How to use a mobile app to market your business

The global app economy is massive, and it’s growing. By 2021 it will be worth well over an eye-watering £5 trillion according to reports[1]. And as mobile app use now plays such an integral part in all our lives, it’s proven to be an ideal opportunity for brands and businesses to harness their marketing power.

Mobile app marketing gives your business the chance to build deep relationships with your existing customers, as well as helping you gain all-important new ones. As part of a whole marketing strategy, your mobile app can both enhance and complement your website, driving brand loyalty and reaching customers in ways like never before.

Direct marketing

Mobile phones have changed the way we do things in life. And because they’re much more than just a phone, they’re always with us, all day, every day. And that means your business mobile app can tap into an invaluable direct marketing channel to reach your users instantly.

This is hugely beneficial to your business. One of the biggest advantages in your app arsenal is the ability to get information to your users fingertips. And with push notifications, you have the chance to get up close and personal with your customer or any user, providing a unique opportunity for direct interaction.

Any product news, promotions, or special offers that you want to shout about, and the notification will be seen and read. And one tap will open your app and take them directly to it. One example that took the push notification ball and ran with it, was a project we worked on to create an app for the University of Plymouth Student Union.

With student inboxes getting clogged with endless emails that might go largely unread, the UPSU wanted to look into app capabilities that would give them an alternative platform to reach their users immediately.

With a full diary of SU gigs and events, UPSU now send push notifications out to their users whenever they need to sell tickets or create a buzz, adding event info directly into the users calendar right from the app. The app can also help encourage the use of student discounts in shops and venues across the city with the in-app location map.

After a successful launch, the app now acts as a slick direct marketing tool for the UPSU. All this is driven by the use of push notifications and the ability to get the word out. One message through the app can bring immediate results, selling out an entire event. And this direct marketing model can be used for your business with equally effective outcomes.

But driving user traffic to your app with notifications is one thing. Ideally, you want them to get onto your app and stay there, and one way to achieve that is to give users and customers extra value.

Added value content

Marketing your business is where your app can, and probably should, do most of the hard work for you. And with plenty of ways to do it, you can drastically improve your customer engagement, as well as building your brand recognition along the way.

Everything your app offers should make your customers life easier and less complicated, and help you stand out from your competition at the same time. And the digitisation of your marketing brochures is one way to help you.

Standard PDF versions of your company brochure are a step in the right direction, but they’re flat and offer no additional content or information that your customer probably hasn’t already seen. Offering an extended and interactive e-brochure should be your next step.

With this you can offer additional content beyond both print and online versions by incorporating interactive elements, such as video, buttons, bookmarks and hyperlinks. And it could also include interactive forms for sign-ups and ordering, making the user experience as smooth as possible.

But bigger brands are already starting to take this interaction to the next level with augmented reality. To illustrate this, look no further than IKEA’s Place app. One scan of your room with their app and you can choose items from their entire product database to find furniture that will fit and suit your room exactly.

At the time of the app’s release, IKEA set themselves far apart from any competition by being the first to attempt this fully immersive experience. Dulux are one of the latest to attempt this with their Visualiser app that works in the same way to help users find the right colour choice for their room.

In both instances, the consumer is in full control. But it gives you the potential to sell bigger or more expensive items with no risk, helping you increase your revenue per customer, with less chance of returns.

Mobile apps to market businesses are becoming more and more of a priority. So now’s the time to get an app development company on board to help you grab your space in the sector. For more information, call us on 01752 395 404 or get in touch today to take your business marketing up a gear.

For further reading, check out how mobile business apps can help you generate more revenue, as well as streamlining your internal processes.

Next up why not read our blog on "How to build a product with a purpose" and discover how user needs are at the heart of product development.

Alternatively, read this post to learn more about push notifications.

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[1] http://go.appannie.com/report-app-economy-forecast-part-two