It is important to consider the visibility of your brand for your customers and follow what the ‘next-big-thing’ may be in advertising and marketing. There are numerous effective marketing channels that you could make use of which we are all familiar with: TV, endorsements, outdoor advertising etc. However, household name brands such as Dominos, Starbucks and Avis to name a few have used mobile apps to help their business break new ground in their industry.

Why Should Your Brand Go Digital?

What brands need to consider, is that we live in an age where most people use a smartphone. According to a report done by App Annie, studying the use of apps over the course of 2016-2018, the total time spent on apps has increased by 50% globally. In the U.S alone, the average user spends almost 3 hours a day on apps alone out of a total of 4 hours on mobile devices. Smartphones are a marketing channel where your brand may find everyone in your target audience. Why not take the opportunity to reach your customers by promoting your business through an app?

Top Benefits of Using Mobile Platforms as A Marketing Tool

✔️ Increase Your Brand Awareness

Marketing agencies are always on the hunt for new platforms to advertise their brands and place logos. However, if you have the platform to have users unlock their phones and see your brand’s logo, you would be increasing your brand’s visibility and in turn increasing your customer base.

✔️ Collection of Data About Your Users

Once you have collaborated with a software house or digital agency, your app would hopefully solve a particular problem for your users. You would not need to email your users individually or ask them to fill out forms for a bonus or incentive, Instead, you can make use of in-app incentives for your users in order to gain feedback as the app is already an incentive in itself. You can use:

—> Questionnares for bonuses

If you plan on having a mobile application that has discount codes, your company could provide these codes, special offers or bonuses for completing the surveys.

—> Analysis of in-app behaviour

This can be the secret weapon for obtaining information on your users in an ethical way. It is the most common method used for loyalty apps. When a user leaves a review on your product or purchases a product if your company is product-bases, you can collect this data about their purchasing habits and marketing your business accordingly. Starbucks makes use of this method to test and try out new ideas, and roll out targeted data-driven initiatives.

✔️ Grow Your Audience

A mobile application can serve as a great way to attract new customers to your brand and create brand awareness. American conglomerate Chipotle saw a gap in the market by offering a delivery service through their app. Thanks to the addition of a delivery app, their digital sales had increased by 65.6 percent compared to the previous quarter for 12.9 percent of their total sales.

✔️ Increase Sales 

By making the buying process more convenient and intuitive through the use of digital products such as apps, this can facilitate the customer’s experience which would ultimately improve sales overall. However, like we have addressed previously, this does not mean that sales have to be made through the app directly but through the offering through loyalty programmes. An example of this can be seen in the sales issues experienced by Domino’s Pizza in the mid-2000s. Domino’s stock hit an all-time low in 2008, costing only $3 per share. However, today it is worth $246. One reason may be the digitalisation of the company. Domino’s decided to take a mobile-first approach. By creating a branded mobile app that provided an experience that was responsive, they completely shifted their business model.