Business
5 Ways Mobile Business Apps Can Increase SME Revenue
Finding new methods of increasing profitability is high on the list of priorities for small business owners. While there are many ways a business can become more profitable, the primary focus of the modern SME is often on increasing sales volume.
Mobile business apps are powerful sales tools that are criminally underutilised. Only around 40% of SMEs have an app, which means 6 out of every 10 companies are missing out on the benefits of developing an app.
All companies should at least be considering the development of a small business app. If you fall in-line with the majority of app-less businesses, these are the valuable revenue-boosting benefits you are missing out on:
- The Ability to Reach New Customers
Where are your customers? Most of them are on their phones.
The majority of retail sales are made online, with a significant portion of those sales being made via apps. People like apps more than they like using mobile websites. They find them easier to use and more convenient.
With 85% of all time spent on a mobile phone being done so while within an application, businesses without an app are missing the opportunity to utilise a sales platform with the potential to reach a huge portion of highly-engaged consumers.
- Progressing an Ineffective Sales Funnel
Given their accessibility and convenience, apps make for a better conversion tool than your standard website. Apps have been shown to be around 100%-300% more effective than mobile websites when it comes to converting a sale.
If your sales funnel is failing to gain traction on your current platform, moving to an app might give your customers the push they need.
Not only is a customer more likely to make a purchase through an app but, if they are not converting through other methods — phone calls, mobile website, in-store — directing them to an app could push them further through the sales funnel.
- Unlocking New Marketing Techniques
Mobile business apps have more benefits than making it easier to buy things. An app in itself is a powerful marketing tool, and one of the most versatile and dynamic available.
An app is unparalleled in terms of bringing your business visibility. The average person checks their phone 85 times a day and uses it for between 3-4 hours. That’s a lot of time spent staring a screen. Placement of an app on a phone means your brand is always your customer’s eyesight, progressing both conscious and subconscious awareness.
Smartphones also have functionality known as native features. These are inbuilt tools that can be utilised to interact with users. Native features include push notifications: the sound-effect, vibration and message you receive when your phone wants to notify you of something — a text, a reminder, an email.
Using push notifications allows you to effectively send a direct message to your customer. Unlike an email, which can easily be ignored or missed, a push notification grabs attention. Businesses can use this native feature to inform customers of upcoming sales, new product launches, vouchers and deals, company news and more.
- Reaching Customers Through Location-Based Advertising
Push notifications aren’t the only native feature mobile business app can take advantage of — location-tracking is common on smartphones these days. By using inbuilt GPS you can access your customer’s location, which can result in a more targeted marketing experience.
For example, if you run a restaurant or restaurant chain, you can use location-tracking software on your app to inform customers that they are in close proximity to your restaurant. But it isn’t just brick-and-mortar businesses that can benefit.
Many business types can use location-based services to create a targeted marketing strategy and boost revenue. It’s all about thinking creatively. A company that sells pop-culture merchandise could send notifications about products if a customer were to visit locations of films or TV shows. A brand that sells warm clothing can advertise to clients when they visit a destination known for being cold.
- Acquiring Unique Customer Data
It is no secret that the better you know your customer, the better equipped you are to sell to them. Marketing gurus are always preaching about the benefits of getting into the mindset and mentality of your consumer. They recommend you know everything you can about them, thus allowing you to offer up exactly what they need.
Acquiring this type of information, however, isn’t always easy. Customers are not so willing to tell you what they had for breakfast or how they like their coffee, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get to know them.
Acquisition of customer data has always been a priority for sales teams looking to drive up revenue and now, apps are offering yet more methods of getting the information you need to properly market to your target audience.
Apps allow you to gather multiple sources of data, such as:
- Location
- Popular functions and features
- Time spent on the app
- Most popular in-app pages
- Best-selling and worst-selling app products/services
- Mobile device
- Demographic information
- Viewing patterns (when app is used most)
Knowing this data can help you better understand your customer, giving you insights into how best to sell to them. Data specific to app usage is data you cannot acquire through other platforms, which means if you want to get to know your customer as best you can, you need to develop a mobile business app.
