MOBILE APPS Made for your Business

Smartphones and other mobile devices are staples in today’s culture. Mobile optimization for websites is arguably becoming one of the most important things for a company to implement in order to increase customer engagements and sales. With mobile-optimized websites and mobile marketing, having a mobile application is easily finding a place on the list of company must-haves.

In the past year, smartphones showed the strongest sales growth in the mobile market. Alongside the surge of smartphones, mobile apps are already significant for consumer engagement. Companies should have a mobile application in order to promote their product or brand in the palm of consumers’ hands for a number of reasons.

1. Mobile devices are pervasive. Keeping in mind the ubiquity of smartphones, eventually most everyone will have access to mobile apps. In fact, over 300,000 mobile apps have been developed in the past three years and the forecast for app development is only expected to increase. In turn, businesses will need to make their presence in the mobile marketplace known. In fact, in coming years it will be of no surprise that it is crucial for a company to have a mobile application because of the prevalence of smartphones.
2. Mobile devices are personal. The user experience of a mobile app is reason alone for companies to consider developing their own application. Because people automatically consider their mobile phone to be a key personal possession, apps become part of that personal element. Therefore, apps tend to offer more a personal experience that engages a consumer more than a simple website. Smartphones and mobile devices are more personal and the proximity is perfect for companies.
3. Mobile devices offer perfect proximity. As mentioned earlier, mobile phones and smartphones are a daily engagement. It wouldn’t been too far off to assume most people keep their cell phone within arm’s reach at all times, including while sleeping. Having a mobile app provides continual opportunity for companies and their brand to be at consumer fingertips at a moment’s notice. Being so close to consumers is certainly the type of advantage a mobile app presents.

Having an app presence in an app store or marketplace is a big deal as well. Unlike the Internet, an app store is used for one specific purpose—to sell. Before companies become too concerned with mobile application competition, consider this: standing out among 500,000 apps is actually easier than maintaining an online presence among millions.

Perhaps there is still a long way to go before every company learns the benefits of having a mobile application, but it won’t be long until it becomes a standard business practice.