Why Smartphone Apps Make Sense for Local Businesses

Posted on 18. Jun, 2012 by Jay in Local Business Mobile Marketing

OnPage1.net | Effective Local Business Web & Mobile Marketing

Take your business mobile today! from Mobile Apps on Vimeo.

This short video does a nice job of saying why a mobile app is a good idea for any local business, but it doesn’t cover the incredible – but very real – statistics and facts regarding consumers and mobile usage:

  • Consumers are now using their smartphones to find local businesses (which might be your competition): 1
    • 95% of smartphone users have searched for local information
    • 61% of them call a local business after searching and
    • 59% of them visit the location
    • 90% of these customers act within 24 hours or less
  • Not having a mobile experience can mean you’re losing business: 2
    • 57% of consumers would not recommend a business with a bad mobile experience
    • 40% have turned to a competitor’s site after a bad mobile experience
    • 23% of adults have cursed at their smartphone when a site doesn’t work (yes, it’s true!)
  • Your customers now prefer mobile apps over mobile websites: 3

And one more monster fact: 97% of smartphone users open and read the push notifications (a.k.a. “push notes”) that you can send directly to anyone who has installed your business’ mobile app. Since smartphone users always have their phones with them, you’re virtually guaranteed to reach your most interested and loyal customers with your instant specials, limited-time offers, and whatever other message you’d like to send them!

What’s great about our mobile app platform is that we can provide mobile apps for any local business (yes, any) that work on iPhone, iPad, and Android, and we also include a mobile website for other smartphones (like Windows) that don’t run apps, without any additional development costs. And if you want to cover all the mobile messaging bases, we also offer affordable, opt-in text message marketing so you can reach those customers that don’t have smartphones (or don’t have ones that run apps). Our mobile app rapid development platform now makes smartphone apps affordable for any local business, whereas in the past, the tens of thousands of dollars cost for a custom mobile app put them out of reach for the majority of local businesses. See this blog post- OnPage1′s Cutting-Edge Customer Retention Solutions – for more details.

Here’s what a smartphone app can do for you:

  • Push notes – enable instant specials and sales for your loyal customers (the #1 feature that local business owners love!)
  • QR and Check-in coupons – instead of a “buy 10 get 1 free” punch card, use QR codes or geographic check-in coupons for your customer loyalty programs
  • Menus and ordering – Restaurants, don’t just display your menu (which you can), but also give your customers the option to order their meals for take-out or dine-in and even pay for it, all within your mobile app!
  • Event calendar – publish your in-venue events, great for bars, clubs, bookstores, and more
  • Scheduling and appointments – great for dentists, doctors, spas, hair salons, and any business that has an appointment calendar
  • Social media – connections to Facebook, Twitter, and Google+
  • Image gallery – great for art galleries, jewelry stores, and more
  • Fan wall – your own interactive testimonial collection!
  • Mobile store/shopping cart – sell your merchandise and present exclusive collections for your customers who have installed your app

I’d bet that now you can see why a smartphone app really does make sense for your local business – and we’re happy to customize yours for you for a very reasonable setup/development cost and low monthly hosting fee. If you’ve ever marketed your business in the Yellow Pages (which almost no one is looking at anymore), you’ll be surprised that a smartphone app will cost you less with better results – and with the analytics to prove it right in your very own OnPage1 back-end mobile app account.

Contact us today for a free consultation, quote and demo for your very own smartphone app custom-designed for your local business. And if you don’t yet see how one makes sense for your business, drop us a line, we’re happy to help you explore the possibilities!

1 Google “Understanding Smartphone Users,” 2011
2 Compuware, “What Users Want from Mobile,” 2011
3 comScore, Alexa, Flurry Analytics, 2012

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