Mobile marketing tips for small businesses
Posts tagged smb app maker
Small Business App Adoption Continues to Climb
Sep 6th
Small businesses are a very large group, and it can be hard to generalize about them. When it comes to adoption of new technology, this is certainly true.
On the one hand, you have traditional local business owners that are reluctant to try new things, and that prefer to stay the course. On the other, you have energized entrepreneurs that are looking to gain an edge on the competition by shaking things up.
Well, when it comes to mobile apps, small businesses are unified: they can’t get enough of them.
According to a recent study issued by Research and Markets, small business mobile strategies, especially use of apps, are at all-time highs and still continuing to climb. Let’s look at a few figures:
• 11-20% of the average small business’s tech budget is now devoted to mobile technology.
• 68% of small business owners expect mobile spending to increase in the coming year.
• A whopping 91% of small business owners are using mobile solutions.
In addition, in the words of R&M, “SMBs are also ramping up use of customer-facing mobile apps and mobile-friendly websites to enable customers to do things such as schedule appointments, make payments, and access customer service.” [emphasis added] And that’s only the tip of the iceberg! With a service like ours, the amount of features available to be deployed in a small business app is huge, and covers a wealth of features that are useful to industries from legal services, to hospitality, to entertainment.
With mobile apps, customers are able to interact with small businesses in dozens of ways, no matter where they are. They can provide referrals using social media platforms, submit online orders, participate in loyalty programs, check up on event calendars and submit RSVPs, submit photos to online photo galleries, hear about promotions . ¬. . the list goes on and on.
As you can see, some of these features are supplemental ways to do things customers were already doing, while other features are opening up new functions that weren’t possible without mobile technology. Despite this wealth of features, however, we also think that small businesses are just beginning to explore what is possible with mobile apps. In the future, we imagine that businesses will request the development of inventive features and functions that support the specific needs of their industries, and we can’t wait to help lead the way as the world of small business mobile apps continues to grow and evolve.
10 Awesome Apps for Small Businesses
Jan 25th
When you’re running a small business, you need all the streamlined, simple, effective solutions you can get. These apps all fit the bill (without sending you one – many are free!):
1. Bump
“What’s your email? How do I type that? … with two Zs? Oh, man, why won’t this thing attach … nevermind, I’ll send it to you later.”
With Bump, there’s no more of this.
Bump allows users to bump phones together and transfer files, contact info, photos, and any other data you might like to share. You just open Bump, bump phones, and it’s done.
2. GO Email Widget
Wrangling multiple email accounts can be a pain, but GO Email brings them together easily in an app so that you can stop logging in and out of services, fussing with multiple devices, and missing messages, whether they come from home, an employee, or a new prospect.
(Responding to all these wonderful people is still up to you, though.)
3. Bizzabo
Conferences and trade shows are a great opportunity to network and develop new leads, right?
Bizzabo helps you actually capitalize on those great opportunities, by helping you figure out who’s in attendance and meet up with them, along with a ton of other functions.
4. Ustream
One of the great overlooked opportunities for business leaders on the Internet is promotional video. Ustream lets you stream your videos and reach as broad an audience as you can gather, for free.
Pretty nice deal, no?
5. UberSocial
You know that social media is an important promotional platform, but keeping up with it is kind of a pain, right?
With an app like UberSocial, you can push content easily to multiple social media platforms at once. For example, if you’re a furniture manufacturer, you can snap a picture of your latest design on your phone, and with a few clicks, you can push it out to Twitter and Facebook instead of having to handle everything later at your PC. Simple.
6. Square
This is a must-have for a lot of small businesses.
Square is a credit-card reader that plugs into your smartphone. When you need to take a payment, just have your customer swipe their card through the Square, and the payment will come through on your phone. It carries a 2.75% fee, but it’s hugely convenient and well worth it for many businesses that are on the go.
7. Bluetooth Remote PC
Control your computer from your phone, with Bluetooth Remote PC. Not only can this be useful for presentations or information lookup, it’s great for pranks, too!
8. Time Tracker
If your business generates revenue by the hour, Time Tracker is a clean way to clock in and out, keep everything automatically organized and recorded, and bill your clients with a minimum of fuss.
9. TaskRabbit
Is your workload unpredictable? TaskRabbit will let you find local temporary helpers in a pinch. The tasks don’t have to be business-related, either. If you’re in the middle of a workday and suddenly find out you’re going to be entertaining at home that night, you can have someone grab a party platter and some drinks for you, to save you an errand at the end of the day.
10. DocuSign
Is your business getting to the point where you’re ready to have formal agreements in place with suppliers, employees, or partners? DocuSign makes it easy to email a document out, get signatures, and finalize agreements without having to wait on couriers, FedEx, or snail mail.
Good luck out there, small business owners – we hope this list makes your life easier!
