Three Reasons Mobile Applications Are a Must for Any Business

The digital age has reached an important milestone. According to Business Insider, the use of mobile devices will eclipse that of traditional desktop PCs by year-end 2014. We’re a third of the way in now, so that change is coming awfully fast.

Whether you run a software company or a local ice cream shop, this shift towards mobile warrants your consideration. Gone are the days when you could focus on website design and web applications that only serve the desktop market. The name of the game today is mobile, and if you want to succeed, you have to make an effort to optimize your digital presence for all mobile users, whether they’re on the latest iPhone or using a Samsung tablet.

Optimizing Your Presence for the Mobile User
Building a presence in the digital age is all about responsive web design and the development of mobile applications. The former is an easy enough sell; as Web Design Ledger points out, responsive web design allows your development team to build a website once that will work across any platform that accesses it. Mobile applications, to many businesses, just don’t make as much sense. If you’re one of many business owners wondering why your company should bother with custom application development for the mobile market, consider the following.

Three Reasons Mobile Applications Are Crucial

1. Engagement
   In the mobile world, immediate satisfaction is just a way of life. As Entrepreneur writes, the best thing about these types of software applications designed for the mobile market is their ability to increase your engagement with your customers. Mobile applications give consumers the ability to interact with your business in real time, whether they want to relate praise or concern, and in doing so, they give you the ability to handle any customer service issue in a timely fashion.
2. Demonstrate Value
   s Inc.com suggests, mobile applications give you the power to demonstrate the utility of your company in a convenient way. Take the movie industry, for example: as The LA Times writes, the sale of movie tickets has seen a significant increase since the most popular theaters and ticketing services, like Fandango, began offering their users easy-to-use mobile applications. Whether you’re in the movie business or not, your company can gain similar advantages.
3. Product Promotion
   This one is a no-brainer. Mobile applications give your business a simple way to market its products in fun new ways. There is no better example of the marketing power of mobile applications than Facebook. Since launching its mobile app, the company has seen huge growth in its ad revenue and sales for its marketing partners’ products. As of January 2014, according to TechCrunch, the firm generates over half of its revenue through mobile.

Gone are the days when web-based applications were the only thing you had to worry about to please your user base. As the world becomes increasingly mobile, there are few better ways to gain the attention and loyalty of your customers than with reliable, engaging mobile applications.