Should Your Business Get a Mobile App?

Most people between the ages of 13 and 50 now spend much more time on their mobile devices and smartphones than on a computer. Does this mean that every business owner needs a mobile app in order to remain competitive and in touch with their customers?

The answer to that is that you don’t need to worry about whether every business owner needs a mobile app – just decide whether or not your business does.  But, there are few businesses that would not benefit from a mobile app if developed and used properly.

A mobile app could indeed increase your customer base or audience – but you need to be aware of why people choose any given mobile app, and how your app should be designed or implemented as an extension of your business.

Here’s a few guidelines that can help you determine how and what your app should do to enter the mobile market.

1.    Apps should provide a solution to a customer’s problem

Even if it means just showing your customers or audience that you are the ultimate authority or expert of your industry or domain, your app should be customer-first oriented by giving them something of value.  People are not rushing to use up more of their device’s memory with another useless app.  Your app has to provide them with something they can’t get elsewhere.

2.    Apps should engage your customer, not directly market

Nothing will turn away customers faster than aggressively selling through your app.  The most successful apps are those that feel like an extremely useful free tool or even a gift. In other words, an app won’t do a thing for your business if it doesn’t truly engage your audience or provide something useful to them, it will fail as a method to build brand loyalty. For example, this construction equipment company has four different mobile apps, one of which is a super useful equipment sourcing app for construction companies and contractors.

It provides access to a global network of used inventory, filters out unneeded or irrelevant equipment, bookmarks, saves configurations, locates and contacts local dealers and much more.  Apps like this save contractors a lot of time and even manpower, especially when added to the three other apps with equally valuable resources.

3.    Your app should be built for the mobile web and mobile stores , not just a mini-website

This is something that a lot of businesses – especially smaller ones – get wrong with mobile apps. Rather than creating an extension of their business that provides extra functionality or resources or audience engagement, they create a generic or purposeless app that’s not much different from their regular website.  A mobile app should always be developed professionally if customization is important, and the more customized a mobile app, the more authentic and unique it will feel to customers.

There are so many other factors that come along with mobile app development that it would take a series of articles to cover it all.  A couple of things to consider:

Budget – many small businesses refuse to have an app developed professionally because they think the cost outweighs the benefits.  It’s up to you to figure out how to make your customers care enough to purchase your app, or monetize it in other ways.
To reduce time and cost of app development, you can:

Develop everything you can yourself ahead of time – content, functionality, logo, images, etc.
You can also opt for a sponsored app to start out (where you piggyback on an established, non-competing business’s app)
Or, use DIY app-building software.

However, the last two options may very well slightly or severely limit your app’s customizations, and if you use app-building software, it could end up coming across as generic and boring.

The most successful mobile apps have an extremely defined and appealing brand.  This is an indispensable characteristic not to be dismissed, because mobile app branding can make or break your app’s success just as much as the development in and of itself.

Mobile app development and app store introduction is very much a process.  It is highly likely that your app will undergo multiple changes, tests and experiments before it reaches ideal optimization and monetization.

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