The average person looks at their phone once every 12 minutes. This adds up to about 80 checks per day.
People do a lot of different things with their phones. In 90 percent of cases, though, if they’re on their phone, they’re using some kind of app.
If you’ve been on the fence about developing an app for your business, now is the time to take action. With statistics like these, it’s important to recognize that there are tons of opportunities for you to get in front of costumers and grow your business by providing them with more value and convenience.
Read on to learn more about the benefits of developing an app for your business, and what kind of mistakes you should avoid, in order to ensure a successful app development process.
There are plenty of reasons why you may want to develop an app for your business, even if you have nothing to do with the tech industry. The following are some of the greatest benefits any business can reap from developing an app:
An app gives you a new avenue for providing value to your customers. With an app, you can give them much more than you could with just an online or in-person shopping experience.
For example, with an app, you can create a digital loyalty program that makes it easier for customers to collect and redeem points when they shop with you. This, in turn, may lead to more repeat customers who are motivated to continue coming back to your business.
Speaking of loyalty, customers are more likely to be loyal to your business if you develop an app.
If they have your app on their phone or tablet, they’re going to be more inclined to keep your business in mind when they’re thinking about the particular service or product that you have to offer.
Apps also help customers engage with your business on a more regular basis.
Again, with an app easily accessible by phone or tablet, customers will be more inclined to shop with you or check out your latest deals. This can result in greater sales and more growth for your business.
Apps make it easier than ever for people to access your business and what you have to offer.
When they’re developed in the proper way, apps do a great job of helping to boost sales and increase traffic. [This is largely because of the lower barrier to entry].
If you develop an app as part of your business, you have an opportunity to expand your services and offer more to your customers, too.
For example, you can offer in-app scheduling to make it easier for them to book appointments.
You can also give app users exclusive opportunities to earn rewards points or discounts. This is a great way to reward people for using your app while simultaneously expanding your business.
Mobile apps are one of many ways you can continue building your brand. This is especially true if you focus on optimizing your app with the correct keywords and design techniques.
The more exposure people have to your brand, whether it’s in the app store or on social media, the more inclined they’re going to be to eventually check you out and make a purchase from you.
Related: Importance of App Brand Image For Aso
Do any of your competitors have apps yet? If they do, are there any gaps in their design or offerings that you can fill?
Regardless of whether or not your competitors have apps, developing an app of your own is a great way to separate yourself and make your business more appealing to your target audience.
Related: 10 Powerful Benefits of Programming Outsourcing
There’s a lot to be gained from developing an app. In order to experience all the benefits listed above, though, it’s important to make sure you avoid some common app development mistakes.
Here are some of the most common mistakes that could derail your app and end up holding your business back:
In many cases, the downfall of a particular business venture (or the business as a whole) comes back to poor budgeting and money management practices.
If you don’t handle your money well, there’s a good chance that you’re going to have a hard time seeing a return on your investment. You may even end up having to scrap the project altogether.
Make sure you have a thorough understanding of how much it’s going to cost to develop your app. Get quotes from a few different developers and leave a bit of a cushion in your budget to account for potential hurdles.
Keep in mind that there’s more to the cost of app development than the app itself. You also have to account for marketing, promotion, and other costs.
If your competitors have apps already, it’s important for you to do research and see what they’re doing with their apps. You may also want to do some research and look at other types of apps that don’t have anything to do with your industry.
If you spend enough time researching, it’ll be easier for you to identify gaps that you can fill with your own app. This will help you stand out more from your competitors and offer a greater amount of value to your customers.
It’s important to look at what your competitors are doing. You can even take inspiration from their app and look for ways to make it better. That being said, copying another app entirely is not the goal.
First, there’s the ethical issue of copying someone else’s property. It’s not cool, and it doesn’t make your business look good.
Second of all, there’s the fact that consumers are not going to be very interested in an app that looks and functions exactly like one they already have. You’re much better off creating something original that builds on what other businesses have done, rather than knocking them off completely.
Many business owners and entrepreneurs know that they want to develop an app. What they don’t know, though, is the type of people who make up their target audience.
If you fail to take the time to define your audience, you’re going to have a very hard time marketing your app in an appropriate and cost-effective way.
Get very specific about who the target user is for your app. How old are they? What’s their gender? What interests them? Are they different from the people who patronize your business online or in-person? If so, how?
The better able you are to answer these questions, the better results you’re likely to get from your app.
Make sure your app actually provides value to your customers, too.
Why should they want to download and use it? What does it have to offer them that they can’t get from your website? Are there added perks? Is it easy to use and more accessible?
Don’t get so focused on the potential money to be earned from your app that you forget to make it something worth using.
If you focus on providing value first, the money will follow. If you focus only on money and not on value, people are going to lose interest pretty quickly.
Speaking of money, another common app development mistake businesses make is monetizing their app too early.
If you start charging for your app right out of the gate, you may find that you alienate a large portion of your target audience.
In most cases, people need to gain an understanding of the value that an app has to offer before they’re willing to pay for it. If they have to pay for it in order to see what it’s all about, they may decide not to download it at all. As a result, they never have a chance to see how great it is.
You don’t want to put out an app that doesn’t have anything to it, right? Of course, you want your app to be engaging, interactive, and pleasing to the eye.
It’s possible to have too much of a good thing, though.
If there’s too much going on with your app, users are going to get overwhelmed. They may even stop using it altogether. Be sure to keep your design simple and straightforward.
This will make it easy for people to navigate your app. It’ll also help it to run more smoothly and efficiently.
Less is more when it comes to design.
Don’t hold back when it comes to the actual functionality of your app, though. Sometimes, it’s worth it to put in more work and spend a bit more money to ensure the job gets done in the correct way.
For example, you could settle for less and use CAPTCHA to prevent spam. CAPTCHA is annoying to most customers, though.
If you put in a little more work, you can prevent spam without having to resort to CAPTCHA. It requires more of you upfront, but it will lead to happier customers later.
It takes time to put out a great app. Don’t let your eagerness to see the finished product cause you to rush your developers into putting out something that’s subpar.
Users will be able to tell if an app was created hastily, and they’ll show it with their engagement (or lack thereof).
You’re better off taking your time to launch something great rather than rushing to put something that no one wants to use.
Don’t be so focused on the app itself that you forget about coming up with a plan to market the app.
It doesn’t matter how great the app is. If no one knows about it, no one is going to download and use it. Make sure you take the time to develop an effective marketing strategy.
This might include talking about the app on social media or in your email newsletter. You may want to hire influencers to promote the app or publish press releases to get people excited about it.
Whatever techniques you plan on using, start planning for them well in advance.
Finally, don’t forget to ask for feedback on your app.
Have plenty of people test it out and offer constructive criticism. The more feedback you get, the easier it’ll be for you to refine the app and ensure that it works as well as possible before you launch it.
Don’t stop there, though. It’s important to take in user feedback after you’ve launched your app as well.
This gives you a chance to refine your app in the future with better updates. It also helps you identify problems that you may have missed so that you don’t make similar mistakes when you develop other apps later on.
As you can see, there are a lot of common mistakes you ought to avoid when you’re going through the app-building process.
You might feel a little intimidated by all these potential mistakes at first. If you keep this list in mind, though, and follow the advice outlined above, you’ll have no trouble reaping all the benefits associated with developing an app for your business.
Refer to this article on a regular basis and you’ll have an impressive app before you know it!
Related: How to Hire a Mobile App Developer