Business News

GUEST BLOG: Does your business need a mobile app?

By Business & Finance
03 November 2016
app smartphone mobile

By Tess Pajaron, community manager and recruiter, Open Colleges

Across industries, locations and demographics, apps can be powerful business assets.

Large and small businesses alike can benefit from a mobile application, so it is definitely something worth considering. Mobile apps can help your business grow, build relationships within your customer base, and streamline communications.

With a little strategic planning and customer feedback, you can build new avenues for your company to explore, like social integration or app-specific promotions.

With an app as a communication platform, your customers have more channels by which to contact you. Seeing as phone calls are less and less popular, this is really important.

You can reach more groups of people, from text-loving millennials to people around the world who don’t have a chance to reach you during business hours.

The one downside to this is that you will have more to check than just an answering machine. But more communication means more business, right?

HAVE A DIRECT LINE TO YOUR APP USERS

The communication aspect goes both ways here. Via an app, you can send push notifications about updates, sales, and other news about your business.

Be careful not to overwhelm your app users’ phones with constant notifications. Otherwise, you risk having your app deleted or notifications turned off.

With an app as a communication platform, your customers have more channels by which to contact you

YOU’LL NEED TO CAREFULLY BUDGET FOR IT

App development can cost quite a lot if you don’t have the skills yourself. It can set you back thousands of euros, so if your revenue stream can’t support it, it may not be worth the risk quite yet.

TAKE YOUR POINT SYSTEM DIGITAL

Popular in coffee shops and delicatessens the world over, point systems have traditionally existed on a paper ‘punch card.’ But the problem with cards? Customers forget about them after the first stamp.

Businesses that establish a points system on their app accomplish a few things: their customers are happier because they remember to get stamps and therefore an occasional freebie, apps are downloaded more, and it’s a more eco-friendly system.

NEW DATA SETS WILL EMERGE

You can glean some valuable usage data from app users, just as you would on your website. But these stats are likely to look different from your website’s stats, as many app users spend more time on their phones than any other devices.

YOU’LL STAND OUT FROM THE COMPETITION

The most pronounced effect in this regard is for businesses whose competitors don’t yet have an app. Entering a relatively unsaturated industry app market is a great way to gain new customers who may be browsing the app store or broadly searching for the goods and services your company offers.

However if you’re entering an app market that is saturated with well-established competitors, the outlook may not be as promising. Conduct a thorough comparison of existing apps to determine how you will make room for your own.

Entering a relatively unsaturated industry app market is a great way to gain new customers

tess pajaron

Tess Pajaron

IT WILL FACILITATE BRAND FAMILIARITY

By incorporating a mobile app into your branding and marketing strategy, you will help to make customers more familiar with your brand. And in doing so, you will regularly prime customers to opt for your services over unfamiliar competitors.

Even if you decide against developing a mobile app for your business, that’s okay too. Plenty of companies experience success without apps. But it is a question to occasionally revisit, as you can’t always predict what the industry climate or your business will look like years from now.

About the blogger

Tess Pajaron has a background in business administration and management.

She currently works at Open Colleges, Australia’s leading online educator, and writes frequently about careers, marketing, and leadership.