Apps are often considered a way to market your business; a marketing tool. However, the app as an advertising column is not realistic. Your application needs to do something that stands out; something that will benefit the user. For many companies, this is a difficult task, but the explosion of enterprise apps shows that it is not only the consumer who needs to be the end user. Within the company, the app can be an essential link.
“We need an app.”
Has much changed in the world of apps in 10 years? If you check your email on your smartphone, plan a trip and check Buienradar to see if it will stay dry, you might just think it won’t.
And in essence, it is. Sure: apps are better and more versatile, but Buienradar, your travel planner and our own app Scheduled are still being developed under the guise of Apple’s famous slogan: “There’s an app for that. Clever little tools to make something in everyday life easier for consumers.
Companies immediately saw after the initial successes of apps – mostly created by independent developers – that there was a lot to be earned in the App Store. The market was soon flooded and often used anything but purposefully. Above all, an app was a marketing tool to appear “hip. The statement, “We need an app,” will seem familiar to you as a developer or marketer. The slogan “There’s an app for that” soon became “There are 2,343 apps for that.
Another way of thinking
While an entrepreneur may still sigh that he “must” have an app, the realization is slowly dawning that having one is no longer enough. After all; anyone with a computer and Google savvy can storm the App Store with their concept. A tool like “App machine” transforms your idea into an app without much effort – although there are plenty of limitations to that. And what’s the point of an app for construction companies and accounting firms, who often put no more than website content in it?
It doesn’t make apps useless as a marketing tool, but it does require a different way of thinking. It is important to realize that an app is not an additional advertising column for your business, as is often thought, but that it should do something that stands out. Something that benefits the end user.
Take, for example, the app we developed for Eneco. The energy provider came asking if we could bring solar energy to the public’s attention.
The Solar Simulator app allows you to virtually put solar panels on your roof. In this way, we not only brought Eneco’s product to the attention of users, but also let them experience that product. Functionality as the main goal, with the marketing goal in the background, is an ideal trade-off for an app.
Apps for businesses
But not only consumers need to be end users of an app. That thought translates into the explosion of enterprise apps. Not only a corporate chat program like Slack, but also apps to improve specific tasks and processes within the company.
For example, we developed an app for CrewVessel that allows skippers to enter their reports, where previously it was done on all paper lists and checklists. This provides a lot of benefits: it is faster, fewer errors are made and data is collected automatically.
Still, cost is often a reason for companies not to develop an app. A shame, because creating an app is precisely an investment. It is not a marketing tool, nor should it be funded that way. Before we develop an app, we always calculate whether it will actually pay off. In short: whether it is worth the development at all. This is a big difference from creating an app because you “have to. In many cases, it turns out that digitizing a work process ensures that you get the investment out in a year.
The slogan: “There’s an app for that” remains true when developing an app, but the horizon has broadened tremendously in 10 years. An app is not just a handy gadget, but can also occupy an essential place within the company. Wondering how an app can help your business? We are happy to help you get started. Send us an email at [email protected] or call +31 30 320 06 01
