Update 7 ways small businesses can benefit from mobile apps

As a startup, uncontrollable costing stays a rigid hurdle when you wish to upscale your footprint across markets. While limited resources and about an average infrastructure can help command rising expenses, marketing was nightmare for most small scale enterprises until the mobility revolution ushered in.

Lightweight but amazingly interactive, apps have arrived for the rescue of the struggling small trader and put such brands in line with the competitive market. If understood deeply, apps could be put to productive use and capture enterprise of advertising.

Here’s why you must turn to mobile apps for enhanced customer reach.

Cost effective customer loyalty programs

Customers have been falling for discounts and lucrative deals though in different forms. Currently, loyalty programs are hugely popular and the SME businesses have propelled their customer reach via deals that let customers claim attractive gifts in exchange of the points they won after every shopping session in the past.

Loyalty programs if campaigned via apps can work in 2 ways – firstly, apps are immensely easy to manage high volume campaigns. This is a big win after a struggling decade with punch cards.

Secondly, data captured from such campaigns can be intelligently put to smart analytics use. As a small scale business, such multidimensional programs can work as cheaper alternatives to expensive analytics tools.

Geo targeted marketing & sales

Targeted Sales & Marketing was a dream as far as the doom’s day for the small businesses until location driven services revolutionized the way we perceive of the Mobility power. If you just started with a venture, Geo targeted mobile applications can help skip the tedious stretch of marketing to millions of random people and reach out to highly potential leads.

Location specific apps could be put to innovative utilization in a different ways. An SMS alert about the recent product inclusion as soon as the customer is located near to your store has been successfully used all over. Or appearing in top results whenever a customer is hunting for nearby restaurants in your location, there’s a massive potential to explore and unlatch.

Most of these applications come with inbuilt data capturing capabilities that help take a deep insight into the customer’s search preference which is extensively useful in designing customized marketing campaigns in accordance with the demand.

Drop the idea of advertising for the masses and focus on whose looking at you!

High performing mobile e-commerce applications

While all big players didn’t waste a moment and appeared on the mobile screens, small businesses took too long to realize the potential of selling over the mobile. It is relatively cheaper, faster and customers love it too. Sales convert more over the mobile as the buying process cycle is drastically reduced versus what it had been over the desktop.

As a small scale business, skipping over websites for mobile apps is a cool good idea to kickoff well. This merged with an excellent approach at social media advertising will let you reach more people and utilize the cost saved by skipping website maintenance towards offering lucrative discounts.

As already discussed, discounts and mobile is a terrific combination!

Instant payment through mobile

This is one task that Mobility has entirely redefined for the market spectrum. Customers tend to make a purchase more through their mobile devices than the cash counters. This massive transition in the Point Of Sale has compelled businesses offer multiple checkout channels and small scale enterprises have yet another alternative for an expensive affair in traditional business setting.  The total transactional value over the mobile had already crossed $ 1 Trillion 3 years ago and the trends ahead will surely see mobile wallets taking over the share.

A lot of apps offer payment through mobile wallets only and don’t be surprised if that’s the only choice available in 2 years from now. At this moment, mobile wallet integration isn’t complex anymore and such a trending feature will put you in competition with the big players.

Sharing regular updates through push notifications

Push Notifications, if designed appropriately, can prove to be the highest customer response generator out of all the features on the portfolio. These are precise, readable and thoroughly interactive in their branding message. If email marketing isn’t on your list, Push Notifications embedded in apps can help convey branding message instantly and more effectively.

While email marketing has already lost its sheen for many since the CTR could never improvise from 20%, mobile notifications are being looked upon as the next big thing.

Astute end user experience touching utmost satisfaction

Note this – a user browsing the same store over the mobile and the desktop will eventually prefer the former for its quick responsiveness and mobile wallet checkout capabilities. Unlike the websites, apps don’t face frequent session time outs or sluggish loading.  Apps store most of the data in the local device and thus very light exchange with the web services is needed. With such reduced dependency over the server, apps don’t face any performance issues.

The user of today is well versed with the best of available choices and won’t waste a moment before tapping upon the app and make a purchase in less than 10 taps. Imagine the hassle doing the same over the website!

Superlative customer engagement and issues addressing

You, I and everybody else would prefer engaging with a service provider that offers uninterrupted service support round the week. Reaching out to a brand via an app versus doing the same via a website makes huge difference. Dropping a feedback, registering grievance or seeking any immediate support is easier over the mobile. Here, apps sync with the customer engagement principles of accessibility.

Plus, chat features and related customer support forms are easily integrated with an app. Moreover, the data captured here can be directly shared with external analytical applications for improvising business processes.

Bonus Point – Enhanced Visibility

As consumers, we reach faster to our mobile phones than any other device or asset. No doubt mobile phones stay closer and for longer duration with us. Thus, an app representing a brand ensures it stays in touch with the customer anytime, anywhere. Versus web, where brand follow-ups are available only when we feel like browsing about them, smart devices keep the customer – brand engagement going uninterruptedly.