Push notifications that have been allowed from apps that your customers have downloaded are often seen as a happy medium between SMS marketing and marketing emails, and they are usually small, easy to digest chunks of information that your recipient can read in seconds before deciding if they are interested or not. You can use these push notifications to keep customers informed regularly about the latest updates from your business, whether you're introducing a new product line, holding a massive sale, or running an exclusive promotion. And, geographical and customer habit tracking in your app can help you tailor the notification to different groups of customers to ensure that everybody is getting the information that is the most relevant to them and their needs.

Customer engagement is more and more important for businesses these days. Customers today are no longer simply looking for brands that will offer them the best quality at the cheapest price -they want a brand that they can relate to and that understands them well. If your business is unreachable or clients find it difficult to engage with, then you run the risk of losing customers – and business. As a result, a mobile app can come in extremely handy when it comes to increasing this reach and encouraging your customers to engage with your brand. You can achieve this by including a helpdesk or webchat option within your application where customers can quickly get in touch with your brand and get answers to their questions or a solution for any issues that they may be experiencing. Replying to all communications personally and as quickly as possible makes for excellent customer engagement.

These are just some of the main benefits of investing in a mobile app for your business – if you have any more to add, we'd love to hear from you in the comments.