Today, mobile applications have become a full-fledged business tool along with the site and the real point of sale of goods or services. More companies are including mobile application development in their marketing and business strategies. And customers appreciate this effort indeed.
The stats show that more than 50% of users opt for mobile devices to access their favorite brands and discover new products. In addition, 33% of users prefer mobile applications to the mobile sites. An app can really help your business boost conversion, increase customer loyalty, pitch personalized offers, and retain users. But what exactly should you take into account to make this happen?
Are Mobile Apps a Safe Bet for All Types of Business?
Not all mobile apps are created equal – it’s obvious. It is never the only sure way to increase conversion rates, and this should be taken into account when making the decision to develop such a solution.
Mobile applications work perfectly fine for on-demand services and products, for example, delivery or taxi services. But if your business is just starting to grow, and you have not yet gathered a large target audience, the application will be a losing investment at this stage.
Conversely, it is reasonable to create such a solution when:
- your business operates online more than offline (or is 100% online);
- most of your customers use mobile devices to communicate with you;
- your business can afford making a significant investment in the application, not at a loss to the company;
- you are aware of the need to collect analytical data on how customers use your application and are ready to make changes to a marketing strategy based on this.
Must-have Features of a Mobile Application That Boost Conversion
Here are the mobile application features each of which makes a significant contribution to the increase in conversion rates.
Speed
A properly designed mobile app is faster than a mobile site. And speed is exactly what modern users value today, when purchasing goods or services. By the way, 29% of users will close an app immediately if it is slow, and 88% of them will stop using an application if there are a lot of bugs in it.
User-friendliness
The ease of use and integration with other functions of the device is another trump card of the mobile application. And this is especially true for native applications that seamlessly interact with the camera, voice, maps, contacts, social networks, and so on. This contributes to the improved user experience, and as a result, increases loyalty and conversions. 61% of customers consider great mobile experience a reason to be loyal to a particular brand.
Fast and secure payments
Applications make it possible to purchase goods in a single click. This is very conducive to making spontaneous purchases, especially if users are confident in the security of their transactions. This is one of the issues that bothers a modern user most, and 20.2% of customers abandon mobile payments due to this reason. So, one of the primary tasks of a successful application is to ensure the safety of online payments and security of payment data.
Support 24/7
89% of mobile media time is now spent on applications. Unlike the desktop, customers can use the app anytime and anywhere. This enables businesses to reach out to the customers around the clock, delivering interesting content and motivating them to make purchases. You should also keep in mind that 52% of users are likely to quit on the brand if there is no possibility to get in touch with it via mobile.
Push Notifications
Today, push notification is one of the best ways to retain and return to your target audience. Business is able to constantly stay in touch with its customers, which is one of the keys to a successful cooperation. This option allows the owner of an application to quickly attract interested users, but its main advantage is that communication with the company occurs voluntarily and in an unobtrusive manner. Since push notifications are sent only to those who wish to receive them, they allow businesses to increase conversion by 25%.
Social sharing options
Modern customers love to talk about their purchases. And more than 50% of users will be eager to do this with the help of a social network once a successful purchase is made.
Personalized offers and customization
A mobile app gives one more opportunity to study the behavior of your customers and come up with the offers they expect to get. For example, ⅔ of mobile users would like to make a purchase from a company whose app is customized to their location. So, your task is to study customer preferences and give them what they want with the help of your mobile app.
A Few Important Tips to Develop a Really Effective Mobile App
A properly designed mobile app is truly one of the keys to business success at the moment. However, everything should be done correctly in order to create a tool that will really help to increase conversions. Here is a brief outline to follow.
- Determine the real customer need for the application.
- Re-examine the target audience and determine its readiness to use the mobile application.
- Find a developer. A good developer will demonstrate the willingness to immerse in your business and make useful suggestions on its improvement.
- Develop and launch an MVP for testing and getting real feedback from the target audience.
- Determine the type of a full-fledged application (hybrid, cross-platform or native) if the previous steps prove it is really necessary to have it.
- Collect analytics and adjust the marketing plan according to this data.
Summary
Mobile applications can really boost conversion. This is due to the fact that the functions and capabilities that they allow to implement fully coincide with the needs of the modern user. However, it is fundamentally wrong to develop an application only to increase conversion. With this approach, this may not happen. In order for an application to become a truly successful business tool, it is necessary to take a responsible approach to its development and carefully study the situation on the market.