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How Can a Mobile App Help My Business?

In my opinion, the top three things on every business owner’s mind are;

  1. how to increase sales
  2. how to improve efficiency, and
  3. how to build a loyal customer base

Entrepreneurs are a special breed. They work hours that others baulk at, invest all of their resources into their vision, their dream, and are always looking for ways to improve.

I Did A Little Digging

Over the last two decades, I’ve owned several small clothing boutiques and had been looking to do all of the above. I did a lot of research into how I could increase sales and build a loyal client base. What I discovered was that businesses with a loyalty program generally outperformed businesses without one by 20%.  That was the nugget I’d been digging for – Loyalty!

I knew I wanted to implement a loyalty program, but couldn’t find the right fit, and if I couldn’t find the right fit, I probably wasn’t alone. Fast forward 2 years and today, our company, Mass Mobile Apps, produces custom mobile apps to help business owners address the three issues mentioned at the beginning of this article.

How can a Mobile App help your business?

Let’s break it down…

1.Increase Sales

A Mobile App can include a variety of different types of loyalty programs. For example, all apps created in the Mass Mobile Apps platform can include 8 different types of rewards programs.  Of the 8, the 3 most popular are:

  • the Transactional: the more you spend, the more you earn,
  • the Scratch and Win:  which adds gamification to the app. Users love interacting with the apps this way, and
  • the Referral Rewards: which enables customers to earn rewards for referring new customers to your business.

Each one of these programs brings value to the business owner and incentivizes users to come back more often and spend more when they do.

2. Improve efficiency  

Features like Integrated Shopping Carts, Integrated Food Ordering and Employee Scheduling give an employer the ability to house these key functions inside the app.  

For example, a restaurant with a food ordering system built into their app will see a dramatic increase in online and in-app purchasing. A retail business with an integrated e-commerce system will increase efficiency and also boost sales.  

All types of businesses will improve employee engagement with built-in scheduling software that allows employees to be notified of their schedules in real time, and to also always have access to it on their smartphones – no longer can they, “I forgot I was scheduled today”, or “no one told me I was working today.”

3. Loyalty

Lastly, building a loyal customer base, is one of the most important things that a business owner must focus on. Customers are the lifeblood of EVERY business. Successful business owners know this and make it a priority to build loyalty and create brand ambassadors.

There is no better way for a business to communicate and engage their customers than with a mobile app. The app gives your customers the ability to interact with your business on their schedule.  

Push notifications have open rates in excess of 90%. Compare that to emails with open rates of 25-30% and you can see how the Mobile App will become the best way for you to connect with your customers and to reward them for referring new business. They may even help take you viral.

A Multi-Purpose Tool That is Both Accessible and Affordable

A Mobile App can be a lot of different things. It can be a way to access information, to play games, to do your banking, to monitor your home, to communicate and now, to interact with your local businesses.  Business owners with the insight to adopt this marketing channel early, will have an easier time understanding where their customers are, and how to effectively engage with them.

The move to mobile is not new, but the ability for small and medium-sized businesses to adopt a marketing channel like this is. DIY Mobile App platforms can now offer an SME all of the features that a fortune 500 company has in their mobile strategy, at a fraction of the price.

Here is how we’ve helped one retailer go mobile. Watch this video about Denim Industries:

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The Mobile Revolution

The Mobile Revolution – what is it? Take a look at the device that is sure to be close by, the one you make calls with, play games with, do your banking with, take your pictures with, order food with, and almost everything else you need as well. Yes, your smartphone!

There were 1.5 BILLION smartphones sold in 2017 and sales have been on an upward trajectory since 2007 when the iPhone was launched.

Today there are two dominant forces in the mobile space – Apple that produces its own hardware and operating systems(O/S) and Android (owned by Google that produces some hardware but licensed its O/S to hundreds of Hardware Manufacturers over thousands of devices.

Android is the dominant force in the smartphone market, having an astounding 75% market share worldwide. In the USA and Canada, the split is more even sided with Apple holding a slight edge 54% market share.

The Evolution of the Revolution

It seems like the revolution is about Apple vs Android – but it’s actually not.

That may have been the case a few years ago, but today the mobile revolution is about mobile applications or apps. Smartphones out-paced traditional desktop and laptops in internet access in 2014, and with the improvements of hardware that has increased every year since. So, it only makes sense that today’s mobile revolution is about how we use our devices and the apps we use on them.

So why is now a good time to get into the mobile space?

Look back 20 years, imagine investing in a mobile phone company back then, and where would you be today if you had? I’ll tell you where you would be – on the beach in an exotic land checking in on your portfolio.

THE BIG SHIFT

Success is about timing – having the right product at the right time.

The time spent on mobile will soon outpace the time spent watching TV. Yes, that’s right, it was not a typo, according to E-marketer, “by 2019 mobile will be the new leader in time spent, with 3 hours, 43 minutes of engagement vs. TV’s 3 hours, 42 minutes.” The incredible amount of time people spend on mobile devices has caused a shift in the marketing landscape.

Business owners, advertisers and marketers have taken notice. All the big brands have invested heavily into the mobile space. Companies like Domino’s, Pizza Hut, and Starbucks have spent small fortunes on their mobile apps, with Starbucks coming in at $1,000,000 for theirs.

The most valuable screen space in the world is that of your customer’s smartphone, and thus being able to provide a vehicle to business owners to get a piece of that landscape is priceless.

The time is right, but how can you capitalize on the gold rush of our generation? Not many businesses can afford to spend $1 million dollars.

GET A PIECE OF THE ACTION

Good news: There has been a technological shift that now allows ordinary people to do extraordinary things. Partnering with a DIY Mobile App Building Platform you can license the software needed to produce a Custom Mobile App with no Coding expertise and at a fraction the cost of a Custom Development.

This gives you the ability to provide this tool to local small business owners across the country, at the same time building a substantial residual income.

There are only a handful of companies in the world that have developed the technology that allows users to establish their own mobile app companies, and it is important to select the right company.  

WHAT MAKES MASS MOBILE APPS STAND OUT?

Mass Mobile Apps makes this opportunity available with key advantages over our competition, and we are recognized as a top App Design and Development Company on Design Rush.

We provide rich feature sets that allow you to build Custom applications that include robust software systems. For example, features like

  • Loyalty Programs
  • Appointment Bookings
  • Social Chat
  • Employee Scheduling
  • In App/Online Food Ordering

Our advantage comes in the way these features work – most platforms will have some versions of a loyalty program like a digital stamp card, where users can collect stamps on each purchase culminating with a reward at the end, i.e. buy 9 cups of coffee and get your 10th free.

Our platform houses eight separate types of loyalty programs, allowing businesses to choose the tech that works for them, rather than making their business fit the tech.

Mass Mobile Apps loyalty programs:

  • Transactional Tiered Rewards
  • Scratch and Win
  • Referral Rewards
  • Coupons
  • Spin to Win
  • VIP Rewards
  • Action Points
  • Digital Stamp Card

The unique flexibility and customization capabilities were born from the experience of the founders. We both had real-world sales experience and skills that informed the platform’s design.  The primary goal was to provide the types of features that would provide real value to the business owners that purchase the apps. A sales first, rather than a coding first approach, if you will.

FROM THE OUTSET, OUR GOAL WAS NOT TO BUILD APPS BUT TO BUILD BUSINESSES

Our mission has always been to see our partners succeed, whether that’s the small business that buys an app, or our White Label Re-Seller Partners. To make that happen we not only provide not only the best app building platform but also industry leading sales training that will provide step by step instructions on developing your team and building your book of business.

The last few years has seen several hundred re-sellers and sales reps complete the detailed training, with more coming on board every day.

Now is the ideal time to join this unique marketplace set to explode in the coming years.

Learn more about the opportunity here.

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Looking For The Next Big Thing…

Co-Founder, Ken George shares his journey into how he got into the mobile app business.

WHEN APP-ORTUNITY KNOCKED…

Things weren’t going exactly how I’d planned in my work life and my construction job was starting to take a toll on my body. I needed a change. I started looking for the next big thing.  There was a mobile revolution going on and I wanted in.  I saw an opportunity to get involved by starting a company selling mobile apps to small businesses.

After doing some research, I decided that there would probably be a day when everyone would have a smartphone, even though I didn’t. I figured that if everyone had a smartphone, it would probably make sense for small businesses to engage their customers through mobile.

CRAZY OR DETERMINED?

I already had a business working 60 to 70 hours each week and was so busy I saw no opportunity to transition into a new business, had no smartphone myself and didn’t even know what a mobile app was. But I didn’t want to let those things stand in my way of making a change and no one ever said a change was going to be easy so I jumped in and tested the waters.

BABY STEPS : SMALL AND LOCAL

The first thing I did was to hire a motivated sales rep and set him up with a 50% commission split on all of the business that he generated. Right away we targeted a group of restaurants, retail and service businesses close to where he lived.

The very first business that he spoke to that had interest in expanding their reach was a restaurant but since they had just opened, the appointment was three weeks away. So he went across the street and spoke to the owner of a Bail Bonds Business.

He set an appointment to meet with them two days later.  We made a free demo app so they could get a visual on what we had to offer.

After meeting with the owner, he not only made a sale of $1,500 and $100 per month but also determined that they were interested in getting an updated website as well… which we happily provided for an additional $3,000.

The only objection that they had was being concerned if we were local, in the event that they needed service. He assured them that he lived only 10 to 15 minutes away and after providing his personal cell phone number, they jumped at the opportunity to update their marketing efforts.

NO MORE APP-REHENSION

$4,500 was a pretty good start and cemented my intentions to make a business change, even though I had no time. So I hired 10 more commission sales people and provided them with opportunity, motivation, and support and before long, we had combined to sell a couple hundred small businesses from many different industries.

In the first two years, we sold 200 apps with an average price of $1,500 and $100 per month.  But that was just the beginning. During that time we spun our successful reps off into their own businesses and made an override on that business in addition to our own efforts.  We started selling apps and before long, we were selling apps, advertising, websites, training, app/demo builds, websites, earning design and publishing fees and more.

We created a passive residual income stream that allowed me to pull back on what I had been doing previously and transition into a brand new ballgame which allowed me greater control over my time, energy and ability to be more present in my family life.

 

NO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED

The best thing about this mobile app industry is that an ordinary guy could get involved and make extraordinary things happen without having any tech knowledge or skills.

Five years later, that assessment hasn’t changed very much and here I am, a White Label Reseller providing mobile apps to small businesses and organizations alike.

HELP SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS SEE THE BIGGER PICTURE

The most surprising part of this journey has been discovering that even though business owners may be experts on running their business, they still need outside consultants to educate and direct them on areas outside of their daily pursuits like mobile marketing. I have been happy and rewarded handsomely to help to fill that void.

Learn more about the opportunity here.

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The Cost of Mobile Apps for Small Businesses

Small businesses owners looking for a mobile app platform may be scared off implementing one by the perceived large capital costs involved.

I have some valuable insight on the topic from two perspectives, 1) I was a small business owner looking for a mobile app solution for my retail stores a few years ago, 2) Not finding a solution, I created my own platform that caters to small business owners.

My background is retail, I have owned and operated retail boutiques for the better part of 25 years, so I understand clearly the predicament small business owners face when looking to adopt a mobile app solution.

Let me start off by saying that for business owners today no mater how big or how small, it is imperative that they implement a mobile strategy.  Aside from the many intrinsic benefits that mobile apps provide, like push notifications, food ordering systems, integration of all digital assets, and loyalty programs, they also provide ancillary benefits, like helping rank your business higher on google searches.

The goal of every business owners marketing efforts is to get their message, (whether it is a sales promotion, new arrivals, special event, or general updates) seen by their own customers, and to know that their messages are being seen.  Look at the available marketing mediums that are available to businesses today:

  • Radio
  • TV
  • Print
  • Flyers
  • Paid Web
  • Email
  • Organic/Word of Mouth

The mobile app will over time become the best and most effective way to communicate with your customers, boost engagement and drive sales!  Technology today enables a business owner to design build and publish a mobile app, for less then it would cost them to build a website. The Mobile App will be for businesses today and moving forward, what the website was for businesses in the past.

The other unique perspective I have is that of the founder of a tech start up catering to the small business market.  We have built a platform from the perspective of a user and that perspective gives us the ability to understand the needs of our clients and how they will use our platform daily.

With the introduction of the IPhone, and the dominance of smart phones today as the primary method of accessing the internet for a majority of the population – it is imperative for businesses to adopt a mobile first marketing strategy moving forward.  Cost should no longer be an obstacle for small businesses in finding a mobile app platform.