In this day and digital age when everyone stashes their lives in their pockets, there will come a time when you might be wondering if building a mobile app is worth investing in. Having your company’s services and information at the tap of a screen might sound enticing.
When deciding whether or not you want your company to take the mobile plunge, these are just a few things to consider before you jump into beta.
Form a Clear Goal – What Problems is Your App Going to Solve?
Building an app is very tempting because literally everyone else is doing it. With mobile devices seeing a higher and higher percentage of use every year, an app seems to be the natural way to go. But you have to make sure that your company can provide solutions from just a few taps and button presses. It doesn’t help to have an app that just features your company’s information. After all, why download something that a quick Google search can assist your customers with?
In a swipe-centric society, if your company has products to sell or services that can be quickly called upon, an app just might be the thing to bring you closer to your customers. Online ordering in just a few taps, mobile bank deposits, and digital companions are just some of the ways apps have saved countless hours and made lives easier. If you can figure out a way your app can enhance your customers’ experience, you might want to move forward with your app.
Be Ready to Optimize
In a world where bugs infest the digital space, you’re going to need a dedicated exterminator. Make sure you have someone who knows how to clean up any QA problems that your customers might come across. A pristine, bug-free app means happy customers tapping your icon whenever they need to call on you to handle their problems
What Kind of Profits Will You See?
UX aside, your app should do more for your company than provide a face on a new platform. App maintenance can cost a company well into five figures annually, and unless you’re prepared to spend all that money simply to have a mobile presence, it always helps to ask how you’ll profit from having an app.
Putting yourself in the shoes of your customer helps big time on this one. Think to yourself, would I open this on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis? If the answer to all three of those questions are no, it’s worth rethinking taking your company mobile. And if your brand has thrived without a mobile app, why bother tinkering with such a well oiled machine?
Can Mobile Technology Bring You Closer to Your Customers?
Push notifications, camera access, location services – all great things a phone offers that you just can’t achieve with a desktop site. If you can develop a way to use these mobile features to help further your company, then you might be getting warmer. Use the devices in your customers’ hands to help better connect with them.
When building your mobile app, it should be an extension of your company. It should serve in a way that your desktop site or phone services just can’t. It may be tempting to just get one because, why not? But an app that serves no function outside of presence gets deleted almost instantly, and one that’s infrequently updated is less likely to be taken seriously.
If you can get customers to tap that tile on their phone, then an app may be worth investing in. Just know that maintaining an app takes a team of its own, and if you intend on extending into the mobile space, you have to be fully committed.