Mobile apps in Marketing: An honest point of view

In the ever-changing world of mobile devices, it is important for businesses to have a presence on these platforms so that their customers can easily find them. The number of new apps keep increasing everyday. An app can be used for marketing purposes by connecting to a company's website, social media channels, or email newsletter. However, does all businesses must build at least one mobile app? Will a business fail if it does not have a mobile app? This article will explain them all.

What is a mobile app?

A mobile app is a software application that is designed for use on a smart phone, tablet or a similar device, for specific purposes (working, gaming, entertaining, communicating...) and can be installed in a mobile phone though an operating system.

Short history of mobile apps

The first mobile apps were developed by NeXT computer in 1992 and was called the NeXTSTEP. It could be used to access the internet and email on a cell phone. In 1997, Palm released its first smartphone with built-in support for apps. Since then, many companies such as Microsoft and Apple have also developed their own operating systems (OS).

In early 2000s, mobile users are familiar with call, messages, library, calculator... in Nokia phones. There are many debates that they are not considered as mobile apps because Symbian is not seen as an operating system.

In 2008, Apple released the App Store and Google Play (previously Android Market) and with them came a new wave of mobile apps.

In 2011, Apple had more than 300,000 apps in its App Store while Android Market surpassed the 100,000 mark. As of January 2016, there are 2.2 million apps published on the Apple's App Store and 1.6 million apps available on Google Play.

Nowadays, mobile apps have become an integral part of people's lives. There are not only individuals who use mobile apps for personal needs but also enterprises and governments which use mobile apps everyday for working, communicating, controlling and marketing.

Benefits of a mobile app in Marketing

Mobile apps can bring benefits for marketing as below:

A mobile app provide an additional communication channel between the business and customers.

Notifications, chats, form submissions are common methods of communication in a mobile app. For example, a business can use notifications to inform customers about an incoming promotion program. In another example, a business can use chat or form submission to provide supports to customer.

A mobile app can increase brand awareness

A business can market its products and services to customers by pushing notifications related to the business.

A mobile app can track important data of customers easily

With a mobile app, businesses can obtain more information about their customers such as which notification lead the customer to make purchase, how frequently the customer uses the app, etc. Moreover, businesses can contact their customers directly to conduct a survey.

A mobile app can be used as a selling tool

A business can present its products and services to potential customers through push notifications or reward points earned from previous purchases made by the customer in-app.

A mobile app can improve customer service

Many companies have build a mobile app to provide helps to customer automatically. Those apps have a big database of FAQs which provide a quick and consise answer to customer questions. In that case, it does not require any human effort.

In case the question is outside of FAQs, the mobile app can provide a quick connection to the company customer service which operated by human.

Considerations before building a mobile app for marketing purposes

In the above sections, we've talked about many benefits of mobile apps in Marketing. Then, do a business must build at least one mobile app for its marketing strategy? Let's take a look at considerations before building a mobile app for any marketing purpose:

Building a mobile app is not the only way to reach mobile users.

Beside mobile apps, there are many ways to reach mobile users. Websites are the way which bring the similar experience as mobile apps. Most websites now have a responsive design which let the user interact well without a problem. Users can shop and submit forms on website using mobile phone. In addition, websites can be used to push notifications directly on Android phones.

Most social networks also have specialized tools for businesses. For example, Facebook has fanpages which allow businesses to connect with its customers. Twitter's tweets can include hashtag which contribute to tracking the popularity of certain topics or keywords. Moreover, Instagram now has direct messaging feature.

Building a mobile app requires more effort than other channels

Building apps is not easy as we think. Mobile apps are written with different programming languages and take serveral processes before being launch in an App market. The tasks will be doubled if the company want to launch the app on both iOS and Android.

Although there many tools (App builders) for businesses to build apps without knowing too much about coding, there are still many limits in using those tools.

Building a mobile app can drain a business' budget

In addition to the costs to build the app, the business may pay additional costs. Server costs and maintenence costs can be seen as an example. If the app has a back end, then it needs a cloud server to store and execute the back end source. If there is any problem preventing the app from running properly, the company will need someone who can fix it.

Many users are not willing to download and install a new app

It is one of the major problems for a mobile app. Many mobile users are busy and do not have much time to mess with new apps. Instead, they use their current main social media or shopping apps that they've already used for years. If this matter does not concern the company's business model, it may be better to leave customer alone by providing other channels instead of building an app.

Many users are not willing to allow receiving notifications and being tracked by your app

Do you think users are willingly to allow your app receive notifications or track their location? Even for your own shopping apps, don't you find the permissions asked by the app too much?

Users are so concern about their privacy. They do not want to be tracked in every single way by the company who they bought something from. Apps need to be more careful to not scare users away.

Your app may be competed by thousands of other apps in the same class

There are many mobile apps in the same field. If your app does not have something special or unique, people may stick with their current app unless you do something else to make them change their minds.

When to build a mobile app for marketing purposes?

As I have given many obstacles in building a mobile app, should a business go for it or look for another solution? Below is the list to see when a business should build a mobile app for marketing purposes:

A mobile app is the only way to provide the business's products/services.

There are some kinds of business cannot run without building their own mobile app. Grab, Uber, Amazon, Netflix, Spotify, Standard Chartered... are examples. If a mobile app is the only way for your business to provide its products/services, then go head for it right now. However, you should consider the competition because there may be many businesses who have done it before.

The company has a good strategy to build and utilize the mobile app.

A good strategy is the basement which helps the company on building the app which is useful and unique. Then, the strategy will guides the company how to promote it, develop it and utilize it for marketing activies in the future.

If the company does not have a good strategy, you should spend time on building it first before going for the app. Do not build an app just because other businesses have already done it.

The company has a budget for developing and promoting the mobile app.

If you want to build your own mobile app, then do it as soon as possible because the competition is coming along with time. Your business needs to stand out from its competitors if you want to grow up. Be unique and deliver what customer desire. Otherwise, a mobile app might not help your business grow up as you have expected.

Conclusion

Mobile apps can be a great way to reach customers who otherwise may not visit your business location. However, there are many obstacles that must be overcome before building one for marketing purposes. A mobile app is never successful without an effective strategy and budget in place, so make sure you have both before you start on any project of this level!

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)