Mobile strategy is a bit of a buzz word these days, and not just for big name brands and multi-national businesses. Many small and medium-sized businesses also realise the need to get ahead of the game with an effective mobile strategy. However, a successfully implemented enterprise mobile strategy involves more than just a mobile-friendly website.
Many businesses are using apps to improve marketing communication and help their customers. Others are developing apps for staff to use to streamline internal processes. A mobile app should solve a problem for a business or a customer. Ideally, it will allow them to do something on the move rather than on their computer or in person. Vitally, a good mobile app is also tailored to your business – but below you can find just a few ideas for how a mobile app may benefit your business.
1. Take marketing to a new level
Mobile apps are a great way to build brand recognition and make sure that you remain in the minds of current and potential customers. Create an app that represents your brand, has a great design and customers enjoy using. Push notifications also allow your app to become a direct marketing channel – it can be used to provide customers with information (prices, booking forms, contact info, user accounts, messengers, news feeds, etc.) right at their fingertips. Done well, this can create efficient, frictionless interaction between business and customer. Plus, the more customers interact with your app, the more they will be inclined towards your product/service and business.
2. Create two-way communication with customers
One of the greatest benefits of mobile is its ability to provide opportunities for engagement and interaction, in the right place at the right time. The average mobile user spends three hours a day on their device. Why not maximise the effectiveness of that time by being an app that your users go to in order to augment their experience – to make their life better or easier in some way. There is a multitude of things that users can do with apps that we once had to call or physically visit to do – e.g. updating contact details, checking balances, making bookings and requests or finding the nearest outlet. These interactions can become more contextualised as well, through the use of geo-targeted push notifications like Google Nearby or beacons.
3. Make processes more efficient
Remember that enterprise apps aren’t just targeted to customers or clients, they can often be an excellent way to make doing business more efficient for your employees. An employee on site who can take a photo of an event or incident and log it straight from their phone (with the ability to add more detail later and/or access the record from their desktop) is an employee that is being aided in doing their job more efficiently and effectively. Mobile apps can be great tools for frontline or remote workers to access customer databases, fill in timesheets, manage inventory or approve expenditures and project elements.
4. Provide more opportunities for interaction and value
As we have already mentioned, mobile apps offer chances for businesses to interact and communicate with users. Good interactions keep users coming back by provided them with ease, efficiency, usefulness and value. Many companies cultivate customer loyalty and encourage interaction with their app through virtual loyalty cards. Other apps allow users to reach services, contact relevant people or get the information they need easily and quickly. By making sure that your users get something out of the service, you make sure that they keep using it and you benefit from the useful information, connections and interactions.
5. Stand out from the competition
While some have already caught onto mobile apps, the amount of small businesses with apps is still low. A well-designed, tailored-to-your-business app can provide a multitude of opportunities to both your business, your employees and your customers. In addition, it places your company at the forefront of many industries – forward thinking with a competitive edge.
