How smartphones are revolutionizing business growth

100 years later, if historians were asked what were the major advances of the early twenty-first century, it is very likely that the smartphone makes the cut.

With almost 4 billion unique users in the world, using that amount of thousands, if not millions, and the fact that more than half of all Internet traffic today comes from the mobile web, it's clear that smartphones They are assuming the role of "man's best friend". . "

There is simply no escape ... business included.

But for them, unlike seeing smartphones as friends, they see them as growth opportunities.

How to use smartphones for business growth

In addition to the general utility that smartphones provide companies in terms of mobility and connectivity 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, the impact of smartphones on businesses, the greatest impact can be seen when it is considered what makes them different from their normal counterparts: the "intelligent" That precedes it.

With that nickname comes the ability to use a multitude of mobile applications, which come in various shapes and sizes that vary according to usage.

For example, you can have an application that allows you to venture into the stock market, and another that allows you to play Scrabble with people from all over the world.

More on the business side, smartphone business applications are generally divided into two categories:

● Internal applications that benefit a company by streamlining tasks and creating more efficient work environments.

● External applications that benefit the customers of a company, which benefits the company itself through brand and fidelity benefits, data collection and, if it is an electronic commerce, additional sales.

After all, with the increase in productivity of internal applications comes business growth and, as we all know, a happy customer is a loyal customer (also key to growth), whose external applications are excellent to encourage.

Internal applications of Smartphone

Starting with the internal business applications of smartphones to show how to use a smartphone for business, the key here is to focus on increasing productivity.

The good news is that because applications can be programmed to do almost anything, helping employees throughout the day, they can be used as tools to solve any problem that is delayed or needs to be improved.

In this way, business growth occurs internally, since employees can work harder and more intelligently, which translates into a better overall productivity of the company and a better return on business investment.

For example, you can create the following types of applications among many to improve your business processes:

● Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications that help you manage customer relationships

● Lead generation applications that help you identify potential customers.

● Inventory management applications that help you track everything

As to where or who to turn to for inspiration, since these applications will be the tools that your employees will use in their work days to streamline tasks, improve efficiency and help the company to function more smoothly.

External business applications for smartphones

Unlike internal applications, the idea of ​​external customer-oriented applications is to present your company to your audience in a mobile way to maximize interactions with them and make the most of them.

After all, taking into account that 71% of the total digital minutes are spent on mobile devices, it makes sense that you use the mobile, your apparently preferred communication mode, to connect.

By doing so, you will be converting your application into a marketing channel that works at all times of the day, and you can even generate your own income if you can sell products and / or services through it.

However, you choose to make use of external applications, some of its benefits are that:

● Improve communication between you and your audience

● Provide information to your audience at all times of the day (even better if you use a chatbot)

● Present your offers visually and conveniently.

● Ensure fidelity through prizes and promotions.

● Collect customer data and perspectives through usage statistics

More on the last point, one of the greatest benefits of customer-oriented applications is that they are a literal goldmine of user data, including their browsing and purchasing habits, which is very helpful when creating and adapt marketing strategies.

The current panorama of smartphones

When it comes to growth through smartphones, although internal applications will give you the help you need to handle things within the company, external applications are the source of true growth.

For example, think of the 125 million US consumers. UU That they own smartphones and that, as of December 2017, 82% of online users in the US. UU They used a mobile device to make purchases online, while 35% are online shoppers who only use mobile devices.

Apart from electronic commerce, think of one of the main uses of applications: entertainment.

As expected, the mobile entertainment market, comprised of games, videos and music, is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 15% during the period between 2018 and 2023, with games that generate $ 40.6 billion in revenue in 2017.

With these statistics, it is clear that associating an application with an e-commerce business is not only logical, but what will open the doors for more sales, and offer an entertainment application that offers users new ways to discover. and seeing your content is exactly what they want.

Final thoughts

With the ability to do virtually anything through an application, smartphones are absolutely wonderful for businesses and consumers.

For example, while consumers get a new channel to explore and buy products, or learn more about a company, companies also get a new channel, this time to sell and connect with their audience, and the ability to create applications that optimize several processes. .

Putting it all together, smartphones are definitely a "win" for business