There is nothing new about the fact that mobile devices have drastically changed the digital outlook. It is estimated that during 2011, 5.500 million apps were downloaded, a number that falls really short compared to the 200.000 million apps that were downloaded last year.

Anybody could think that those numbers are just another argument for companies which have still not created mobile apps, to start doing it. Nevertheless, some people are still considering if investing in the development of apps could help to their business growth.

First of all, we have to be realistic. Your business is not going to be destroyed; if you do not create a mobile app (apps have not gone that far yet), however, it is important to understand the advantages that an app can bring to any company.

Connection and Scope

First and foremost, mobile tools can become in a good communication channel between companies and their clients (or potential clients). From any location and in an immediate way, users can have access to all the information about the brand, provided that they have internet connection.

Furthermore, thanks to the insertion that mobile apps have accomplished among users, companies can use them in order to achieve a faster and overall, effective communication, turning this into an ideal display for their business. These are considered to be an excellent tool of promoting and marketing that is cheap and that will last in time.

Promotion and Positioning

Apps facilitate the extension of companies to the mobile world, providing an appearance in an environment that grows at a high speed.

Social networks have perfectly become part of mobile marketing, allowing brands to be present in their communications with its users at all times and in any place. In this way, we can make any sort of publication in a direct way and in real time, achieving an immediate communication with our followers and receiving feedback and a very significant interaction that is vital in order to create a bond of trust with our clients.

What is more, apps that are well positioned on the most popular stores can make that organic searches from mobile devices to grow in this way, contributing to a better SEO positioning.

Functionality

And if that’s not enough, any mobile app is easier and more comfortable to use than a mobile web, which allows the usability of all the features on the device - camera, geotagging, etc.- without the need of a strong internet connection, which is the main problem with the usage of responsive web pages.

Conclusion

Although it is important to highlight that before developing a mobile app it is essential to study the business market and have into account what king of users we want to reach and to observe the competition, it is fully clear that underestimating the mobile presence of companies means the loss of an important channel of communication and therefore, a big percentage of objective audience.

Websites provide a good analogy: for many businesses a web site used to be something exotic. The telephone book use to be something that everybody needed and no one wanted to deal with the problem of launching a website, but today, no one should start a business without a website.

To conclude, the advantages of implementing a mobile app are a reality. We have to admit that our world is now mobile.