“Does my business need a mobile app?” is the question that’s top of mind for business owners both small and large. With the surge of mobile as the go-to communication platform for consumers, users are just as (or even more likely) to obtain company information from apps and social networks as they are from corporate websites. This adds up to a huge opportunity for businesses – one that they simply can’t afford to ignore. So to answer the question – does your business need a mobile app? Probably (at some point), but it all depends on your customer’s needs. Before hiring a development team to move full throttle ahead with an app for your business, it’s in your best interest to do an assessment to determine what the app can do to make your customer’s life easier. What value or convenience will it provide, and most importantly what reason will they have to use the app again and again? Think about what content you will have on the app, what actions will transpire, and what data you will collect. Consider the overall strategic plan – how the does a mobile app fit into the rest of your marketing strategy? And how will the app itself be marketed? Also, what content will need to be updated and how often? (This is often a topic that is overlooked when developing an app, but keep in mind that any app updates must be approved by their respective app stores, and then users must download the update onto their device) . Finally, what type of devices are your customers using and what type of app (e.g. native or hybrid/HTML5) would best suit their lifestyle and preferences? Once you’ve determined audience needs and strategic objective of the app, only then can you move into the tactics for developing and branding the look and feel. A user experience specialist or information architect should be brought in to map out the experience and engagement factors. Concurrently, a development team will need to determine where the data for the app will live and how incoming data will be routed and integrated with existing 3rd party or legacy databases. Many software providers (e.g. Google Maps, Salesforce, etc.) have prepackaged APIs that can add functionality to your app without having to build from scratch; such providers typically charge a licensing fee, so be sure to build this in to your budget. An experienced app development team should be able to take an app project from concept to completion, but with such a high demand for apps, be cautious of hiring a one-size-fits-all company. If bringing in a 3rd party team, ask to see samples of their existing apps and don’t be afraid to ask questions up front. How will content be updated? Who will be loading the initial content of the app? How much will it cost to push an update to the app? Building an app isn’t a small task, but it’s one that should yield a profit for your business by providing a unique benefit to your customers. The last thing that consumers want is another dummy icon on their device – but if you can provide a solution to an existing problem, then that’s the ultimate win. “Does my business need a mobile app?” is the question that’s top of mind for business owners both small and large. With the surge of mobile as the go-to communication platform for consumers, users are just as (or even more likely) to obtain company information from apps and social networks as they are from corporate websites. This adds up to a huge opportunity for businesses – one that they simply can’t afford to ignore. So to answer the question – does your business need a mobile app? Probably (at some point), but it all depends on your customer’s needs. Before hiring a development team to move full throttle ahead with an app for your business, it’s in your best interest to do an assessment to determine what the app can do to make your customer’s life easier. What value or convenience will it provide, and most importantly what reason will they have to use the app again and again? Think about what content you will have on the app, what actions will transpire, and what data you will collect. Consider the overall strategic plan – how the does a mobile app fit into the rest of your marketing strategy? And how will the app itself be marketed? Also, what content will need to be updated and how often? (This is often a topic that is overlooked when developing an app, but keep in mind that any app updates must be approved by their respective app stores, and then users must download the update onto their device) . Finally, what type of devices are your customers using and what type of app (e.g. native or hybrid/HTML5) would best suit their lifestyle and preferences? Once you’ve determined audience needs and strategic objective of the app, only then can you move into the tactics for developing and branding the look and feel. A user experience specialist or information architect should be brought in to map out the experience and engagement factors. Concurrently, a development team will need to determine where the data for the app will live and how incoming data will be routed and integrated with existing 3rd party or legacy databases. Many software providers (e.g. Google Maps, Salesforce, etc.) have prepackaged APIs that can add functionality to your app without having to build from scratch; such providers typically charge a licensing fee, so be sure to build this in to your budget. An experienced app development team should be able to take an app project from concept to completion, but with such a high demand for apps, be cautious of hiring a one-size-fits-all company. If bringing in a 3rd party team, ask to see samples of their existing apps and don’t be afraid to ask questions up front. How will content be updated? Who will be loading the initial content of the app? How much will it cost to push an update to the app? Building an app isn’t a small task, but it’s one that should yield a profit for your business by providing a unique benefit to your customers. The last thing that consumers want is another dummy icon on their device – but if you can provide a solution to an existing problem, then that’s the ultimate win.