In the rapidly evolving space of mobile technology, mobile applications continue to pry their way into both our personal and professional lives. But, for many small businesses and non-profits, mobile applications remain beyond their budgets. This gap in need and availability has led to the creation of easy-to-use, affordable and quick do-it-yourself (DIY) app development software.
Make an App, As Easy as Pie.
— AppyPie
The rise of DIY app development software has begun. These tools remove the need for a strong technical background and, even more importantly, remove the large price tag usually associated with app development.
DIY app development software is called many things, including app builders, app creators and app makers. We’ll just call them app builders from here on. Naming aside, many of these tools share similar features, but also have clear differences that cater to diverse business needs and goals.
But why is this relevant to marketing teams?
Well, marketing teams in small and medium sized businesses often have three things in common: they lack coding experience, they work on a limited budget and they need measurable results—fast. Many of the app builders can address all three issues by popping out a really great looking app within a few hours—as opposed to custom app development, which can take months.
App builders can help businesses meet a number of goals across marketing, mobile commerce and vertical-specific needs, often yielding nearly immediate results. Expect to find a few specific features to be common in most of these app building tools:
Social Media Integration
All of the app builders allow for social media integration directly into the app. This lets customers to interact directly with a business’s brand, as well as facilitates communication among loyal customers.
Location-Based Services
Many of these app builders include location-based services, which allow businesses to easily target nearby customers and, perhaps more importantly, allow customers to find businesses.
Through features such as push notifications, apps allow businesses to maintain a continual relationship with their clients, boost brand recognition, share content and notify customers of any and all promotions. Small and medium sized businesses couldn’t ask for an easier digital marketing channel.
Loyalty Options
Some of these tools, including Como and ShoutEm, provide robust loyalty options. They can aggregate data from various loyalty features (thus enabling SMBs to better understand, segment and target their customers) while at the same time encouraging them to frequent their businesses more often.
Mobile Commerce Integration
A somewhat less common feature found in some of the app builders is mobile commerce integration. M-commerce increasingly dominates many of our spending transactions, from using a mobile phone for paying bills to buying the perfect outfit with the tap of a finger.
A mobile app is nearly essential for retail SMBs, not only for offering customers more purchasing power but also for keeping customers in the loop with in-store promotions. For example, the app builder Apptive works with merchants and online business owners to integrate their store catalogs and facilitate checkout through apps.
Vertical-Specific Templates
Finally, each app builder comes with pre-defined templates and tools for multiple vertical industries. This makes creating an app for an SMB quick and painless. The AppMakerStore may have one of the most extensive selections of predefined templates for many businesses, including restaurants, hotels, beauty salons and more.
As app builders become more popular, they are proving themselves to be an ideal way of creating marketing channels for small businesses and entrepreneurs to engage customers, boost their brand recognition and distribute information under the three limiting factors identified at the beginning of this discussion: a lack of technical knowledge, budget and time.
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