Business Mobile Apps: Is The Future Leaving You Behind?

So, your business doesn't have a mobile app. You see that in front of you? Becoming smaller and smaller as it get’s further away? It's the future and you are being left behind. Sorry to be so blunt, but for our businesses to survive we have to keep abreast of the future and its never ending assault with technology. Unless you want to play in the side lines, we are going to talk about mobile apps and the need a business has for them.

Let's Look At The Numbers

According to comScore, a global leader in measuring the digital world and the preferred source of digital marketing intelligence, 69.5 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during the three months ending in February 2011, up 13% from the preceding three-month period. Google Android grew 7.0 percentage points since November, strengthening its #1 position with 33.0% market share. RIM ranked second with 28.9% market share, followed by Apple with 25.2%. Microsoft (7.7%) and Palm (2.8%) rounded out the top five.

So you’re a business person, crunch the numbers. I know, we came to the same conclusion. When you have an audience that reaches the millions, then it's time to pull out the old instruments and play for that audience.

Let's Look At Customer Service

A business related mobile application (app) can do almost anything that your website can do. This is an important concept to understand. Mobile apps are almost limitless when it comes to creating an environment that can help your clients or customers with their needs. Adding a well made mobile app to your arsenal of customer service related tools will pay dividends not only in the satisfaction of your clients or customers, but also give credibility to your business. So let us look a little closer:
· Call a number listed in your app… Check.
· Send an email to support or customer service… Check.
· Give your clients or customers the latest news about your business or organization… Check.
· Send a notification to their smartphones about something important you want to share… Check.
I think you get the picture as to why mobile applications are becoming so crucial to businesses around the world.

Let's Wrap This Up With A Bow

So I sold you on the need to have a mobile app for your business. Good. You won't regret it, an excellent investment. Now I’d like to give you some advice about it. When you search for a devoloper for your app, make sure that they can offer cross-platform developing. Since I am writing this article, I will give my company some much needed advertising.

Cross-platform developing is a concept that has been around since the battle between iPhone and Android. Each of these smartphone platforms are written in different languages. While they do basically the same thing Apple went one way with it and Google, the creators of the Android, went another.

There is the ability to create one application that will run in both systems. Lucky 8 Media specializes in creating a business app that can run on both iPhone and Android. Since we are using one developer instead of two, one for iPhone and one for Android, we don't have to charge more and you get to keep more money in your wallet.

We are certainly not the only ones with this capability and you should always research such an investment. But if you are going to invest make sure that you hire someone that can create cross-platform to maximize the effect of adding such a powerful tool to your companie’s arsenal.