In this post, we’ll usher you through the vital benefits of implementing a mobile app strategy, exploring how mobile applications can enhance user engagement, boost customer retention rates, and drive revenue growth for your business. We like to talk about this because it can really highlight the importance of a tailored mobile application designed to cater to your specific audience’s needs and allows us to illustrate how it contributes to an overall seamless user experience. All in aid of improving your customer loyalty, and allowing your business to be accessible, everywhere.
The World as a whole, is relying on mobile devices to access information, communicate, and make purchases now more than ever. So regardless of whether your desired impact is locally, or globally, it’s worth understanding the possibilities and implications of how a Mobile App strategy can provide substantial benefits, including increased visibility in a saturated digital marketplace, efficient customer interaction, and unrivalled user experience.
According to GSMA Intelligence1, as of early 2024, there are approximately 5.61 billion unique mobile phone users worldwide, representing 69.4% of the global population. This number has increased by 138 million, or 2.5%, since early 2023 (DataReportal – Global Digital Insights). So the excuse you create to not take action and not tap into this potential stream for your business better be a good one.
Table of Contents
1.
Enhanced User Engagement and Experience
Simplified Navigation
A critical aspect of mobile app design is ensuring users can find what they need quickly. This involves consideration for how links and buttons are displayed, are they large enough to tap and does the spacing between assets promote accessibility or confusion? Organising and labelling menu categories in a user-friendly way is key, with clear back functionality allowing users to go back one step easily, much like the tried and tested back button of a Web Browser for straightforward (and back) browsing.
Pepper Square2 has provided a great breakdown of key asset design when it comes to Mobile App Navigation, detailing some of the best practices with viewable examples.
Push Notifications
Push notifications can be highly effective in driving user engagement, retention, and conversions. Using these strategically to keep users engaged with timely updates on promotions, new features, or other events keeps your business and branding at the forefront of their minds.
However, avoiding overuse is of the utmost importance. Overloading users with too many notifications, can lead to disengagement and rightly so. Open communication with your target demographic that’s opted in to your updates is a luxury, not a requirement. Unless of course, you are Duolingo.
Gitnux has reported in their marketing data the effectiveness of Push Notifications across a range of studies, one that stands out, is that ‘Push Notifications lead to a 16% increase in customer retention’3 when implemented correctly. This is a significant amount of customer retention when you think about the number of devices and applications on offer that are vying for the user’s attention. The point is that helpful, considerate and high-quality communication will work wonders over those who send many updates regularly.
Responsive Design and Content Optimisation
Responsive design doesn’t just stop at websites, in fact, responsive design is engrained into all facets of design, and realistically has since before print has been a thing (when you actually think about it). The kicker here is that applications have many outputs, much like a website, but they also have different requirements per the medium of delivery. It can be quite dizzying when you are to think about the phones, tablets, computers and even now Smart TVs, or wearable accessory counterparts that these applications can be applied to. That’s not to say you have to design for all of these, one of the powers of App Development is being able to focus on where your target audience is or what the functionality between devices can be therefore not every output needs a design.
However responsive design and content optimisation is unavoidable to a point, but it’s not something that you need to fear, in fact, it’s the opposite, it’s a great way to show your users, you care!
A responsive design ensures your app adapts to different screen sizes and orientations, which means you cater to a larger base of custom, and allow a greater means of accessibility. Optimising content can be as complicated or as simple as you need it to be. This can be in the form of image size reduction, the removal or addition of assets to optimise loading times, the way the navigation is implemented per device type (see Simplified Navigation above) or even how the blank space of your canvas is used. The possibilities are vast, the main importance is that consistency is key across these formats to keep your applications in unison, so the user always feels at home using your wares regardless of the device.
Marvel Snap.
Marvel Snap.
Editors Note: I am so happy to be using a Gaming App to drive home an optimisation point. Play Marvel Snap, it’s a Good Game.
When an app is installed and a user is able to see the app icon everytime they use their device, your brand is literally at their fingertips.
2.
Increased Visibility and Accessibility
An effective mobile app strategy can significantly improve your brand’s visibility and accessibility in a crowded digital marketplace. Here’s how:
Your Brand Is Always With Your Customers
When an app is installed and a user is able to see the app icon every time they use their device, your brand is literally at their fingertips. App Icon design can be discussed to no end in another post but for now, the important aspect of your app icon always being within tapping reach is that this is a subtle, indirect and even polite reminder that the user has the choice to interact with your app when they choose to, keeping your brand or business top of mind, without even advertising. Extremely powerful stuff.
Couple this with constructive use of Push Notifications, as discussed above, that give gentle nudges about what’s happening with your app or business developments, and you’ve got a surefire way of keeping a user’s vested interest.
App Stores Expand Your Reach
By having an app in the major player storefronts (Apple App Store, Google Play, Amazon etc), you can reach customers who might not know about your business otherwise. These platforms attract millions of users searching for new apps to download. If you have the right Marketing Engine in place, just by being there, you can tap into this audience and grow your customer base.
That’s not to say by creating an app and hosting it on a store, you’ll have a guaranteed chance at viral success. You need to do the awareness campaigns and marketing to compensate for that (Flappy Bird was the exception4).
App stores support multiple currencies and payment methods, allowing developers to reach a global audience. Exchanges are dealt with via the listings you create on the App Store, meaning you don’t necessarily have to set the price per region, taking away what could be seen as a complication for other listings and in turn improving the availability of your app.
According to Tech Jurys statistics, the ‘mobile app revenue estimate is expected to reach $613 billion by 2025’5. A staggering amount, but equally impressive, is this is a number that will continue to grow along with the industry. So, if it is possible for your business to get involved in this space, then surely there’s no time like the present?
It's in the best interest that the App Store reviews are acknowledged, and whereby possible replied to. This shows that the brand behind the application is human, and reachable.
Offline Access to Essential Features
Offline access allows users to interact with your brand even without an internet connection, enhancing user experience and convenience. For people who may not have stable or reliable internet access this can be a godsend.
Applications with offline capabilities provides users with flexibility and ensures a seamless experience even in areas with limited connectivity. Apps that usually offer this type of functionality will update statistics as soon as an accessible internet connection is granted if required (this is usually how fitness trackers work so that your daily data isn’t lost, but stored ready to synchronise and upload when suitable). Offering offline access to essential features can also boost your brand’s appeal among users who require reliable and uninterrupted service meaning that the application’s convenience promotes more of an appeal, leading to better engagement which ultimately means higher customer retention rates and conversions.
3.
Streamlined Customer Interaction and Feedback
Mobile apps can be a powerful tool for streamlining customer interaction and feedback, enhancing business communication with clients and providing valuable insights into their preferences. Here’s how mobile apps can make customer interaction smoother and more efficient:
Seamless Communication: In-App Messaging and Customer Support
In-app messaging offers customers a convenient way to reach your support team, reducing the need for (but not removing entirely) phone calls or emails. It adds another layer of reach that some users may feel optimal than others.
This ease of communication can lead to a better customer experience and faster issue resolution. Businesses and brands that can prioritise rapid response to customer queries are likely to see an increase in brand loyalty.
Real-Time Feedback
Mobile apps can gather real-time feedback, enabling businesses to respond quickly to customer needs and make necessary improvements. User feedback collected through in-app surveys or review features and redirects can help businesses identify trends and areas requiring attention. This feedback loop is essential for continuous improvement and customer satisfaction.
It’s in the best interest that the App Store reviews are acknowledged, and whereby possible replied to. This shows that the brand behind the application is human and reachable. When it comes to living digital spaces, nurturing them will pay dividends in the future, and it means that a potentially bad experience is always salvageable.
When you take these aspects of user-generated content and queries, be it reviews or questions, you then have the power to spin this into literal word-of-mouth marketing. Your outreach creates itself, allowing you to reach a broader, more vast audience without implications on a budget, all whilst catering to loyal customers. Win, win!
4.
Boosting Sales and Revenue Growth
5.
How Do You Get Started?
Well, beleive it or not, you can get started by collaborating with an experienced mobile app partner… You guessed it, us. VOiD Applications is dedicated to ensuring your app delivers optimal performance and an exceptional user experience. We focus on seamless functionality and a user-centric approach to create apps that delight customers and drive conversions. Whether it’s streamlining sales channels, offering personalised promotions, or integrating mobile payment solutions, VOiD Applications has the expertise to help your app excel and your strategy win.
Our Six Step Proven Process means we thoroughly conduct research into your business and how it can utilise a mobile application to its utmost capability.
Our professional team will help you:
– Conduct thorough research to identify and assess your target audience’s unique needs and preferences.
– Develop a tailored mobile app strategy designed to align with your business goals and elevate your brand’s position in the digital marketplace.
– Create an engaging, user-centric mobile app that enhances user experience, fosters brand loyalty, and drives revenue growth.
– Offer ongoing support, updates, and maintenance to ensure your app remains relevant and competitive.
By partnering with VOiD Applications, your business can harness the power of a dynamic mobile app strategy that revolutionises user engagement, drives conversions, and secures lasting success in a highly competitive space.
Conclusion
An effective mobile app strategy is essential for businesses that strive to engage customers, drive revenue growth, and thrive in a highly competitive space. By prioritising user engagement and experience, improving visibility and accessibility, streamlining customer interaction, and focusing on sales enablement, your mobile app strategy is poised to boost conversions and achieve enduring business success.
As your trusted partner, VOiD offers extensive expertise in Web Design and Development, Mobile App Development, and Digital Branding to facilitate the development of an all-encompassing digital strategy tailored to your unique needs.
Leverage our potential of Digital Strategies and position yourself for long-term success.
Sources
1. DataReportal – Digital 2024 Global Overview Report
2. Pepper Square – Mobile App Navigation: Patterns and Examples for 2023
3. Gitnux – Push Notification Statistics: Market Report & Data
4. Wikipedia – Flappy Bird
5. Tech Jury – 17 App Revenue Statistics – Mobile Is Changing the Game in 2024
6. Ninetailed – 71 Customer Experience Statistics & Facts for 2024 You Can’t Ignore
