Did you know that there were 194 billion app downloads in 2018?
People use apps for many different things, like playing games, online banking, and ordering food or products from their phones or tablets.
Keep reading to find out why an app might be right for your small business and how to build an app with our app development process guide.
Why Should Small Businesses Have Apps?
Your small business can benefit from a range of marketing efforts, from having an up-to-date website to being active on social media. But did you know that by creating an app for your business, you can also help to engage and build a greater customer base, improve your reputation, and drive sales?
Many small businesses might be concerned about the cost of developing an app. However, the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. These are some of the main benefits of why you should consider having an app.
1. Having an app for your small business can help you promote your products and services more efficiently. With an app, you can easily send out notifications about your products and services to your customers. This will also save you money on large marketing campaigns.
2. It can increase your customer engagement. Apps are an excellent place for your customers to give their feedback and also for you to interact with customers. You can promote offers and deals on your services or products, ask for feedback, and request your customers to give their opinions. All of which makes your customers feel valued and appreciated.
3. Understand the effectiveness of your marketing. Apps are a great way of collecting data that you can analyze and see how your customers interact with your brand. For example, you can track downloads, user engagement, and learn about which products your customers are most interested in.
How to Create an App
Apps are easier and cheaper to build than you might think. Follow our app development process to find out how to make an app.
1. App Ideas
The first step is the most logical one; you need to come up with an idea.
You might already have some app ideas, but if you don’t, then you need to think about what problems your customers have and how you can solve them. Your customers want to know that you put them first, so come up with ideas that can help make their lives easier.
You might choose to do some research before you start writing anything down. For example, you could see what your competitors are doing and what other businesses that you like are doing.
2. Market Research
There’s no point pouring loads of time and money into building an app that nobody will use.
So make sure you do some market research. Find out what people are searching online to see if your problem-solving app can help them. You can do this by typing in keywords into Google and Google Keyword Planner.
Alternatively, you might decide to spread the word and see which of your customers would be interested in your app. For this, you could create a landing page on your website and see how much traffic it gets.
3. Write Down Your Idea
Once you’ve found a suitable app idea that your customers want, you can write down everything you want the app to include. This could consist of notes for your developer or even a map and layout of how you want the app to work.
Be sure to include details about how the user will navigate the app and the features that you want in the app.
4. Hire a Developer
Chances are you don’t have anyone in your team who can create the app for you, especially if you’re a small business. So you’ll need to look outside of your company and hire a designer.
You should focus on finding someone who has a good reputation, who has an extensive portfolio, and someone who can get behind your idea and vision. Before you hire your developer or designer, you should have a look at the previous apps they’ve built and see if they align with what you want.
5. Get a Developer Account
While your developer is building your app, you need to register for a developer account. Developer accounts enable you to sell your app through app store platforms such as Google Play and Apple’s App Store. You can either register as an individual or a company.
6. Set up Analytics
Before your app is ready to go live, you need to set up the analytics on it.
These will help you find out how popular your app is, how your users engage with the app, and how many downloads you’ve received. There are multiple tools that you can use to track and monitor your app’s data, such as Flurry or Localytics. Some of these analytic tools are free, while some you have to pay for, but they offer more features.
7. Adapt Your App
Once your app is live, it is vital that you get customer feedback.
This can be done either by analyzing the way your customers interact and use your app or by asking your feedback from customers. This critical information can then form as a basis to help you adapt and change your app for the user experience.
Many apps need to be improved and updated regularly, so it might be worth using a tool such as codepush to help you update your app in a matter of minutes. Codepush helps to minimize the time it takes for your app updates to be approved.
This ensures your customers are always kept happy and that your app provides the smoothest and easiest set up possible.
Follow Our App Development Process Guide
There are many reasons why you might decide it’s time to create an app for your business. Whatever your motive for wanting an app, make sure you follow our app development process guide.
If you found this article insightful, then be sure to read our other ones all about business, success, and financial growth.
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