3 great reasons to launch a mobile app in 2019 - iPhone app development

In a previous article, ‘What’s the process for developing an app idea?’ I talked about the evolution of mobile phones and how their rapid development has influenced our daily routines on a personal and commercial level. The mobile app economy - operating on the near duopoly between the iPhone's App Store and Android's Play Store - benefits from this to the tune of over $6 trillion per year by 2021. (I wonder how much of this revenue is from in-app Candy Crush purchases by middle-aged urban commuters.)

It’s easy to see why the app industry — Android and iPhone app development — is booming. The dominance of mobile app usage over mobile web usage is astonishing, with phone and tablet users spending almost 90% of their time on apps, compared to about 10% on the regular web (ComScore). In fact, 18-44 year olds are investing over 50% of their entire digital media time in mobile apps. That’s a lot of Snapchatting.

In the article I also mentioned 3 great reasons for a business to develop an iPhone or Android app – brand awareness, customer engagement, and revenue growth. I’ll expand on these reasons below, and show you why 2019 should be your ‘appiest year yet. (Ignore my terrible puns.)

Brand awareness

The chances are, your brand/business has competition. And while you might be offering the best in your industry, you still need to stand out from that competition. So how do you stand out? Well, building a solid, trustworthy brand is probably the best strategy. The more your audience trusts you, the more likely they are to listen to your offering.

‘A brand is nothing but an expression of the consumer’s loyalty and trust’

— Phil Dusenberry

A key component of a solid brand is awareness, which can be defined as the extent to which consumers are familiar with the qualities or image of a particular brand of goods or services. Think about some of the major global brands, and how a mere glance at a logo or a brief clip of a jingle can evoke an emotion, desire, or some kind of familiarity within a consumer. ‘Da da da da daa, I’m loving it.’ All of a sudden, I want a Big Mac. And a McFlurry. That’s some powerful brand awareness.

Yes, McDonald's is an absolute beast. Yes, it has an 80-year history. But ultimately what keeps consumers coming back for more (or too much, especially on a hangover) is their trust in the product they purchase. You know exactly what you’re getting from McDonald's, and that promise is masterfully condensed into a yellow ‘M’ on a red background.

So how does this apply to a mobile app? Well, not only does McDonald's (and every other brand you can think of off the top of your head) have a mobile app, but it’s likely your competition has as well. Reaching your target consumer is tricky, but it’s even trickier without using all the tools at your disposal. I’ve already mentioned how mobile apps are fast becoming the internet for mobile users, so why wouldn’t you want your logo sitting proudly on their home screen? Ultimately, the very existence of a mobile app will gain and build the trust of your customer.

Customer engagement

Engagement is everything. Making it as easy as possible for potential customers to engage with your brand increases the likelihood of them not only becoming a customer, but better still, a loyal one. Having a quality mobile app at your disposal allows you to inform users of new offers, products and features via direct in-app notifications. This unswerving approach bypasses the issue of easily ignored emails — your customer probably receives far too many already, from an array of different companies. My inbox after a few days offline is the digital equivalent of Oxford Circus on Black Friday.

A mobile app also provides a slick customer service platform, with embedded help desks or live chat etc. available 24 hours of the day. This kind of service categorically raises customer satisfaction across the board. This ties in to my next point, the millennial market. Arguably the most influential consumer group, millennials expect instant access to a product or service, no matter what time of day. This could be lamented as an indictment on modern society, but it’s simply the direction that consumer expectation is going. Shun the youth at your peril.

There are real tangible benefits of a mobile app over any other outlet when it comes to customer engagement as well. A well-designed app makes the user journey to the point of purchase less convoluted than other platforms. The fewer procedures required, the more likely a consumer is to purchase. Apps offer a seamless experience and generally offer a wide-range of simplistic payment options. UX/UI design is an absolutely key factor at play here.

A mobile app is also the perfect opportunity to offer value to your customer. Loyalty schemes, exclusives, discounts… generally offering your customers a better experience. An example I’ve used previously is the Easyjet app. Even something as simple as the ability to store multiple boarding passes on the app (for no extra cost) is a great benefit, which does away with the need for a printed boarding pass. Remember those? I’d rather not. Other benefits such as a live flight tracker, ease of booking, and wide range of payment options puts the app miles ahead in terms of customer experience. Great customer experience = strong brand loyalty.

Revenue Growth

Customer satisfaction and sales go together like a horse and carriage (Sinatra didn’t sing that, but he may as well have done). According to CRM gurus Salesforce, 70% of buying experiences are influenced by how the customer is treated. This is good news for businesses with a solid mobile app, for reasons we have already covered.

A great example of a business who saw their revenue grow thanks to the introduction of a mobile app is Domino’s Pizza. Granted, this is going back to 2016, but the takeaway favourite said that app-based orders had shot up by more than 41%, with 11.5 million people having downloaded the app.

'We have seen a massive increase in our online orders - a total of 11.5 million app downloads since we launched our app two or three years ago - and what we have learnt is that customers like to find it easy to get hold of a pizza and that's the most important trend.'

— David Wild, Chief Executive, Domino’s Pizza

Clearly Domino’s saw the potential of investing in an app for their customers, and it paid off big time.

So there you are. 3 great reasons to launch a mobile app in 2019. If you’re considering Android or iPhone app development and want more information about getting an accurate quote, then this article discussing what you need to give an app developer to find out cost will help.

At Gravitywell, we help with Android and iPhone app development. If you would like to chat about your project or learn more about our process, get in touch.