Table of Content
- Your customers want more ways to interact.
- The App Store is another place for people to learn about your business.
- A mobile app can be an easy way to provide more services to your customers
- Mobile apps give you another venue for customer feedback.
- A mobile app makes your business look more professional.
More than ten years since the launch of the App Store, mobile apps have become an integral part of the software and media landscape. In spite of their widespread adoption, many business owners may view a mobile app as an accessory to their core business that doesn’t add to the bottom line. While most businesses are not going to use an app for direct revenue collection, there are many other benefits to a native mobile app that will help with the long term growth of just about any business.
1. Your customers want more ways to interact.
You may not like the idea of having to spend money to produce an app that replicates something that you already do through a different channel, but your customers will disagree. Even if you already have a mobile friendly website, users will usually be happier with a native mobile app because the native app experience provides better stability and a better interface. Improving the user experience of your customers, even in a seemingly small way, can make dramatic improvements in user engagement.
2. The App Store is another place for people to learn about your business.
Something that many businesses overlook when thinking about producing an app is that the App Store is a good opportunity for search engine optimization. It is true that there are now a large number of apps on the App Store that you will have to compete with for attention, but that is still nothing compared to the competition that you would have in trying to get your website to the top of search results on Google or other general web search engines.
Merely having a basic app in the App Store may make your business more discoverable to potential customers.
3. A mobile app can be an easy way to provide more services to your customers.
A major benefit that the App Store and Google Play Store give you are easy distribution of software. That may seem like nothing when you can easily distribute software via the internet, but having access to the native functionality of the user’s phone opens up many possibilities.
With a native app on the phone you can, with permission, gain access to the user’s location or have them easily submit forms or pictures during the normal use of the app.
Native apps, compared to a mobile website, generally have greater security. Greater security makes your job easier and makes your customers more willing to share information with you through the app.
4. Mobile apps give you another venue for customer feedback.
You may think that you get all the feedback you can handle from your customers. Sometimes the day to day in person complaints and the inexplicably negative online reviews can wear down even the most thick skinned business veteran. For all that pain however, there is much to be gained. It’s true that sometimes customers will leave reviews and comments that are too negative or lacking in information to be useful. But sometimes the reviews and comments you get can help to reveal genuine vulnerabilities in your business or areas of opportunity.
For example, a common complaint that app developers have is when customers complain in their app reviews about some feature that they wished the app had. It can be frustrating for developers who have spent a great deal of time producing an app only to be told that it doesn’t have enough features or that customers want something that is either impossible or cost prohibitive. On the other hand though, these requests are sometimes insightful and can spark ideas that the original developer may not have even considered.
In the context of a business with an app, the customer feedback on the app itself may open up new ideas and opportunities.
5. A mobile app makes your business look more professional.
It’s no secret that getting a mobile app produced is not going to be a negligible cost, in terms of either finances or time spent working with a developer. If it were simple and cheap there would be no need to go over the benefits.
The positive side of this expense is that when you do get an app produced, even an app with minimal features, it shows that you are willing to invest in your business. Customers will see that you’ve made the investment and assume that you are operating a serious business that is worthy of their time and money.
