Each brand we interact with should build a customer’s interest by providing them with a specific value. However, it may be difficult to achieve without thoughtful branding activities supported by your own mobile app. Recent years have shown that in many cases mobile applications have become a more effective form of marketing than advertising in the media or on the Internet. Own mobile products allow you to increase your brand awareness and maintain a constant, positive relationship with consumers. They are also a great tool to collect data necessary to understand your users better, and thus meet their needs and solve their problems. Additionally, together with proper customer service, they increase loyalty both to the product and the brand.
Competitive advantage
Research on the role of mobile applications in enterprises suggests that such solutions provide a significant competitive advantage. The main factor in this case is the constantly changing consumer behavior, the need for instant communication, and increased attachment to mobile devices.
Given the number of ways an efficient mobile strategy improves your company’s workflow, its overall impact on revenue becomes obvious sooner or later.
Example
IKEA has revolutionized customer service by developing a free app that connects to its current product catalog and uses augmented reality to help customers imagine what a piece of furniture will look like in their home. The solution has been downloaded over 2 million times since its first release in 2017 and has had a significant impact on increasing the sales of the brand’s products.
A direct and personalized marketing channel
From the marketing point of view, the main advantage of the mobile transformation is direct access to information about users and their preferences. Data collected from sessions and app entry points can be very useful for building better and more targeted marketing campaigns. When you gather the necessary information, an application will allow you to deliver more efficient content than other traditional marketing channels.
- Pushwoosh revealed that push notifications provide an average of 70% consent rate, while email marketing only 5%
- Ads, CTAs, and anything else related to your business have a higher click-through rate in apps
- Offers and prompts in the application generate immediate engagement of users whose goal is to complete the intended task
Research by Upland Software has shown that properly targeted notifications reduce application abandonment, i.e. completely uninstalling it from the device, to 16% from the standard 25%.
Better communication and customer service
Mobile apps have changed the way consumers shop and satisfy their needs. However, their expectations increase along with the pace of technological progress. An application allows for quick and easy access to information, so if you want to provide your customers with the best possible communication option, it will be a real support in this field. It is a reliable, personalized and convenient tool which makes a customer feel confident, and safe, being provided with continuous communication and full control over its course. An interesting solution that positively affects customer satisfaction and increases their involvement is the live chat function, which makes the recipient feel taken care of and important.
A mobile application also improves the work of your team — it facilitates access to information that a client needs and allows for faster and better service.
You prefer to relieve your employees, but still offer your customers the best level of service? An app gives you the option to deploy a smart, easy-to-use help center where a user can easily find answers to any questions they may have.
Example
According to a study by Nike, 60% of consumers wear the wrong shoe size. Therefore, the brand introduced an application that allows users to scan their own feet and adjust footwear, generating appropriate recommendations.
Greater loyalty
A high customer retention rate is the main ingredient of any successful business. Thus, loyalty programs integrated with a mobile application may prove helpful if implemented correctly and with customer satisfaction in mind.
A properly prepared program will allow you to:
- Grant consumers with instant rewards or implement a cashback point system
- Provide personalized product recommendations
- Encourage sharing your content on social media and motivate app users to share their experiences with the brand, and thus increasing its awareness
A loyal customer is the most effective brand promoter that helps attract more people interested in your product or service.
Example
- McDonald’s has launched an application that allows customers not only to browse through the menu, but also get access to exclusive vouchers which encourage them to place an order.
Larger level of involvement
One of the most reliable ways to increase brand loyalty and generate revenue is focusing on the level of engagement of your audience. If you successfully increase the frequency of consumer interactions with your brand, you will see a peak in customer value over time and return on investment (ROI).
The key feature you can implement in your app for this purpose is segmented targeting, which involves creating multiple categories of users and controlling the types of content you provide them with. It allows you to send personalized messages in the app, give relevant recommendations and better understand your client’s needs.
Apart from that, you should constantly enrich the solution with new functions, being in line with both users’ expectations and latest trends, as well as taking care of positive customer experience (CX). Regardless of the best features offered by an app, users won’t be engaged if you provide them with poor UI/UX design or limited accessibility.
More data on consumer behavior
A mobile application can serve as a reliable and valuable source of data about consumers who will be happy to share it, if you offer them something valuable in return. You can track: types of users, demographics like age, gender, device type, etc., number of downloads and uninstalls, retention rates, and much more.
If you look at the available data from an analytical point of view, you will quickly discover the strengths and weaknesses of the marketing in your company.
Example
Using data from the mobile app, Starbucks was able to acquire over 17 million active subscribers to its loyalty program.
Feedback
Mobile apps’ interfaces and mechanisms are a useful tool for collecting user feedback:
- Widgets are great for generating open responses about a specific element of your brand.
- Polls that match an application context and are displayed at certain times increase the response rate
- App ratings tell you about customer satisfaction and improve your app’s reputation in the stores.
Summing up
So, now you see all the marketing perks that come with a well prepared mobile app adjusted perfectly to both your business and your customers needs. Although creating such an advanced solution is not a piece of cake, in most cases it’s definitely worth all the fuss.
Besides, remember that you can always have support in our team’s bright minds and expertise. Just let us know and we’ll adjust our service to your particular requirements.
