Trying to get your customers’ attention can be a trying task, especially when you’re facing fierce competition in your target market. Modern-day buyers no longer window-shop their way to your store. They google the products they want, talk to their friends and family for advice, and they peruse their options on social media. Most of them use their mobile phones, tablets, and computers for research, and when they do find what they need, a range of factors will affect their buying decision.
If you’ve been fortunate enough to successfully win them over, the next step in customer retention and better recommendations over time is to make sure that every interaction moving forward will be personalized, convenient, and customizable. The perfect tool to get it all done in one fell swoop? A branded app for your business.
Whether you sell products online or you run a business offering different services, an app that can be used on mobile devices and on the web is an investment into smarter customer retention and reputation management. Even employee management can be done better with an app, while you can rest assured that developing your own app for internal communication can be beneficial for team cohesion. Here’s why you should consider an app for your own business, too.
Direct access to your product or service
Both in mobile and hybrid apps, you allow your customers to choose their preferred platform of purchase. You know that people like to have options, and not to mention convenient ones at that. They can simply pick the device that’s most convenient for them at any given moment, and they can visit your store and make a purchase.
This reduces customer effort, but also the time it would take for them to change their minds. When they can easily access your store, they are instantly incentivized to take advantage of that perk and buy what they need, when they need it. No need to type in the product in the search engine box, or to look through a lengthy list of categories. It’s all there, a few taps away.
Another customer support channel
In addition to offering your products or services via the app you build, you can also offer help. In the process of developing your app, make sure to include a useful FAQ section, but most customers won’t want to sift through a pile of existing questions, but they’d rather talk to someone immediately. This is where an app can help you offer that help without delay.
This is one of the most useful features your branded, hybrid app should have. However, this isn’t your typical “drag and drop” feature that you can manage on your own, especially if you want to make it available in the web and mobile versions for your customers. It’s best to choose professional hybrid app development services when designing a branded app for your business. That way, creating these communication channels in the app will allow a secure, structured approach to customer support.
Access to direct customer data
Marketing to your customers means learning from your past efforts, both the successful and the less successful ones. With a well-developed app that has the right features and functionalities available, you can integrate your analytics tools and collect relevant customer information to understand their preferences better.
In addition to improving the experience of that individual (to which we’ll get shortly), the data will allow you to refine your marketing efforts for all customers, across all channels.
Boosting customer experience
We like customization and personalization above all else, so if your customers can use the app to get a more personalized experience, all the better for them. Thanks to the data you’ve collected and analyzed, you can market your brand much more efficiently, and above all, directly to that particular person. The end result is ensuring that you provide a superb customer experience every time.
When customers get personalized recommendations for the kind of products they like, or when you give them a good deal on something because they’re using your app – they will be far more likely to continue buying from you, as they’ll feel appreciated and special.
Opportunities to boost revenue
Developing an app means that you can monetize it in different ways, if you choose to do so. For example, you can have a set fee structure for different levels of access to your in-app content and features. You can have a subscription-based model that helps you provide exclusive content for your paying customers, while still letting your free subscribers leverage the app to, for example, buy directly from you.
In either scenario, having an app as a way to reach customers elevates your chances to boost profits. You can also market new products directly to them, send them alerts when their favorite items are on sale, and thus entice them to buy more frequently.
Convenience and less hassle for the customer
Immediate gratification is the norm for the modern customer, so having to wait for something or spend an unnecessary amount of time searching for it is out of the question. As amazing as your website might be, an app is immediately available, especially in that mobile format, and your users can leverage all the different features built into the app itself.
The search for what they need is shorter, it takes fewer clicks to complete a purchase if you’re selling products, and the security of apps is what makes them so appealing for customers – provided that you’ve taken care of the precautions, of course.
A branded app for your business, whether you design it for mobile devices, the web, or both, can have tremendous implications for your growth and success. Provided that you ensure a consistent experience across all channels, your app can become a crucial source of customer retention, as well as a way to boost your reputation for the long haul.