Why all businesses need to shift to mobile: Top-5 reasons

The world has gone mobile and the frequency of mobile usage picks up steam. In 2018, Statista estimated the number of mobile app users to be 4.57 billion and the number of mobile apps in both the Apple App Store and Google Play reached about 10.2 million.

People prefer mobile due to a few critical reasons. It’s fast, convenient, allows to perform any action on the go and the experience is highly personalized. A modern user requires an immediate response from the business and expects the highest level of convenience: if an action can be done within a few taps, the user would opt for that rather than loading a website and performing a whole series of mundane actions.

Such a change in user behavior demands businesses to adapt and review their strategy in order to stay atop the competition and follow the user’s needs. A business mobile application resolves the issue and allows companies to efficiently reach their target audience in a customized and smart manner.

However, this is not the only advantage mobile app brings to the business owner. Below are the most valuable benefits of a mobile app that will help you decide whether it’s a right time to develop (or optimize) your own app.

1. Availability

Users typically carry their smartphones everywhere they go – and that means they can open an app from any place at any time.

According to Emarketer, the US users spend approximately 3 hours per day on their mobile devices. This is quite a significant amount of time and one can assume that these hours are spent not only on entertainment. Uber, pizza delivery, movie search, and ticket order – all these are business transactions that we may not even notice because they’ve become part of our everyday routine.

So any business can integrate itself into a daily routine of a user – but the tricky part lies in savvy strategy. A business app should be developed with the ultimate goal to bring the most value to the user, otherwise, it would just be a copycat of your website.

2. Marketing insights

Any mobile app is a priceless source of valuable information about the user and his/her behavior. You can learn about:

• The average user age
• Geographic region
• Average time spent on an app
• The most/least used features

And much more. Based upon that, you can either optimize your marketing strategy or build a brand new one and, as a result, generate more revenue and build a stable and long-lasting relationship with your users.

3. Personalization

Coming from the point mentioned above, the information about your user’s behavior can help you personalize the app and offer better incentives, coupons, etc. A good example of a good business app is an app by McDonald’s: while it has a full menu inside, it’s the main section includes coupons and discounts that are available for the app users only.

A mobile app is also a great way to make the user feel connected to the brand. What adds to customer loyalty is a feeling that the brand is designed specifically to him – and this can be achieved via a mobile app only.

4. Improved customer reach

While you can’t be sure that people check their PC or laptop all the time, you can rest assured they do look at their smartphone screen almost 24/7. Therefore, it’s a good chance to reach your target audience at any time and at any place with the help of push-notifications.

Mobile app notifications expand your marketing channel and help you promote the product more efficiently. Are you having anything new and exciting coming up or do you simply want to remind your current users about the product? A simple notification done in a smart manner can serve as an incredibly powerful marketing tool.

5. Integration with social networks

In 2018, the number of active social media users hit 3.2 billion – so you obviously would not want to miss a chance to please them.

Today social media is strongly associated with mobile: Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter – all of these are used on mobile devices first while PC comes second. Thus, it is important to build a seamless and sole experience, when a user can go from Facebook to your app within a mere second and vice versa.

Incorporation of social media buttons into the app allows users to share the information, thus promoting your brand and serving as brand ambassadors for their peers. And today, when the power of social media is as strong as ever, social media presence within any business is an absolute must-have.

Final thoughts

As mobile strikes root, it’s crucial for any business to adapt and follow. What is even more important is the willingness to be open, creative and bold in order not only to keep up with the change but to stand out among hundreds of businesses alike.

And, of course, when developing a mobile app it is important to find a reliable development company that will be able to deliver a product of high quality and standard. Since mobile app represents your brand, poor performance and complex user interface will become a strong “no” for the user. Thus, take your time to do a proper research, find a few mobile app development companies and do not hesitate to ask or portfolio and speak with the developers or project managers. The more questions you ask now, the less headache you will have in the future.