Devices powered by Android and iOS are more prevalent than ever before – everyone has a phone, tablet, or watch nearby. This has prompted many businesses to develop dedicated applications to interact with their customers and clients directly.

According to data, 67% of people say that a good customer experience is more important than ever, with 64% expecting real-time interaction with brands they follow. Additionally, 70% of people say their buying experiences are influenced by how they are being treated by brands, prompting many to invest in app development. What are the benefits of building a smartphone app for your business in 2021, and what kinds of apps are we talking about?

Types of Apps you can Build for your Business

Before we dive into the advantages of having an app dedicated to your business, let’s talk about what kinds of apps you can develop. Based on reports, millennials most often use apps for social networking (69%), messaging (55%), games (42%), productivity (34%), travel (32%), and sports (26%). Different apps are designed to fill different niches in peoples’ lives – this applies to anything from video games to home delivery apps.

Your app will have to slide into a niche and fill a need to spark interest and attract new and existing customers. Make sure to also keep the 5 tips for making a good app even better in mind when you develop your app. With that, the types of apps you can look forward to developing for your brand include:

• Content apps – dedicated to sharing content with the user base
• Customer support apps – dedicated to remote customer servicing
• Loyalty apps – designed for loyalty program management
• Task management apps – made for internal employee communication
• Entertainment apps – games and interactive learning applications

Centralized Customer Experience

The most pivotal reason to invest in building an app for your business is to allow your brand’s followers to enjoy a centralized customer experience. According to statistics, 86% of people will pay more for better CX, with 57% who won’t recommend businesses with poorly designed websites or apps.

Apps such as Valve’s Steam and Microsoft’s XBOX are good examples of how centralized CX can be achieved through a smartphone app. You can go a step further and reach out to translation companies to write and localize your app’s UI into various languages. In designing such a platform, you will have full control over how and when people interact with your brand’s content going forward.

1. Improved Brand Reputation

Brands that feature dedicated applications have a far higher reputation than their counterparts. Take Starbucks and its app as an example. It serves as a loyalty program management tool and a tracking app which also features Starbucks storefront locations.

Such an app can help any business become more competitive and worthwhile in the eyes of consumers. In turn, this can attract B2B investors, networking opportunities, and collaboration with other brands interested in working with such well-developed businesses.

2. Access to Precise Usage Analytics

Once you start diverting users to your app instead of your social media or website, you will gain access to useful usage metrics. These metrics will allow you to track how people use your app, for what purpose, and how you can improve the CX even more.

Take Coca-Cola’s app as an example – it relies on user-generated content, exclusive gift cards, and limited-time experiences to drive engagement. With such an app in your business, you can personalize CX and create unique experiences unlike anything available on other communication channels. The data you gather can be used to design new products, improve content marketing, and otherwise cater your efforts to factual user wants and needs.

Building your Business by Building an App (Conclusion)

The answer to whether or not it’s worth building an app for your business is a resounding “yes”. You cannot go wrong with building an app that will allow you to manage your customers, communicate with them, and deliver up-to-date news to them.

Keep in mind that application development is a time and resource-consuming process which will require some investment before it starts to pay off. Once that happens, you will be able to make full use of your app to build a better, stronger brand than ever before.