big-ecommerce-brands

How to Compete with Big E-Commerce Brands as a Small Online Retailer

by Digital Marketing

It may seem difficult for a small business to compete with big online brands. But remember even the large retailers also had to start somewhere. The secret of competing with big brands is to be smart. Also, recognize that it is possible to beat any big online brand if you work hard and have the right resources.

There are five vital things you have to do to compete with big e-commerce brands.

1. Be Unique

Whatever product you sell, a prospective client can find it at a lower price from other big e-commerce brands. They will always beat you to the game since they have more products and sell at lower prices. But not to worry, the secret to beating them is making your business stand out from the rest.

2. Have a USP (unique selling point)

There are various ways of offering a product or service. Know the kind of products you provide; are they luxurious, more personalizable, ethically produced, or do you offer better quality and services? The bottom line is, do something witty, creative and surprising than big online businesses.

Sometimes you might also be lucky to have products, which are not sold by the big brands, but that should not make you satisfied. Even if you are a small online retailer, you have to know what makes you unique and better than the competitors regardless of how few they are.

3. Best Web Design

Web design is one of the essential factors for success. To compete with the big online brands have the best website that is user-friendly. Add some great tricks by personalizing the business website. Such as using photos that will give people the scene behind the business. You can post pictures of your staff members.

Ecommerce-Web-Design-Tips

Additionally, have an about us web page to tell clients a brief story about the business background. It puts you ahead of large e-commerce businesses with no identity. Customers will also have reassurance in case they have any questions or issues.

4. Embrace Social Media

Social media is the best way to connect with new and existing customers. However, how you use the platform can either make or break you. Be interesting on social media and avoid sending the wrong vibe. Always put the customers’ needs first, and hang out with the right people. Invest in the right platform, by finding out about the social media sites used by your main audience.

5. Focus on Niche, Not the General Market

A well-developed e-commerce business focuses on specific niches, as part of their marketing strategy. Knowing which niches fit your business, evades a mistake most businesses do. They do everything to please everyone. Focused businesses, find it cheaper and quicker to be recognized within a specialist area.

unique ecommerce brand

When marketing, find video-bloggers, publishers, and bloggers, specialized in your targeted niches, and ask them to help promote your brand. Most of them will accept and charge a fee. However, it is a cheaper way to influence new audiences than other forms of marketing.

Finally, aim to develop real expertise within the niche, and become an influencer. Updating your social media with high-quality content, and building a fan base gradually, is a sure way to beat top businesses.

b2b-tactical-strategy

B2B Requires a Tactical SEO Strategy. Learn How

by Digital Marketing

Businesses that serve other businesses often have longer sales cycles and niche market. They don’t bother trying to earn traffic from search engines. However, the majority of B2B researchers start their research with an online search. You can gain an edge over competitors if you use a tactical SEO strategy.

B2B businesses should not only focus on driving traffic but also qualified leads. You should use the right SEO strategy that will influence the metrics that do matter for the bottom line of the business.

emotion_drives_b2b_business_decisions2
Create an SEO-Friendly Website

A tactical SEO strategy has two important elements, which are website and content. Before you can create content, you first need to optimize the website for search engines. You should optimize the pages with the keywords in the Meta descriptions, and headings.

You should also make sure that the website is mobile-friendly. When choosing your web designer, find one that knows how to do SEO-friendly design. The design must complement your marketing strategy, which includes search engine optimization.

B2B businesses require a platform where they can show they know what they are talking about and engage potential customers. Product descriptions are not enough to direct more targeted audiences to the website. By starting a blog, you get the opportunity to create content that will attract traffic to the website.

Write Interesting Content

In the past, SEO strategies called for content written for machines. However, times have changed and ranking high on search engine results pages requires building authority, high-quality backlinks, and social media shares.

Getting more clicks from search engine results will earn the website higher ranking. Search engines think that clicks from users indicate that the page provided the answer they were looking for. In order to get more clicks, the page must stand out from the crowd. It must grab the attention of the readers with interesting headlines and Meta descriptions.

When writing the content, you should put yourself in the shoes of the customers. You should consider what motivates them, their job title, and the information they are looking for. Create the content to target specific readers, and provide answers to their questions.

B2B SEO
Build Quality Links

Quality backlinks will improve your search engine rankings. When another website links to you, it is an indicator to search engines that the site is authoritative. The higher the quality of the backlink, the more boosts your website gets.

There are several ways to get quality backlinks. You can try guest posting on websites that are relevant to your industry. However, you should do this when you have already established your blog. That way you will not be neglecting your own readers.

You can also try to earn links by creating content that gives value to readers. Not only will the content make you seem like an authority in the industry, it will make readers want to share it with their colleagues and followers on social media.

As you can see, you need to have a tactical SEO strategy to drive traffic to your website and get positive results. By observing good B2B SEO practices, your website can help generate leads and improve the sales of your business.

 

Free-SEO-tools

Free SEO Tools To Improve Your Marketing Strategy

by Digital Marketing

A proper marketing strategy is more important for an organization to remain competitive in the current business environment. With organizations targeting the use of digital media to create awareness of their products and services, it is very important they employ the right SEO tools so as to easily achieve the desired goals.

seo-tools-

Following are some SEO tools that you can use to achieve your marketing goals.

Google Webpage Speed Tester

For a business to rank high, they need to make sure the business has a responsive website. Use the Google page Speed insights SEO tool to test how fast the page can load on mobile devices and desktop computers. This will assist in making sure the marketing strategy works. Check your web page speed.

Google Analytics

This SEO tool helps the business to track the actions that web visitors take when browsing their websites. This is a good tool because it will help the business determine if there are conversions that come from the landing page. If there are low conversions, the business should look at the marketing strategy employed. Create a  Google Analytics account.

Google Trends

This tool will enable the business to find a topic that is trending in their industry and create a blog post based on the topic to get the traffic while people are searching for the particular topic. Check out the latest trends.

Google Keyword Planner

This is an SEO tool that lets the business know what kind of words the internet users are searching and therefore he is able to create content that will bring the potential traffic as users browse the internet. You need a Google Adwords account to access the keyword planner.

Open Site Explorer

This is an SEO tool that gives the business ability to have a quick look at the full range of links analysis and therefore make use of the most impactful links that are coming to your way. Research your backlinks

search-engine-facts

Webmaster Tools for Google and Bing

These are the tools that are used to give the business insights of how the internet search engine views your website, and therefore you are able to see the bugs that may be on the website and act immediately. You have to install the code on your website to be able to make use of this tool. Google, Bing.

Keyword Tool.io

This is an SEO tool that allows the business to enter certain keywords, and it generates several long tail keywords that are suitable for use by the business. Do your long tail keyword search here.

Moz Local Listing Score

This is an SEO tool that allows the business to have data from all popular sources such as Facebook, Google + Google, so as to be able to score how your business is fairing on this website. You will also get a list of actionable to increase your performance. Check your business listing.

Incognito Window by Google

This is a window that allows the business to be able to have all the familiar list of auto-fill options that can be used to guide the business in search for keywords.

Rank Checker

This is an SEO tool that allows the business to see where their website ranks compared to the competitors; it is an SEO tool that will help in making sure that the websites rank well.

When using these tools, it is important that a business seeks insights from the SEO tools expert to make sure the marketing strategy works.

Artificial-Intelligence-AI-in-Marketing

Can Artificial Intelligence Help Marketing Your Business?

by Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence or cognitive technology is by far the next big thing. The applications are limitless from retail, banking, finance, marketing, manufacturing among others. But, the adoption of artificial intelligence is being met with fears of job replacement.

For the online business person, Artificial Intelligence will bring a new dimension to how you do business. It will take over the process of marketing, leaving you to focus on providing customer support, and driving your business forward.

Will AI replace humans

How Does It Work?

The technology is powered by big data available on the internet. It searches through, billions, of unprocessed data, to draw insights, which you as a marketer can use. Unlike, existing software tools, limited by the data they can access, Artificial Intelligence will have access to all digital channels, and provide comprehensive insights into your marketing strategy.

What are the Potential Applications of Artificial Intelligence?

Cognitive technology is here to automate tedious task marketers do: These may include:

Selection of the Marketing Channel

Through new algorithms, you can know which marketing channel is most appropriate for the business. It analyzes the website and the products, to determine where to run your marketing campaign.

The new artificial intelligence tools only require your site’s URL to function. By making this process automatic, it can save you costs of using channels that don’t generate traffic.

Image Recognition

Pictures are the first thing the customers see before engaging with the ad, by reading the copy. New algorithms can analyze separate objects in an image. For, instance, the AI can allow customers to search for a dress they have spotted on a model.

AI Shopping

The algorithm will comb through pictures on the web, and provide users with a list of online businesses selling the item. Also, the AI can recognize objects in a video. This feature could change the way users interact with your ads and website.

Content Creation

The AI can allow marketers to generate an advertisement automatically. It can come up with ad banners, select the image, and write the copy. This feature can reduce the time you spend creating the perfect ad, and hasten the implementation of the marketing strategy.

During content creation, the cognitive technology will write content that is not plagiarized, and readable; however, the quality of writing is not that good, but they are available services that generate articles in seconds.

Customer Support and Chat Bots

Part of your marketing strategy must involve creating better engagements with the customers. Once you drive thousands of people to your website, they have many questions which a chatbot can answer.

The chatbots have machine learning capabilities and grow smarter with each user interaction. However, there is the need for human supervision, to provide extensive replies.

Sales Forecasting

Before launching your marketing strategy, you must predict future sales. The AI can use historical data to know your business and potential customers for generating scenarios, analyzing risk and prediction of outcomes of the strategy.

Sales and AI

The cognitive technology is not aiming to replace markers but to automate tedious, time-consuming and complicated tasks. The technology is still at infancy but, in the future, it will be the real deal. For example, Google is perfecting their algorithm to create a personal assistant.

Instagram-Marketing-Strategy

How to build an effective Instagram Marketing Strategy?

by Digital Marketing

Instagram was launched in 2010 and acquired by Facebook in 2012. Since then, It has taken the mobile photo-sharing niche by storm and has attracted businesses from all over the world.

The social network claims that there are more than 15 million accounts with business profiles on the platform.

Business owners who want to improve their social media marketing campaigns turn to Instagram to reach their targeted audiences and engage other users.

how-instagram-started

Let’s check out some interesting Instagram stats.

  1. Instagram is estimated to have brought in $1.53 billion in global mobile ad revenue in 2016, which is a 144 percent increase year-over-year and would amount to 8.4 percent of Facebook’s global mobile ad revenue according to International Business Times.
  2. 100 million users use the “stories” feature daily.
  3. 95 million photos and videos are shared on Instagram per day.
  4.  Instagram has 1 million monthly active advertisers—up from just 200,000 in March 2016.
  5. 60% of users say that they have learned about a product or service on the platform.

 

Success on Instagram takes more than just uploading beautiful images. A successful Instagram marketing strategy is the product of a well-defined brand identity, strategy, and effective community management. Below are some of the ways that can help you come up with a good Instagram marketing strategy for an online business.

Determine the Objectives

Before an online business registers for an Instagram account, one should know what they want to achieve on the social network. It is important to determine first the purpose of the brand in using Instagram.

InstagramWith the platform’s focus on photo and video sharing, it provides businesses with a unique platform to showcase its products and/or services as well as the people and culture where the business is based.

Instagram is basically a mobile social media marketing platform. It is the perfect place to show in-the-moment or candid visuals. It provides followers a channel that allows them to interact personally with the brand. Engagement on the platform is also more instantaneous and casual than other social media networks.

It can help an online business achieve some of its marketing objectives that include increased brand awareness, recruitment of new talent, feature products and services, share company news, connect with influencers, and drive sales through traffic, just to name a few.

Know Your Audience

It is important to know who your target audiences are. That way you will be able to come up with a strategy involving content that your audience will want to engage with. The more you know about your target market, the better you can personalize your campaigns for their needs.

The best way to know about the audience is to follow them on Instagram. You can use the suggested feature of the platform to find other users like your target customer. This will also allow you to know them more and what they want to see on the social network.

Determine Content Strategy

Content strategy is one of the important elements of an Instagram marketing campaign. If the content is not interesting or relevant to the target audience, you will have a hard time becoming successful on Instagram.

The first thing that you need to do is to find out what you are going to share on the social media platform. These are the kind of images that will make up the majority of your Instagram posts. Some of the categories include product-centric, culture-centric, or a combination of both.

instagram content

If your brand already enjoys a good customer base, you might want to post content that is created by your loyal customers.

Instagram is a very important channel for all businesses these days. A good social media marketing campaign on the platform can take the business to the next level. All it takes is a little planning, creativity, and a lot of passion.

mobile-app-engagement

5 Practices to Increase Mobile App Engagement

by Mobile Apps

Companies have embraced mobile app marketing, and they need to ensure that mobile device users are using their applications. As a business, you must ensure that Mobile app development consultants adopt the following methods to achieve an increase in mobile app engagement.

Focus on App Usability and Improved UX

The first impression of the user when using your mobile app will greatly determine whether he/she will revisit again. If the application creates a bad impression, the user will instantly uninstall it.

UI Design
To ensure that the user keeps using the application, ask your mobile app development consultant to make certain that he creates an app that allows a great user experience from the moment the app is downloaded.

During mobile app development stages, your developers should target simplifying all the aspects so that mobile app user does not have to read a lot of instructions to be able to use your mobile app. The application should be easy to use with minimal need for support.

Embrace Push Notification in Applications

Push notifications act as reminders to the mobile app users and therefore will improve app engagement. To increase mobile app engagement, use push notifications appropriately. Don’t send too many notifications, but send them moderately.

Push notifications mobile appMobile app users are easily annoyed with apps sending too many unnecessary and irrelevant push notifications. During mobile app development, always make sure that your developer gives the users an option of subscribing to app notifications. It is good to ensure the notifications are helpful and not just junk information that mobile users may not be interested in.

Social Media Sharing

Make use of the social media links on the application. This has to be done during mobile app development so that users can share the information in your app with their social media networks.

social media sharing

This will generate some extra traffic to your application. This option will be better if you consider asking new users who find your mobile application through the link to install it before or after reading the material sent through the app.

Advertising

Creating marketing campaigns for your application will greatly drive installs for your mobile application and increase user engagement. You can advertise through social media or in other applications. The motive of your ads should be to engage advertisement of your products should at least direct customers to download the application and let them know that it can be used to communicate with you.

fbThe best alternative way to achieve mobile app user engagement is through display ads on search results and websites. Offer discounts for the first items bought through your mobile application to attract users.

App Tracking Tools

After mobile app development, it is important that you install tracking code so that you are able to track what users do and how they engage through your app. Using this you can send customized push notifications reminding the users to come back and resume sessions. 

Mobile Apps have become increasingly competitive today. Companies across industries are targeting users through mobile app marketing. Apps account for 89% of the mobile media time, with the other 11% spent on websites. Follow the guidelines above to keep the mobile app users engaged.

ecommerce-marketing-ideas

5 Effective eCommerce Marketing Ideas.

by Digital Marketing

Regardless if you are a start-up or an established company, it is highly important that you are updated with the latest marketing strategy and trends. Structuring, developing and finally launching your eCommerce website is a single step towards your company’s goal. You will then have to develop an effective web structure and effective marketing plan that will contribute to your company’s success.

Top 5 eCommerce Marketing Tactics This 2017

Read on if you are interested to find out the latest and effective marketing strategy this 2017. Here are some of them.

1. Content Marketing

content-mAfter you launched your online shopping portal, it is time for you to create original and high-quality content. Make sure that your content resonates with your targeted customer that will encourage them to interact with you. Your content may also help you build an active community that is ready to be converted into a purchasing customer. Some people choose to use Adobe Photoshop to alter and re-engineer images. Unfortunately, duplicated or even altered content can affect your branding. You should invest and purchase only the original graphic content. The same thing can be said about text and articles.

2. Personalized Marketing

Personalized MarketingConsumers will serve as the driving force of your eCommerce business. This means that you need to stand out and be unique if you want to capture the interest of the consumers. Most companies will provide them with the latest technologies, allowing the consumers to browse the list of products and purchase any time they want. It is important that you will provide them with personalized UX (User Experience) that will address the needs of your consumers. Customers will be here to stay when they feel that they are valued.

3. Social Media Marketing

newyork social media marketingSocial media is a powerful platform which allows you to interact with your customers, digital influencers, and possible business partners. Social media can be used to generate organic traffic, develop a community and encourage interaction. Social media can help your online shopping business develop trust, authority and brand recognition. We also recommend using analytical tools in order to measure how your marketing strategy is affecting your company’s bottom line.

4. Email Marketing

email-marketingEmail marketing is still the most effective way to reach out to your audience this 2017. However, you need to be careful when executing your email marketing strategy. Most people are tired of receiving junk and spam email and will no longer pay attention to these messages. You need to offer your audience some value when sending emails. You can provide them with the latest updates, coupons or discount codes, informative content and others.

5. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO-Marketing

This is a manual and crucial method of your marketing strategy. With the increasing standard in the SEO this 2017, you need to make sure that your eCommerce website is in compliance and constantly updated to avoid getting penalized by the search engine sites. You may seek the help of a professional developer to perform a diagnosis on your online shopping website and find errors and issues in your codes.

Stay up to date with the latest marketing strategies as it is essential for the success of your business. With the right marketing ideas, you will be able to attract your prospective customers and boost your company’s conversion rate.

3-Simple-strategies-for-mobile-marketing-success

3 Simple Strategies for Mobile Marketing Success.

by Mobile Apps

Having a mobile website or an app will not guarantee the success of a mobile marketing campaign. There are already 2.5 million apps in the Google Play Store and Apple App Store combined. Without app store optimization through SEO, ASO and SEM, people will not be able to find the app.

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization has four factors such as relevance, honesty, popularity, and indexation. There are SEO tools that can help with the indexation of the mobile app, such as Google Keyword Planner. Popularity is measured by the number of backlinks to the web app.

Quality content will not only deliver more value to the community and attract other websites; it will also bring more relevance. Being honest by not trying to cheat Google is important to avoid disappearing from the search engine’s index.

App Store Optimization

App store optimization or ASO works the same for Apple App Store and Google Play Store. It is important that you give a good user experience when they land on your app page. In the Apple App Store, the title must be short and descriptive. Keep it around 25 characters at most. The description should include the keywords, but it must be short and direct to the point. Keep in mind that Google indexes iTunes pages, and you should optimize your description with the best SEO practices.

The app page must have five screenshots and a preview video of around 15 to 30 seconds long. The Apple App Store allows users to define keywords for the app, so you should make the most out of the 100 characters. You should avoid using misleading keywords. For the reviews, use the feedback to improve the app. However, your goal is to get good ratings.

For the Google Play Store, it is important that you also keep the title short. The guide on descriptions is the same as that of the Apple App Store. Make sure that it includes all the features and important keywords because it affects the search engine ranking of the app.

The icon of the app is the first thing that users see when they search for it, and that’s why a lot of effort must be used to make it stand out from the competition. Google Play Store allows users to upload up to eight screenshots and a YouTube video up to 120 seconds long.

Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing or SEM is paid ads placed in search engine result pages. It should be part of your mobile marketing strategies. Before any SEM campaigns, you should first define your objectives, select the keywords, make create ads, create landing pages, and decide on your budget.

These are the things that you need to keep in mind if you want to launch a successful mobile marketing campaign. Search engine optimization, app store optimization and search engine marketing are important if you want your mobile app to gain a lot of users.

Voice-search-is-changing-the-future-of-SEO

How Voice Search Is Changing the Future of SEO?

by Artificial Intelligence

 siri-760x400

Statistics from think with Google place voice search at 20%. Users are interacting with smartphones more than their computers, and Google is trying to provide quality mobile-friendly websites. Therefore, content marketers need to focus on mobile users more.

What Are the Pros of Using Voice Search?

voice-search-app-ss-1920On a mobile phone, it’s quicker to ask Google a question than to do manual typing. In some demanding scenarios like when driving; you can’t type in the query for directions, but the voice search feature is applicable and safer. Also, you can accurately express what’s on your mind by talking; rather than typing it down.

An Expert’s Take on the Impact of Mobile Search

During the Search Marketing Expo in March 2016, BehshadBehzadi, a Principle Engineer at Google delivered the keynote speech on the prospect of mobile search. According to Behshad, the future of search is the creation of an online virtual assistant. He also demonstrated the strides made by the search recognition technology, which has a high accuracy rate and an advanced capability of comprehending natural speech patterns. For instance, the voice recognition algorithm automatically removes repeated words and stuttering in speech. It’s able to recognize the user’s intent and display relevant content.

Google SearchThe Google search algorithm can understand long questions, and give the user accurate information. An example you may ask Google what the weather condition will be tomorrow and get the weather forecast based on your location. The voice search app talks back to the user; it’s like having a conversation with a real person. You can also set alarms using the action feature; play music, call someone, or book a reservation –providing users with a hands-free experience. Google has also improved the integration of voice search with other apps for increased productivity.

How will the new trend impact SEO?

It will place more demand for unique content that Google can use to answer voice queries. To rank higher; websites should focus on adding more pages that target both short-keyword phrases and long sentences queries. Also, existing content would require rewriting to incorporate longer sub-titles. The use of location-specific keywords would also increase since Google is focused on helping users interact with their immediate surroundings better.

How can Marketers and Content Creators Gain from Increased Mobile Search?

Understanding the difference between voice queries and typed searches is important. When typing on the computer, users will be less descriptive and focus on specific keywords. However, in a voice search, the user is free to add more details to the query creating a longer phrase. Content marketers need to add detailed descriptions to the products focusing on using real-world phrases. It’s also important to incorporate more versions of the keyword phrase in the content.

mobile search

Google wants to focus on providing the right user experience. The process of displaying search results is still the same. First, Google crawls the web and downloads web pages, analyses them, and stores them for retrieval during a search. What’s different is the focus on semantics or linguistic analysis in addition to the mobile-friendliness score. For better SEO webmasters need mobile-friendly sites; they will rank higher on the Google index. It’s also critical to avoid duplication of content and ‘spammy’ behaviors.

The reality of an online virtual assistant to automate daily mundane tasks is no longer a science fiction fantasy. In the future, instead of searching the web, we will be having a conversation with the internet.

5-reasons-why-small-businesses-need-a-mobile-app

5 Reasons why small businesses need a mobile app

by Mobile Apps
Small business needs a mobile app- Not Kidding!

Small businesses were once very easy to run. You just have to set up a shop, place an ad in the local newspaper, wait for the businesses to come through. Though it took a few days, it wasn’t a complex process. But as days went by, the Internet became an essential element in running any business.

Small business owners now have to keep up with technological advancements in order to run their businesses successfully.

The difficult part starts with setting up a website as small businesses seriously need one. Earlier, only large corporations had a website on their own, but it was time for the small business owners to become familiar with web designing, hosting, etc. Once the website is ready, it doesn’t end with that. You should also get familiar with SEO, Ads, tackling issues related to social media, offline and online marketing, etc.

As all these became essential for a small business, it looks like you now need to function like an MNC.

shopping-with-mobile-phonesDoes it all end here. Absolutely not. Now it’s all about mobile phones. Gone are those days where we used mobile phones only to talk to each other. Smartphones have revolutionized the way we do business. Even large corporations from all over the world, have shifted from their routine work of printing ads, billboards, and giving out leaflets, to the world of mobile marketing and ads. And of course, there are enough reasons why small businesses should embrace the change but almost all small businesses have one common perception in their minds.

A mobile App? We don’t see a need for that at the moment.

Yes, You might not see a need but there are plenty of stats and research findings that reveal what the consumers expect. Here are a few surprising mobile app stats.

  • Of the 1.8 hours average users spend online on their smartphones each day, mobile apps account for 89 percent of this media time (Social Media Today).
  • Almost 60 percent of marketers say mobile apps are crucial to creating a cohesive customer journey (Salesforce).
  • Around 88 percent of customers who search for local businesses online will actually visit or call these businesses within a day (Social Media Today).
  • 269 billion apps will be downloaded in 2017 (Statista)

Number of mobile app downloads worldwide in 2016, 2017 and 2021 (in billions)

Mobile app stats

You need an “extra” to become extraordinary. The survival rate of small businesses depends upon the extraordinary effort and innovative ideas they bring to the table. Here are few ideas that show how small businesses can benefit from mobile apps.

1. More Value to Your Customers

Business is all about giving. When you open up and offer your product, it should create value for your customers. If they find your product/service to be great, the market/customers will be ready with their wallets. Mobile App is a great way to increase your customers’ interaction with your brand. And not only that, you can add a lot of offers and loyalty programs inside your app in such a way that when the user opens the app, they have great deals either while ordering online or be it in the shop. One great example is The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, They offer free brewed coffee/hot tea to customers who install their mobile app.

2. Better Brand Engagement

Customer service is not always about communicating through emails or having a conversation over the telephone. Nowadays, it has become much more than that. A recent survey brings an interesting fact that 63.5% of the entire U.S population is expected to use a smartphone.

The real challenge for businesses is to create a rapport with their target audience and the best way to deal with this would be with the help of a mobile app. Design the mobile app in such a way that it interacts with your customers seamlessly. It should give a feel as if they are interacting with you in person. If you can win this challenge, you can resolve all your sales and customer service issues.

mobile app for small business

Another huge advantage of building a mobile app is when a customer wants to know something about your business at his convenience, say middle of the night, all he has to do is unlock his mobile and download the app. Very simple. Even buying a product is very simple. The customer doesn’t have to wait for the opening hours. He can just order it through the mobile app even when the working hours are over. For example, big boys like Amazon, eBay, etc allow you to order anything you need, from anywhere and at any time.

3. More Revenue, More Profit

A mobile app has enough features to generate additional income. By 2020, there will be 6.1 billion smartphone users globally.

When you create a user-friendly mobile app, the customers tend to spend more time browsing your product/services. When there’s more personalized content, there is a higher chance of an increase in sales. Recent data from Yahoo’s Flurry analytics shows that 90% of consumer’s mobile time is spent on apps.

It’s an App world, the web just lives in it.

percent-time-spent-on-mobile-apps-2017

CMO by Adobe recorded every e-commerce transaction during the 2016 holiday shopping. It reveals that a staggering $46 billion worth of sales came through mobile devices.

Here’s a very interesting statistic from Domino’s Pizza. When they introduced the mobile app for ordering pizzas, they saw a quick rise of 28% in sales in just half-year. As of today, 51% of their online orders come through mobile apps.

4. Customer Experience

A well-designed mobile app can perform faster than a mobile website as it does not require a web server. Mobile App stores all its data on the local device thus making it perform faster.

Minimal UI design combined with personalized content is more likely to engage your audience.

 Sleek Design

5. Extended Marketing Tool

More than just a mobile app, it can act as a tool adding a lot more value to your marketing efforts. If your app helps the users save time or keeps them engaged, they would definitely recommend it to their friends and share glowing reviews.

mobile-marketing-Griffon WebstudiosAs a business, Instead of reaching out to the customers through the traditional medium of phone/email, you could try conveying your message in the form of a mobile app.

Your downloads will increase when you promote the app with special deals and coupons. The users would enjoy the experience rather than avoiding the brand.

You must remember that today’s customers are constantly moving and addicted to their mobile devices.

72% of adult internet users use Facebook.

Your app can be easily integrated with Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. That allows the users to share your app with their network and review your business if they enjoy the experience. This gives you free publicity.

Forbes states that “building and delivering great mobile experiences will be the beating heart of your customer engagement strategy for the next 10 years.”

Push Notifications

One of the most important features the small businesses can make use of is push notifications. Push notifications are alerts that pop up on a user’s screen and informs them of the latest news, deals, offers and so on, which are available through your app.

Frequency, Timing, Content, and Deep linking are the important strategies to master when it comes to push notifications.

Frequency: Push notifications can keep your customers well informed and interested but too many notifications would frustrate the customer and they end up trashing the app. There are no universally correct solutions for frequency but don’t overdo it. It all depends on your audience and their expectation.

Timing: Right place at the right time always works. Timing is very crucial in sending push notifications. The best way to determine the optimal timing for your business is by A/B testing. The same message at different hours will give you the user pattern and their engagement rate.

Content: Make sure that you offer real value, every single time. Content that drives urgency and relevancy would drive them to your app.

78% of users tend to immediately delete the app or disable notifications if they are unhappy with the content.

Deep Linking: Push notifications with links can redirect your audience to a specific screen or pages in the app. As a result, It provides a seamless experience and increases the engagement level of the viewers due to less distraction.

Mobile App stats

As you know, Mobile apps play such a huge role in the world of small business but there are two major things that make or break your app strategy. The quality of your app and the way it is marketed to the audience determines your success.