Applications or apps are now the core component of doing business, in recent times. Many consumers have limitless access to apps on their mobile phones, tablets, laptops and computers.
Apps are also connecting businesses to their target consumers virtually from the corners of the world. Access to them has become easier, faster and more intelligent than before. Interactions and engagements have become smarter and happen in real time because of apps.
Businesses are in the right dispensation to make use of apps to discover opportunities, find products in demand, monitor the trends and tastes of consumers, attract more customers, deliver services in real time and manage their consumers.
Most apps are free, easy to use and readily available to consumers. They use the apps to connect with one another any time, share different contents instantly, communicate with their friends and build their social networks around common interacts. This happens mostly on smart phones and tablets.
There are different apps for different uses for both consumers and businesses. As a business, you can also create your own app to engage your consumers online or create a virtual presence on the application platforms where your consumers spend their time with friends.
The most used apps come from two major app stores (where apps are bought or downloaded) namely App Store owned by Apple, and Google Play owned by Google. These app stores have recorded over 100 billion downloads, 91% are free apps. This means people spend time using these apps every day. It is a lifestyle! They spend billions of minutes every day using apps.
How To ‘App’ Your Business For Growth
You can use apps for your business in many ways:
1.Use Existing Apps: There are so many innovative apps you can use to manage your business. Most smart phones come with pre-installed apps you can use or connect you to billions of them in the app store. Android and iOS are the common operating systems with a lot of apps in their respective apps stores. Some of the apps can be used to:
a.Manage Appointments And Events: The Calendar application is great app you can use for your various appointments, events and reminders. Depending on the type of device or the operating system you are using, user experience may vary. You can set the date, time and place for your appointments and events.
You can also create alerts for birthdays, social ceremonies, anniversaries and special occasions. The iPhone, iPad and any other Apple device can be connected seamlessly using the iCloud application. You will receive alerts and reminders on all the devices when the time is up so you will not miss any major appointments. Your customers can also feel important if you can send them a text or message on their birthdays.
There are so many apps you can also use to create events, invite participants and manage the events efficiently. Some local ones are Xylo.mobi or Egotickets.com. You can also use Eventbrite.com.
b.Use Utility Apps: Simple apps like Calculator, Maps, Weather, Compass, Clock and other simple apps have utility functions you can use for your business. You can do your calculations anywhere, find your location relative to other places, check the weather before moving, find direction from anywhere and check your time or time zones using these utility apps. These apps help you to manage your business effectively by saving you time and money.
c.Store And Share Contents: While on the go, you need to capture some information for your business, store it and share later to the relevant people. You can use the camera to capture an image, receipts, coupon or any other thing you find interesting and related to your business. Your business files, presentations or documents can be stored, accessed or shared later. You can store them directly into your account on either DropBox, iCloud, OneDrive or Google Drive. You can share them later.
d.Communicate with Others: Apps like WhatsApp, Skype, Viber, Tango, iFace, WeChat, Kik and BBM are easier and cost effective to use to manage your communication locally and globally. You can communicate with your managers, employees, suppliers and customers using these FREE apps downloaded on your mobile phone or tablet. You can reach anyone through their mobile contacts using these apps when you have Internet connectivity on your phone.
e.Send E-Mails And Messages: Most electronic mailing solutions like Gmail, Yahoo, AOL and others have apps that you can install on your devices for quick access to your emails everywhere you go. You get instant notification when a mail drops in your inbox when connected to the Internet.
2.Create App For Your Business or Industry: You can also contract a professional app developer to create an app for your business or industry. Owning an app for your industry will give you an upper hand over your competitors because your customers can interact with you, give you feedback and also push other contents to you.
Your competitors can also subscribe to use your app to also engage their customers. This can make you some money as well. You must be clear on the objectives you want to achieve with the app. But get a professional to do it for you.
3.Join Your Customers: You do not need to own an app to connect with your customers. Most social media platforms where customers spend billions of minutes have apps for smart phones and tablets. These platforms have accounts for individuals and businesses. Creating a business account means you can reach your customers where they engage with themselves using these apps while on the go.
You can talk about your business, the social character of it and how you can be of service to the consumers online. They can also make enquiries and give feedback in real time. These apps also have the Analytic feature which will help you analyze the interactions your customers are having with your business via those apps.
Huggies, a major producer of baby diapers, developed a social media solution called Tweet Pee for mothers who use Twitter. A simple device attached to the diaper sends a tweet to the mother to alert her of the condition of the diaper whether it needs to be changed or not. It sounds like magic. They just integrated into an already existing app that their consumers use frequently. You can do same for your business.
4.Find Out The New Ones: Everyday, simpler, trendier and easy-to-use apps are churned out to the app stores for consumer or business use. Old ones are also updated frequently to increase user experience and quality of engagement. Be sure you are in time with the trends. Importantly, know the apps your target consumers use more often, the new ones they talk about and the ones ranked by the various app stores. Find out how each of these apps can help your business to grow.
Conclusion
Apps are the future for Internet users: individuals or businesses. Apps are best ways technology can be used to improve our lives. Brands are using it to expand their market reach, engage customers and increase the value of their products. Don’t wait! GB
The writer is a Technology Consultant, Social Media Strategist, Advertiser & Speaker
Twitter.com/@maxihere
