Mobile apps are immensely popular among smartphone and tablet users. They allow us to stay connected to our social media profiles, manage our finances, shop, and offer the occasional distraction from work.
However, despite the fact that the mobile population spends 89% of their time on media through a mobile app, these digital a-la-carte items are still being grossly undervalued. 
Thanks in large to the way many of us use our apps, it’s easy to mistake them as beneficial to only game developers, social media sites, or giant, multi-million dollar corporations. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, mobile apps can be an extremely powerful asset for the one crowd that overlooks them the most: small businesses.
Here are three solid reasons why you might want to consider getting app.
Instant Gratification
Apps are information and action-based. From a marketing perspective, this is a gold mine for small businesses. You can include all the necessary information about your business, such as products, prices, hours, location, sales, etc right on the app. Consumers can also use the app to take action, such as buying a product, making a reservation, or employing a particular service.
This allows an increasingly impatient online community to quickly and efficiently find what they’re looking for without having to call or surf the web. Not only does this make it easier on the consumer, but, as an added bonus, it gives your business another avenue for revenue.
Direct Engagement
Push notifications are easily one of the best benefits that small businesses get from having an app because they allow you to communicate directly with the user.
Push notifications are pop up messages that are sent to the device like a text and let the user know when something new is happening on the app, and they’re highly effective. In a 2014 study, push notifications were shown to increase app engagement by 
88%. That same study showed that 65% of smartphone and tablet users are more likely to respond to the notification.
Mobile apps give businesses direct engagement with consumers while taking native advertising to an entirely different level. Rather than promoting something on a platform or website, you’re stepping out of the box and promoting directly onto the device itself. You can’t get that type of direct engagement anywhere else.
For small businesses, apps make advertising and promoting, faster, more direct, and best of all, more efficient than ever before.
Brand Recognition and Loyalty
Another study from last year showed that Americans spend over two hours a day on their mobile phone (most of which is spent on apps). If there’s one thing we can be guaranteed (other than death and taxes) it’s that smartphone users are always on their phone.
This is huge for building brand recognition and loyalty. When it comes to your marketing strategy, your app is just another opportunity for consumers to interact with your brand. A useful, well-built app that can provide a positive experience gives consumers all the more reason to trust your business. Every time they open their phone, they’re seeing your logo and getting a piece of your message. So even if they aren’t using your app every day, you’re visible 24/7.
We Are Living in a Mobile World
Mobile apps, much like their sister platform: the mobile website, are no longer becoming major players in the world of business and ecommerce; they already are the big dogs, and we’ve been talking about it for some time now.
From communicating to marketing to surfing the web, mobile is quickly overtaking almost every aspect of digital media. And thanks to Google’s new mobile search rules, mobile domination has significantly picked up speed.
Mobile is where it’s at, and small businesses can’t afford to miss great opportunities when they’re presented. So trust us when we say that mobile apps are not out of reach. If you’re a small business owner, get an app. It’s a powerful weapon for your arsenal.
