To be competitive these days, you absolutely need a mobile presence. A responsive website is essential, and some businesses will benefit from having an app. Others will waste resources by developing apps that are completely unnecessary. You want to fully consider the pros and cons before taking such a big step. Here are some things you should consider when deciding whether your business needs an app:
- What value will an app bring? Consider value to your customers and to your business. If you plan to provide app-exclusive content and services, an app could help you grow your audience. An app also can offer certain advantages over a website: a seamless shopping experience, the ability to send push notifications and notifications based on geography, personalization based on behaviors, better performance, offline functionality, and the integration of existing phone technologies (gps, contacts, camera, etc.). Some of these can add value for your customers, enhance engagement, and improve loyalty and retention. Some of them may not apply to your business and would create unnecessary distractions and annoyances. Think about your own experience as a user when an app requests access to something it shouldn’t need or when you have to use an app for something that was easy and convenient without one.
- What do your customers want, need, and expect? As always, knowing your customer is the most important thing. If you have a good handle on their demographics and their problems and pain points, you will already know whether an app is something they expect and need. Age will likely be a factor, as younger customers, broadly speaking, are more likely to want and use apps, and older customers are more likely to resent having yet another thing they have to download. If your customers buy a lot of products online using their phones, and if your website is difficult to navigate on small screens, an app might streamline the selling process. If your customers only go online to get your contact information and read your blog, they might have no interest at all in an app.
- What are your competitors doing? If your competitors have apps, look into their features and overall performance. Read their customer reviews. Figure out what is and isn’t working. Not only will this give you insight into whether you actually need an app, it will help you develop one that is better than the competition if you do decide you need one. It’s never a good idea to have an app just because your competition does; however, if having an app seems to be a standard across your entire industry, you probably need to have one just to meet customer expectations (unless not having one is a benefit that sets you apart).
- What will it cost you? An app may be a bigger undertaking than you’re predicting. When you’re considering the cost, make sure you’re factoring in more than the initial development and design (which will not be cheap or fast in most cases). You will also need ongoing updates to fix bugs and ensure compatibility with new devices and operating systems. For this reason alone, maintenance of an app can be more time consuming and costly than maintenance of your website. You will also need a marketing strategy for the app, which means even more time and money. Make sure the benefits outweigh these costs.
- Would an app ultimately serve your overall business objectives? If an app will bring in sales, improve customer service, or create loyal customers, it’s probably worth exploring. If there are less expensive ways to meet those same objectives, you may want to consider those before committing to an app. Think about your strategic plan and see if an app helps you get to where you want to go.
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