Before you start reading this article, simply take a look around and observe all the heads sunk into their smartphones. One in every four of them is positively scrolling through a mobile app as we speak and every time they give into the daily ritual of “checking in”, they are being exposed to a certain brand. As businesses, the ideal goal should be getting your icon double tapped in their daily ritual of “checking in”.  Mobile apps integrate a brand into customer lives in much stronger ways than businesses think and these 5 reasons illustrate how.

1. 24/7 brand visibility: You can thousands of dollars on advertisements and marketing campaigns but in order to improve your brand awareness, you have to be present with the customer at all times. With a mobile app icon, you offer customers a visual design that they recognize and are constantly reminded of, even when they aren’t accessing your services. Besides 24/7 brand visibility, a mobile app is also a new opportunity for businesses to create a new brand image altogether.
2. Boosts Sales: Without a mobile app, you only generate sales when a customer makes a conscious effort to buy your product/service. With a mobile app, however, you can deploy loyalty cards, push promotions and facilitate e-commerce transactions that not only boost repeat visits but also sales. Also, while your promotional emails may die unnoticed in the spam folder, with push and in-app notifications, businesses can lure more customer purchase with lucrative deals and discounts in a much less intrusive manner.
3. Marketing channel: Mobile apps can offer businesses a direct marketing channel between them and their customers. By integrating a mobile app into your business, you not only get an upper hand against your on ground competitors but also benefit from real-time feedback that can be leveraged to improve your services. You can also conduct polls or in-app surveys to understand your customers better and integrate the insights into your business strategies.
4. Conversion funnel: If you’re looking to turn your customers into conversions, mobile apps can be a great medium to push users down the conversion funnel. In layman’s terms, a conversion funnel helps you monitor user activities and if they’re doing what you want them to do. The insights can then be integrated into your business strategies and direct the app viewers to the targeted sections with specific content and utility.
5. Brand credibility: By giving your business a mobile app, you can take advantage of several features present in a mobile device like the camera, contact list, GPS, phone calls, accelerometer, compass, etc to enhance your brand credibility. A clothing business for example, by integrating real-time pictures in customer reviews generates stronger trust amongst its users and augment their brand credibility.

So whereas for a user, mobile apps serve as a trustworthy and hassle-free medium to consume a certain service/ product, for businesses, a mobile app is an indispensable marketing tool. Not only can you drive stronger consumer engagement but also achieve increased earnings, stronger brand image and larger customer reach.