If you own a business, regardless if it’s a startup or just a small one, you need to get a mobile app. Whether you agree or not, a mobile app is now an integral part of a business. Unfortunately, not all business owners realize the importance of having one. In the following sections, we will discuss the common reasons why small businesses choose to skip building a mobile app, as well as why getting one is a must.
Why Do Most Small Businesses Choose Not to Have a Mobile App?
The main culprit of this decision is the cost. Mobile app development is a multi-stage process. On top of that, each stage requires specialization, which means that business owners might need to hire more than two or more experts who are qualified for certain stages.
Moreover, many of these small business owners believe that building a website is sufficient to attract new customers. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. According to the 2016 app development survey administered by clutch.co, an independent research firm, from the 352 small businesses in the US, only less than a quarter of them have a mobile app. The survey later revealed that this is because mobile app development needs tons of money, not to mention the time and effort needed to build one.
5 Top Reasons to Build a Mobile App for Small Businesses
1. Reach More Customers and Improve Accessibility
The prime reason why business owners, especially the small ones, are encouraged to get a mobile app is to reach more customers by being more accessible to them. According to a Gallup Survey, more than half of the US smartphone owners check their phone a few times every hour. This implies that you have high chances of getting new customers if you launch a mobile app as compared to relying on website traffic alone.
Furthermore, since the mobile app can be downloaded and stored on the smartphone, customers can easily access your business wherever and whenever they want.
2. Boost Brand Recognition
One of the important stages in mobile development is the creation of a brand logo. Having your brand situated on people’s smartphone will help your brand’s promotion. Considering the number of times that people check their smartphones every hour, your business’ personalized smartphone icon will help build your brand by providing a visual image that people recognize easily.
3. Engage with Customers in Real Time
Mobile apps allow you to connect with your customers and tend to their queries and concerns immediately, which is a crucial step if you aim to foster trust with your customers. Moreover, mobile apps even help you boost repeat visits and deployment of customer loyalty programs, which are essential to building loyalty in today’s crowded marketplace.
4. Collect Your Business Analytics Easily
Most mobile apps nowadays have built-in analytics that will help steer your business to the right path. Unlike years ago when businesses need to hire experts to manipulate complex information and databases, most mobile apps can now collect and process raw data automatically. Hence, you can improvise and make changes fast to better serve your target market. You can even track the number of downloads that your app has garnered so far, as well as track user engagement and actual sales.
5. Partner with Other Services
There’s a new trend recently which involves similar or related companies partnering to form a sort of mobile ad exchange. This is a program that allows local companies to piggyback on each other’s success by displaying mobile ads on the partner networks, thus allowing you to get new customers. This tactic leads to mutual benefits of the companies involved and eventually helps increase profits.
Conclusion
Although developing a mobile app for your business means spending an exuberant amount of money, getting one is proven to speed up your ROI and more. Regardless the size of your business, mobile app is a must-have tool if you want to improve your brand reputation in the market.
In reality, it’s not a question of whether your small business needs a mobile app; the real question is “why didn’t you have one?” There’s a reason why big companies and brands are putting much effort to build their own mobile app. Even the smallest of companies can take advantage of what mobile app has to offer— which is a lot as revealed in this article.
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