Nowadays, there seems to be an app for everything, offering a solution to any problem and addressing the long-term needs of every customer. From fitness apps to dating apps, and from branded corporate apps to Ecommerce apps that make shopping a breeze, people are using mobile applications more and more to satisfy their needs and make life just a little easier. Now, you might think that an app is something you should invest in only when you have already optimized all your processes online, but you would be sorely mistaken.
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App development is nowadays a big part of digital transformation, and it can benefit your business in many ways. Concretely, developing your own app can help you take your digital marketing to the next level and achieve numerous marketing, sales, and customer support goals. Let’s break this down and give you the top reasons why you should invest in mobile app development, and how you can use it to fuel your digital marketing efforts.
Establishing a direct line of communication
One of the biggest challenges that marketing teams face nowadays is establishing a clear and direct line of communication with customers. Sure, you have email and social media, web chat and various other tools, but none of those guarantee that you’ll get in touch with a customer, let alone develop a more meaningful relationship that will lead to a sale or long-term brand loyalty. Direct communication is kind of the holy grail of digital marketing, because it allows you to engage the customer in meaningful conversation.
But people don’t want to talk to you, and that’s understandable. What they do want, however, is to use an app that will provide them with a quick solution and address their needs quickly. Unbeknownst to them, this app also serves as a direct line of communication between them and your brand, and the best part is that they’ll gladly use it on a daily basis. You can communicate your special deals, promotions, ask questions, send notifications and do everything else easily when people have your app installed on their smartphones.
Engaging the users across operating systems
To win at marketing and business in general nowadays, your brand needs to be present and accessible across a variety of channels and platforms. That’s why it’s important for companies to build omni-channel experiences nowadays, because people want to be able to engage with your brand on their own terms. The same goes for your mobile app, which can help your brand establish a presence on various operating systems.
When you’re working with developers or when you’re creating a strategy for your mobile app, you have to work with professionals that specialize in hybrid app development services that will ensure people can use your app on Windows, iOS, and Android with ease. This is important because you’re trying to encourage as many people as possible to use your app, but also because you want to boost your digital marketing efforts by making your brand available on as many platforms as possible.
Taking digital marketing forward with app data
Digital marketing is much more cost-effective than traditional marketing, but that doesn’t mean it’s cheap or free. In fact, you could be wasting hundreds if not thousands of dollars on a monthly basis just by investing in the wrong marketing tactics, targeting the wrong people, and pushing the wrong messages to your audience. But besides the obvious financial waste, this kind of marketing can have a far-reaching impact on your brand.
Don’t alienate people, don’t drive them away – use the right data to steer your marketing in the right direction. Your mobile app is a treasure trove of user data that you can leverage to take your marketing strategy forward, and fuel all the tactics you’re currently using. From SEO to PPC, from social media management to content marketing, the data you pull from your app can help you optimize and personalize your digital marketing across the board.
Improve customer support to improve your marketing
Speaking of making yourself available and accessible everywhere, let’s not forget that customer support is a vital part of digital marketing nowadays, as there’s no better way to market your brand to the world than through stellar customer service. News of companies with amazing support teams travels fast, and aside from having a website chat or communicating on social media and via email, you also want your customers to seek help through your app.
People want to use mobile apps because they are convenient and they provide solutions quickly, and by having an FAQ section, a built-in chatbot, and even a live chat function, you will be able to deliver unparalleled customer support. And people will love you for it.
Facilitating marketing personalization
We live in a world where people will not tolerate brands that see them as just numbers or leads. People want to be noticed, they want you to appreciate them and recognize them for who they are, and they want to feel like they matter to your brand. And they do matter, you just need to show it more clearly through personalized marketing.
This can be a challenge if you don’t have the right data, but more importantly, if you don’t have better data. There is no tool out there that can generate more insightful customer data than a mobile app, and by collecting and collating user information, browsing history, and in-app behavior, you can start personalizing your marketing efforts like never before.
Wrapping up
You need to keep investing in digital marketing in order to grow your business, and with a mobile app, you can do it in a more cost-effective way. Having an app opens numerous doors for your company now and in the long run, so consider developing your own app to take your business forward in 2021 and beyond.