According to Pew Research Center, about 95 percent of Americans own a cellphone of some sort. The smartphone share of the market is up to 77 percent from just 35 percent seven years ago, meaning Americans are increasingly connected to the digital landscape. This increasingly poses both an opportunity and challenge to businesses. Companies now have the ability to remain connected and engaged with customers to a previously unattainable degree – but so do their competitors. Businesses must adapt to this rapidly changing reality or risk being left behind.
How Is an App a Marketing Tool?
Apps aren’t just for playing games or editing photos for your Instagram feed – they can also double as marketing tools by:
· Informing customers about your products and services
· Learning customer preferences and giving appropriate recommendations
· Providing value and reinforcing brand recognition
Inform Your Customers
When given a choice between a mobile app and a website, consumers are twice as likely to pop open an app. Users who do so are likely to spend roughly quadruple the amount of time interacting with your brand than they otherwise would. This extra time with your products or services gives potential customers a lasting impression about what you offer, who you are and why they should trust you to fulfill their needs.
Unlike traditional marketing materials which people glance at and forget a few seconds later, app interaction is a longer commitment, giving people a chance to have your brand engrained in their memory. This extended exposure, if it provides value, will keep them coming back.
Learn Customer Preferences
By creating a platform where your customers are interacting solely with your brand in a kind of digital focus group, you can collect data about their habits, like:
· How long your average customer stays on a page
· What features they are drawn to
· Which products or services are most popular
Using this data, you can transform your app, the presentation of your products and services and your offers to better serve your customers. A mobile app can take out a lot of the marketing guesswork that goes with owning and operating a successful business.
According to a 2016 study conducted by Indiana University and Murdoch University students, consumers feel more engaged with a brand and are far more likely to make a purchase after interacting with them via a mobile app.
Provide Value
Mobile apps should be designed to add value to the lives of customers. The TRAC RoadStar app, for example, is designed so that drivers can file incidents while they are on the road. Once the incident is filed, a mechanic is immediately dispatched to provide assistance. This streamlined process reduces potential wait times and eliminates confusing over-the-phone conversations with customer service representatives.
Functional apps like this that makes the customer’s service or purchasing experience easier will keep people coming back to your brand. The trust you build through your services will result in the user becoming a brand advocate who shares their experience, providing you with free marketing.
Integrate Social Media
A big portion of marketing these days revolves around social media advertising. According to Statista, in the second quarter of 2018 alone, almost 1.5 billion active users visited Facebook on a daily basis. While it’s impossible for a business to reach every single user, a mobile app can be easily integrated with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other popular social media sites to encourage customers to do the marketing for you.
With this convenient feature, your customers can seamlessly recommend your products and services to their friends and family from the app itself. Each person who sees that post is now a potential customer, and all you had to do was create an app!
Develop Your Own App With Help From FocustApps
As the number of mobile media consumers continues to rise, being accessible to your customers on every platform is becoming increasingly crucial for success. Many businesses avoid developing an app because they believe they don’t have the tools or experience necessary to develop one. At FocustApps, we believe you shouldn’t let this get in the way of making your business as successful as possible.
Our team of professionals has spent years acquiring knowledge of the ever-changing mobile app world and developing custom solutions for businesses like yours. Contact us online today or call 502.907.6593 to bring your business to the masses.
