Does Your Brand Need a Mobile App?

More and more consumers are spending more time engaged with mobile devices than ever before. A huge part of that? The increasing utility of mobile apps. A mobile app doesn’t just drive more traffic–it can increase sales, boost brand awareness, and provide a better overall customer experience. Does your brand need a mobile app?

What Can A Mobile App Do?

Roughly 80% of mobile device time is spent on mobile apps. The whole point of a mobile application is to provide another touchpoint from which customers can interact and engage your brand. It’s more than a website–it’s a complete brand experience adapted specifically for mobile devices.

Most mobile apps allow customers to browse products, consume content, and communicate with the brand in question. The most popular mobile apps are consistently the ones associated with gaming, communication, and entertainment, but banking and restaurant apps aren’t far behind. 

The most important utility of a mobile app is optimizing the experience for mobile users. That’s especially important if your brand website is less than par–or if it performs poorly on mobile devices. You don’t want to alienate any part of your customer base. Maintaining accessibility–especially mobile accessibility-should be a key part of your strategy. 

Who Benefits The Most From a Mobile App?

As mobile devices become more technologically complex, it disrupts the way brands do business. In other words, successful brands are devoting more time to mobile-optimized marketing–because that’s where the customers are. Customers, more than the brands themselves, benefit from the increased utility behind mobile apps. The more power at our fingertips, the better the customer experience. 

With that said, customers have been the obvious winners in the widespread development and integration of mobile apps. Even as competing brands develop their own apps, customers benefit the most–as they have the most options (literally) at their fingertips. 

On the other hand, the brands that adopt technology the earliest have been the winners. By getting their foot in the door early, brands that developed primitive apps a decade ago have fine-tuned said apps by 2022.

Alternatives to Mobile Apps

Importantly, a mobile app isn’t a necessity–even by today’s standards. The long and short of it is that some brands simply wouldn’t benefit from a mobile app. It all depends on the nature of your brand’s business. As mentioned, customer-facing businesses like restaurants and retail shops benefit the most, as a mobile app is just another touchpoint for service. 

Your brand might be better suited to optimize its website for mobile users rather than pour resources into a mobile app. If your website can accomplish all the things a mobile can, it essentially makes a mobile app redundant. Take a look at what kind of content you may include with your mobile application.

If it adds another dimension to your brand, it might be worth the effort. If not, stick to what you know and focus on doing that better. 

The Bottom Line

While mobile apps are a major part of mobile marketing, they might not be a necessity for your brand. Take a look at both your organizational goals and your target customer profile. If your customers are likely to use a mobile app to take the actions necessary to help you achieve your goals, full steam ahead! If not, there are myriad other avenues where your resources would be better appropriated elsewhere.