In the past decade, mobile app usage has exploded all around the world.
In 2023 there were about 5.25 billion smartphone users worldwide, and an estimated 1.4 billion smartphones were sold in 2022.
As a result, there is increased demand for mobile apps among big firms and businesses.
So, if you want to learn how your business and customers can benefit from a mobile app experience, you’re in the right place.
Let’s dive in!
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There are a lot of benefits of having a mobile app – let’s take a look at some of them.
In this day and age, business owners rely heavily on technology for interactions with customers.
Mobile apps are changing how users shop and satisfy their needs.
And their expectations are also growing – mobile apps are a great way you can meet them.
One of the key business types that benefits the most from mobile apps is retail shopping.
source: Sprout Social
By going mobile, you’ll make your goods and services more accessible to your customers.
Modern customer behavior prioritizes convenience – this trend is evident from a study which revealed that 8% of all retail transactions in 2023 happen online.
Also, there are several other elements you can add to your mobile app that your customers will love, such as:
And that’s just scratching the surface – there’s almost no limit to how much value you can offer.
The more value you offer your customers, the more interest they develop in your brand.
But, that’s impossible to achieve without deliberate branding efforts.
And that’s where branded mobile apps come in.
Mobile devices are an integral part of our everyday lives – so you can use this channel to benefit your brand.
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The more branding elements (logos, color combination, etc.) you get right within your app, the better the impact on your brand marketing results.
And you can use the data you collect to better understand your target audience and improve your brand marketing strategy.
A good example is L’Oreal’s Makeup Genius app – they use a customized, branded mobile experience to engage with their users.
If there’s one thing that greatly influences customer satisfaction, it’s how quickly and easily they can access information about your business.
Unlike websites and other channels, a mobile app is much more reliable, personalized, and convenient.
Since they can log in with their contact information, customers don’t have to worry about losing track of their support requests.
Your employees can easily access this information, too. This will help them serve the clients faster and better.
You can also add a live chat support to your app, which will not only boost customer satisfaction but drive engagement as well.
If done right, the near-instant replies from an in-app live chat can have a huge positive impact on your sales and brand in general.
A high customer retention rate is a hallmark of every successful business.
Of course, you can maintain a high retention rate by offering great value to your customers and ensuring that they’re always satisfied.
But, loyalty programs are a good way to take things to the next level.
Benefits of using loyalty programs in mobile apps
01
Offer instant rewards
02
Give product recommendations
03
Encourage social sharing
While running a loyalty program is a great idea, business owners often create a program that is hard to join.
Here’s how you can seamlessly integrate them into your mobile app:
Loyal customers are not only useful for direct revenue generation, but they also serve as a marketing channel which can boost customer acquisition.
In today’s world, keeping up with your competition can be really difficult.
And making a mobile app can give you a significant competitive edge – research into the role of mobile apps in enterprises backs that up.
Changing user behaviors are behind this, specifically the demand for instant communication and increased reliance on mobile devices.
source: Lion Vision Technology
As we’ve mentioned earlier, communication speed is vital for customer satisfaction.
Compared to other channels, mobile apps do a better job catering to the users’ ‘need for speed.’
And in some industries, you may need it just to keep up with your competition.
One of the best ways to increase brand loyalty and revenue is to increase your customer engagement level.
If you’re successful, you’ll experience an increase in your customer lifetime value, Return on Investment (ROI), and other important metrics.
So, which features in your app can increase your customer engagement level?
The most important of them is segmented targeting.
This means creating multiple user categories and controlling the type of content each segment gets.
User segmentation allows you to:
Some other ways you can increase the engagement level include loyalty programs, discounts, and continuous feature upgrades (innovation).
But, you shouldn’t forget to pay attention to your app’s basic features, too.
Even if you have top-notch features, users won’t engage if you have a bad UX/UI design or poor accessibility.
Another area of your business that can benefit a lot from a custom mobile app is marketing.
The data collected from user sessions can be very useful for improving your marketing campaigns.
And this will also allow you to deliver content to your users more effectively.
Here’s how your mobile app makes this direct approach to marketing possible:
While you shouldn’t focus all your marketing on mobile, you definitely don’t want to miss out on its benefits.
Engagement is the driving force of the internet. The more time people spend engaging your app, the better it is for your business.
And when it comes to driving engagement, nothing beats social media.
But, if you want to effectively integrate your app with social media channels, you should promote it on those platforms first.
For this, you’ll need a good social media campaign.
Running social media campaigns on popular platforms such as Facebook and YouTube is a great way to get your app all the attention you want immediately after launch.
Then, you should encourage new users to sign up with their social media accounts.
Next, you want to add social media buttons and other shareable CTAs to your app.
You can also boost user engagement by integrating the app with social media feeds.
Instant communication with your users is essential for a good customer experience.
Most users nowadays use mobile apps to communicate with companies – 82% of them, in fact.
Mobile customer service benefits both business owners and customers in a number of ways:
However you consider it, a well-implemented mobile app is always good news for customer service.
If you want to have a winning marketing strategy, it needs to revolve around actual customer behavior.
And your mobile app is a reliable and valuable source of user insights.
Customers are often willing to share some important information with you if you offer value in return.
Analytics tools like Firebase and UXCam are a great option for getting in-depth customer insights.
Some commonly tracked metrics you should look at are:
There are numerous entry points where you can track these insights. In most cases, a form during onboarding is the best option.
Also, you can offer bonuses or rewards when you want users to complete a survey or fill a questionnaire.
Starbucks is a great example of this.
By using data from their mobile app, they were able to get more than 17 million active subscribers to their loyalty program.
Having a branded app gives you control over how you run your business.
And there are several areas where you can make the most of that level of control:
When it comes to how customers view your brand, your app’s design is crucial.
From the logo, transition effects and all other animations, you can use your app to tweak your branding strategy as your business evolves.
Security is the foundation of successfully doing business online.
If you use a multi-vendor app or any other channel you have less control over how secure your business transactions are. But, with your own mobile app, you’re fully in control.
When your business begins to expand, mobile apps generally allow you to add more power to the mix.
However, this may sometimes depend on the development technologies or agency employed.
Mobile apps are also great for building and improving long-term customer relationships.
You can nurture these relationships by consistently sending personalized updates about your products and services.
In the end, all this control gives you more room to significantly improve your business processes.
To stay ahead of your competition, you need to offer your customers unique services.
To achieve this, all you need to do is add new features to your mobile app — and you’re ready to go!
A good mobile app packed with unique, interesting features can give you the edge.
If you’re building a mobile app, here are some must-have features for delivering services to your customers:
Though these features aren’t unique or service-specific, they show how your app’s features impact how you deliver your services.
Mobile apps are one of the best ways you can capture user feedback.
Let’s take a look at some customer feedback mechanisms you can include:
In a nutshell, mobile feedback mechanisms often have higher response rates, are available around the clock, and require low maintenance.
Here are some of the most popular types of mobile apps we’ve observed in the market.
These apps help users execute tasks or enjoy services your business offers remotely and conveniently.
Most mobile apps often include task resolution as a basic element.
It could be a tool for remote workers to access customer databases, an app car owners use to control their cars remotely (BMW), or even a shopping app.
Mobile apps can also be a great way to boost loyalty among your customers.
Brands like H&M and Starbucks run loyalty programs and offer incentives to reward loyal customers.
source: Netguru
As a result, the customers keep coming back to the brand in exchange for those benefits.
Apps aren’t always aimed at performing tasks alone.
By entertaining your users through your brand’s app, you can also keep the majority of your users hooked, even without outright offering incentives.
Coca-Cola and Red Bull do so efficiently with their Coca-Cola Freestyle and Red Bull TV apps.
These apps serve as a bridge between brand employees or software and users for troubleshooting purposes.
The customers can report the problems they’re facing and find solutions, while on their part, the brands can notify users of updates and new services.
Celebrities and service experts also use mobile apps to share their content in a digital space they control.
A good example is the Sidekick app by Sorted Food, which contains photos, videos, and explanatory cooking guides.
But, keep in mind that these are just some of the types of apps you can build to benefit your business.
The possibilities are endless, especially if you hire the right mobile app development company to help you make your idea a reality.
Are you struggling to improve your business processes and boost your profitability?
A mobile app might just be the missing link – and we can help you build yours.
We’ll take care of your app’s development from start to finish, from validating your idea all the way to post-launch support and maintenance.
If you want to learn more, feel free to reach out and we’ll set up a quick call to discuss your needs in more detail.
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