Hello friends! Today is the last and final post in my series dealing with specific tools for small businesses to use in relation to social media. After this, I will have a few blog posts about specific social media and how they can be optimized for the business, the customer, and their interactions. For now, let’s wrap up this series! WARNING: this is a long post because it covers a lot, but it’s all very interesting, I promise (at least, I think it is, but then again, I may be biased)!
Cells. Mobiles. Phones. Touchscreen. iPhone. Smartphone.
Whatever you refer to your baby as, chances are that you most likely have one that you carry around with you everywhere and conduct much of your day-to-day activities on. According to a recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Internet and American Life Project, 61% of Americans own a smartphone, with 91% of the adult population in America owning at least a regular cell phone. When a similar study was conducted in 2011, it found that only 35% of Americans used smartphones (ABC News).
So, Small Business Owner, what does this mean for you? Well isn’t it obvious?
Ok, if it’s not obvious, I’m here to tell you…Apps are where it’s at!
Think about it. Given that more than half of Americans own smartphones, you’re most likely a member of that percentage. Think about all you do on your phone: you schedule things, take calls, perhaps even have tools to conduct business…and how is all this possible? Through apps! See where I’m going with this? No? Ok. I’ll break it down further.
What I’m trying to stress to you: your small business NEEDS a mobile app!
Ok, perhaps need is too strong, but given this growth in smartphone users, with the numbers likely to continue to grow, there’s the potential to reach more than half the population of this country with one simple thing: an app. Great, now you’re beginning to see!
Yes, developing mobile apps is quite costly. However, research shows that 50% of all web searches occur on a mobile device (TechRepublic.com). Here are a few of the benefits of having a mobile app for your small business/brand:
- target local customers – according to research, customers on the go are more likely to engage with local brands through their phones/the use of apps
- provide customers with special offers – this helps you reach leads and offer them incentives to interact with/become a user of your product(s)
- offer better customer support – mobile apps are one way you can deliver support efficiently and swiftly; also, you can communicate with your customers through the app
- collect customer feedback and behavior data – on a basic level, apps already help identify customer trends…how your customers interact with your product, their purchasing trends, their likes/dislikes, etc.; on a more advanced level, apps can even help you create a pretty solid customer profile because you can find their location, job, age, gender, spending limits, and so much more
- apps can be used as promotional tools
- ROI is raised
- far reach potential
- makes your brand/business mobile friendly
With all these benefits, I’m sure mobile apps now speak for themselves. So, now you’re wondering how you can do this, and how to develop an app on the cheap. Well, never fear, I have that information, too!
Mashable.com has an article listing 6 tools you can use to develop apps cheaply. I’ll summarize it below.
- PhoneGap – allows developers to create apps using HTML5 & CSS3, which are the standard coding languages that work across many platforms, including mobile devices. Price: free while you’re developing/in the beta phase; support beginning at ~$250/year
- Branded Business Apps – created mostly for service industry use (i.e. churches, hotels, restaurants, etc.), it is limited to a basic 40 features; however, many businesses have found those features perfectly meet their needs; this company has a 5-step development process so the app can be launched on iPhone/iPad & Android systems within 48 hours of development. Price: ~$400 to get started and a $39+ management fee paid on a monthly basis
- EachScape – unique because of its avoidance of the basic templates of a lot of cheaply designed apps, EachScape offers the developer the chance to drag and drop the block components it wants in an app, then integrates the content, customizes it, then generates a few options for potential apps the business could choose to use. Price: $2,500+/month
- Canvas – focuses primarily on data collection for small businesses; the apps record customer data and allow the businesses to access this date from the Canvas cloud. Price: $0.50/app use, $20 for unlimited use/month, $210 for unlimited use/year
- CloudSpokes – this is a unique approach to app developing that I am not entirely familiar with, nor do I completely understand it. From what I gather, it’s more of a game/competition for freelance developers to make apps based on basic information given by the business, then they vote on which app created is the one they want to use. Price: set by you, the client
- Red Foundry – this company allows developers full control over the quality and cost of the app platform; focuses mainly on design and user experience being optimized to its fullest extent. Price: it’s up to you! However, the company’s VP of Business Development warns that cheap apps usually suck…so keep that in mind when considering using this service.
So you survived this post and this series! Congratulations! I hope you learned some new ideas and about new and different services that can help you build up your customer base and expand your business/brand through the use of social media.
Bye y’all!