As businesses continue to increase their online presence, it is no longer a matter of whether you have your own website, but on how many platforms your clients can reach you. Digital marketing has tremendously evolved in recent years to include SEO and social media marketing, while the rise of mobile devices has transformed what your target audience will look like.
The rise of mobile devices
Your business website is the first point of contact between you and potential new customers, as well as a great way to make sure that your existing clients are still happy and not eyeing your competitors. The design of your website and the information and services it offers are a valuable asset when building your brand image. A user-friendly website with a clear message invokes trust and confidence in consumers that your company is reliable and there to help them, while it also lowers the rate of disgruntled consumers who abandon your page because they were unable to find what they were looking for. It is also important as part of your strategy to generate more sales and boost your SEO rankings, either because you are running your own dedicated e-shop or due to the fact that your website is where people will come looking for details in order to make an informed purchase. With the rise of Android-powered smartphones and other mobile devices, a mobile presence is a necessity rather than a luxury.
Smartphones and tablets have become part of our everyday lifestyle, and the number of people using them to get online is rising by the day. As Jmango360 reports, 70% of US citizens are smartphones users and a whopping 50% own a tablet, with mobile devices generating a staggering 71% of US online traffic. In Spain, 67% of digital traffic is happening on mobile devices, while the figure rises to 71% in China and 75% in Mexico. According to the same source, 90% of mobile usage time is spent on mobile apps, while the remaining 10% is spent on browsing the old-fashioned way. In this context, it is no surprise that social media giants like Instagram have launched their own mobile apps, while Facebook has even released a Facebook Lite and a Messenger-only mobile app version to appeal to mobile app users. The convenience and ease associated with mobile apps as opposed to mobile browsing has seen even services that hold somewhat of a de facto monopoly in user preference, like Google Maps, develop a mobile app to keep their customers content.
How to streamline marketing through mobile apps
Similarly, companies involved with gaming have gone with the more interaction-friendly app option, ranging from online ‘ dedicated mobile apps to smash hits like Fortnite releasing an iOS mobile app. Sometimes mobile apps come with fewer features and an option to upgrade as part of a monetization strategy – for instance, the YouTube app requires you to upgrade in order to keep listening in the background, as opposed to the browser-based version. By contrast, the popular streaming service Netflix has released an Android app that lets users download content and watch it offline. This option has led several fans to download the mobile app on their laptop in order to make use of this extra opportunity. When you develop your own strategy in terms of mobile presence it is important to think of your priorities.
A mobile app can be a great tool in implementing monetization techniques, or it could follow the example of Netflix and allow you to expand and consolidate your reach in your key demographic. It is also an indispensable part of your marketing strategy. According to the research published by Jmango360, while internet users who surf through a browser spend an average of 10.9 minutes every month shopping, the same number climbs to over 200 minutes monthly for mobile app users. What is even more exciting for businesses, is that younger clients seem to prefer apps, as 61% of millennials have stated that they install retail mobile apps while 58% among them opt for purchasing on mobile apps.
As we are entering the mobile-dominated stage of the digital age, developing a dedicated mobile app to retain and expand your client base seems as the only way forward for businesses of all types and sizes.
