Mobile Apps - Your Business and How It All Works

f you want app developers who can help drive your business forward then you'll need to choose carefully. If used correctly mobile apps can be a driving force for your business. Tap into the app economy – it generated over 15 billion US dollars in 2011 alone and its growing fast.

1 In 3 Web Visitors Are Using A Mobile Device.Don't miss the mobile opportunity. Normal websites can look very small and be difficult to navigate.Mobile visitors will spend 40% less time on your website if it is not mobile optimised. Develop an app for your business and a reminder can be set to remind your mobile visitors to download your business app.

How A Mobile App Help Your Business – The Features?

Push Notification Messages:

Communicate your marketing messages directly to customers for an instant effect.

Gentle Reminders:

Set appointment reminders for customers.

Social Media integration:

Enhance social strategy with live social network feeds. Go viral with app shares!

Mobile Bookings/Sales:

Customer's on-the-go can book appointments or purchase items whenever they want, wherever they are.

GPS Features:

Guide customers to your office, events or nearest stores with GPS directions.

Video Integration:

Entertain your app users with your video content. Promote your key products and services.

Slide-shows:

With photo images showcasing your work and engaging your app customers.

Contact Us:

With phone, email and website links.

About Us:

With a description of your business and services.

There are many more features available which can be tailored for your business. But this is a snapshot of the possibilities and opportunities that come with your own branded mobile app.

Mobile apps provide an engaging and interactive platform and enable your business to make an impact with marketing campaigns, increase bookings/transactions and connect with your customers. The following article has a range of possible features which can be integrated into your mobile app and can work for you! Are you considering app development for your business? Make sure you choose app developers who can work with you and help your business. It's not about gimmicks – it's about customer convenience, branding, increasing the regularity of customer contact and boosting sales. All while integrating into your existing work flows to ensure that no additional workload is created. It's all about efficiency.

A Case Study -The UK Stats!

In 2011 there were 11 million smartphone users in the UK. This is expected to grow to 15 million by 2013. That means that 21% of the UK population will own a smartphone. There are many devices out there with different operating systems. This can impact on your development costs as each app development project will take time and money for example (iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Windows Mobile) each platform will cost. There are ways to keep your app development costs down and keep your benefits high. 80.5% of smartphone users are using iPhone or Android smart phones. This means that if you can find an app developer that operates dual development for iOS & Android. This method can reduce your cost by 50% (in comparison with development costs for the 4 platforms described earlier). 80.5% of the smartphone market are using Apple or Android products.

 Developing mobile apps is not as complex as some people may think. In fact our app development team can make your business app not only help you achieve your KPI targets but also provide increased ROI when compared with other marketing methods. With our expert consultants and creative design elements – App developers are only included in one part of the whole app development process. We make apps. Easy.

A More Detailed Look at How App Development Works:

1) Consultation – ‘The Discovery Stage' – We talk to you about your business. Find out about your ideas and strategies. We can then tailor a specific mobile app which fulfils and more often than not will exceed your expectations. Communication is key – we're plain old app developers based in Manchester, UK. But we communicate with businesses across the World and we love to discover new and innovative methods to help your business.

2) App Design – ‘The Creative Stage' – Your app needs to look good and follow the lead set by your brand. Your chosen logo's, colour schemes and other graphics can be integrated into your app and combined with unique graphics and animations to enhance your app ‘look and feel'

3) App Development – ‘The Technical Stage' – Our app developers will take the lead from graphics drawn up by the design team and turn all the creative artwork from the app design stage into a fully functional, fully developed app. With skill sets ranging from augmented reality to social apps – our app developers certainly know how to code.

4) Beta Testing – ‘The Testing Stage' It is in this stage that our development team fully test your app to ensure that everything is perfect. This takes place throughout the development process.

5) AppStore Approval – ‘The Publishing Stage' – If we develop an iPhone or iPad app then the Apple approval process can take on average 7 days. We take care of the uploading and management of the app at this stage to save you time and to save you the hassle. We're nice like that! When developing Android apps approval is almost instant so no waiting around for those guys!

6) Marketing – ‘The Promoting Stage' – In reality decisions relating to the marketing of your app will be made very early on in the app development process. Whether its AppStore keyword optimisation, websites, social media or viral videos – we know how to market your newly developed app. Make sure it's discovered by the right people on the right devices. Don't forget to promote the app through all your existing marketing channels to ensure the app uptake is high. When your business develops an app it's worthwhile to ensure that you get full value from that and utilise all the new opportunities. To name one example push notifications have a 97% read rate in comparison to email which is 1%. If all of your existing customers (with smartphones) have the app then you can communicate your promotions directly to your target market to increase repeat business. Whether your leaflet, utilise POS or simple word of mouth – letting your customers know about your newly developed app important. Shout about your new and improved customer service. Use QR codes if required to provide direct access. The options are endless but we can work out an app marketing strategy for your business budget.

This covers the app development process for both iPhone apps, iPad apps and Android apps.