Every business owner wants to increase retention, drive sales and improve their brand image, and one of the best ways you can do that is by launching an app. Below, we’ve rounded up ten mind-blowing statistics that will prove why you should invest in a mobile app for your business.
An incredible 197 billion apps were downloaded in 2017, and app downloads are showing no signs of slowing down. In 2021, it’s estimated that the figure will climb to 352 billion annually. Work with a developer and build an app for your business that’s packed with information, value and functionality, and your loyal customers will have no complaints in downloading it to their smartphones. And as we reported just a couple of weeks ago, smartphone apps will increase customer loyalty, improve brand recognition and give you valuable data on your customers.
It’s no real surprise to learn that young adults spend more time on their phones than any other generation – but it’s how much time that’s really interesting. The average millennial clocks up more than 90 hours a month using smartphone apps, so if you’re trying to target a younger demographic and want to make it as easy as possible for them to interact with your brand, an app might be the way forward. You can encourage downloads by advertising in the App Store.
While search engine optimisation should play a role in every digital business strategy, not every customer will start their search on Google. According to a study by Think with Google, 26% of consumers looked for a product or service on a branded app first – before heading to a search engine. If you can create an engaging, easy-to-use app and give customers enough information about your products, they might bypass search engines altogether and buy from your app or mobile site directly.
You might think that Apple invented the app with their ‘there’s an app for that’ campaign, but Google has a much larger smartphone market share. An incredible 81.7% of all smartphones run on the Android operating system, compared to iOS with 17.9%, so think cross-platform when creating your app. If it’s not available in the Google Play Store, you’re selling yourself short and leaving a huge chunk of your audience without access, so aim to launch on both platforms on day one.
Despite new technologies like Accelerated Mobile Pages and Progressive Web Apps making it easier for businesses to improve user experience on mobiles, apps are still a popular choice in the eyes of consumers. An average smartphone user will play around with more than 35 different apps a month, and the top 20% of app users rely on 45 apps a month, according to App Annie. Don’t think that an app for your business is an out-of-date practice: there’s still an appetite for valuable, user-focused applications.
Zenith reports that three-quarters of all internet traffic now comes from mobile devices, so it’s no longer possible to get by with a mediocre mobile website. Analyse your marketing strategy and make changes that put user-experience and convenience at the top of the list. One of the best ways you can do that and capitalise on mobile traffic is to launch an app for your business.
Consumers are becoming increasingly irritated with ads – especially on their phones. KCPB reports that 419 million global smartphone users now use ad-blocking software, which is bad news for businesses that pay for mobile banner and video ads. You can overcome these challenges by launching your own app, which will put you in full control of the user experience and allow you to convey the right message at the right time with push notifications.
According to Adweek, three billion people now use messaging apps, compared to the 2.5 billion who use social networking apps on their smartphones. And that’s not all – messaging apps have a near double retention rate compared with generic apps. If you’ve been focusing all of your attention on social media, then a smartphone app could help to change your fortunes.
With your own app, you can seamlessly integrate with WhatsApp, iMessage and Facebook Messenger and allow consumers to send information about your products to their friends in a private message. 95% of consumers want to receive recommendations from their friends before buying a product or service, so integrating your app with messaging apps could catapult sales.
Today’s consumers like to spend time using their favourite apps, with mobile web browsing accounting for just 11% of all media time. Competing with other businesses for a slice of that 11% is tough, so creating your own app with a clear USP can encourage customers to keep coming back. Send regular reminders, run competitions from within your app and keep loyal customers up-to-date with videos and news articles if you want to ahead.
If you run an ecommerce business, then you’ll know how difficult it can be to encourage visitors to add your items to their shopping cart. New data from Smart Insights suggests that tablets have the highest add-to-cart rates at 8.58%, so a compelling ecommerce app that’s optimised for tablets is a great way to increase sales and conversions. Always think cross-platform when designing an ecommerce app for your business, and test it on as many devices as possible so that you can fine-tune your user-experience.
The statistics that we’ve mentioned in today’s blog demonstrate just how valuable a mobile app could be for your business. If you’re thinking about making the investment, get in touch with the experts at Zudu today. We specialise in app development in the UK, and design consumer apps that create new revenue streams, drive sales, increase loyalty and raise brand awareness.
