Digital Marketing has well and truly overtaken traditional marketing as businesses’ prime weapon to get the word out about their product/services. In many ways, that’s a welcome change, but in others, it comes with its drawbacks. The most notable being, the sheer capricious nature of Digital Marketing.
Its methods and practices undergo changes from time to time. Sure enough, a lot of time these changes don’t arise from the need to improve Digital Marketing but simply to accommodate the prevailing shift in the Digital technologies.
So, if at one time having a website for a business was thought of as amply sufficient to maintain its digital presence, it’s no longer the case. Now, mobile apps have come into the mix and with increasing smartphone usage, they’re considered as the key link in a digital marketing strategy. This blog is dedicated to that same end.
Reasons Why A Small Business Needs A Mobile App?
A mobile app can be a great way for businesses to interact with their customers and offer them their products/services in a very personalized manner. This holds more truth in the case of small-scale businesses, who don’t always have a huge marketing budget. By offering a great visual experience coupled with timely notifications, mobile apps can help small-scale businesses stay in touch with their customer's just as a large enterprise would 24*7. As opposed to the website, a mobile app is going to be in front of the customer’s eyes as and when they turn on their smart devices. Here are a few more reasons on why small businesses should consider investing in mobile apps:
1. Marketing Channel:
Constantly feeding information to the customers is challenging for small businesses who don’t always have the financial means at their ends. Mobile apps effectively alleviate that shortcoming by acting as a direct marketing channel for the small business. So as well as offering product details and special offers, customers can be apprised of lots of other things such as business info, cost, registration form, business process, contact details and mission. Moreover, by using in-app notifications customers can be reminded of upcoming deals, events and product launch etc.
2. Making Customers Feel Valued:
Through mobile apps, a small business can offer rewards, gifts, and prizes to their customers. While that’s not a game-changer in itself but it just gives the business an opportunity to make the customer feel valued and keep coming back to them(or their mobile app). Furthermore, a mobile app can also be used to create digital loyalty programs. That doesn’t just add to your sales but offers customers yet another relief in a digital sense.
3. Brand Recognition:
Let’s face it. Small businesses never have it easy when it comes to creating a brand image. In fact, not too long ago, the very idea of having a brand identity didn’t concern small-scale business. But with the
advance in technology, more businesses are now getting recognition than had been possible at any time in the past. Mobile apps are a brilliant tool for nascent businesses to enhance their brand image. With a mobile app, a business is most likely to invest in some form of designs for eg. brand logo, and that’s the first step in helping them announce their presence to the wider world.
And when all your business has to offer is showcased on your mobile app, it simply validates your identity and gives your customers even more reason to trust you. The more your customers trust you the more likely are they to purchase from you, which ultimately leads to a boost in your revenues.
4. Edge In Your Competition:
Despite the trend of mobile apps reaching an all-time high, its currency among small businesses is still not that impressive. Very few small businesses consider mobile apps to grab their customer’s attention or offer business details to make the maximum impact. That indicates that the first cluster of small-sized businesses to adopt the mobile app trend will stand to gain the most. Mobile apps will give them a key competitive edge in their battle to reach the heights of large-scale business.
For instance, if you own a restaurant that serves delicious food in a small neighborhood, you can go big by developing your own mobile app that lets customers place orders online. As well as reducing the burden on your staff, a mobile app is likely to generate more sales through people who don't always like to leave the confines of their house.
5. Business Prosperity:
Almost all the aforementioned points lead to one thing which is a boost in the sales and profits. According to one survey, it was found that 70% of the buying decisions are influenced by the ways in which a customer feels treated by a business during a buying process. A mobile app pretty much nullifies all the unwelcome behavior on the part of the business that can dissuade a customer from engaging with them. An app with a user-engaging interface allows customers to quickly place their orders without any barriers of time and location. This will ensure that instead of skipping your business in favor of your competitor, the customers will refer their friends and acquaintances to your business, thereby contributing to increased overall revenues.
Final Thoughts
So those are some of the main reasons why a small business should definitely invest in a
mobile app development. In addition to the obvious benefits of productivity and increased revenue, mobile apps further extend the boundaries of small businesses to achieve more. Let us know if you’re from the small business community and if adopting a mobile app has worked wonders for you in the comment section below. In case, you haven’t already built a mobile app for your small business, contact Code Brew Labs - a leading
mobile app development company, to discuss your app idea.
