August 6, 1991 was one of the biggest moments in history. Why? This day marked the introduction of the World Wide Web. Even though there was little fanfare, as most of the world was oblivious to the WWW’s existence and potential, nearly 25 years later, we can see it has undoubtedly produced a lasting impact.
With the increasing presence of social media, businesses are continuously saddled with the task of keeping up with the latest updates, platforms, and trends. One of the biggest current trends is the use of mobile applications. This trend has evolved from the need to develop a desktop website and re-engineer it to be responsive for mobile use. Now the mobile app is the new kid on the block and has been an interesting, and sometimes challenging, addition to this bunch. But the question remains. Is a mobile app really necessary? Our answer is a resounding YES. Let us tell you why.
First, answer these questions for us:
- Is more than 25% of your audience opening your emails on mobile devices?
- Do you have less than 35% returning visitors to your website?
- Do your competitors have apps?
- Is your target audience young?
If your answer was ‘yes’ to any of these questions, your business is ready to have a mobile app.
According to ComScore, from 2007 to 2015, the number of global mobile users h
as increased from 400 million to 1.8 billion. Did you catch that? 1.8 billion people worldwide are accessing information from their mobile devices. It has now surpassed the amount of desktop users (up to 1.7 billion from 1.1 billion)! If that doesn’t convince you, here’s more.
In the same approximate time frame, US users have increased the time spent on mobile digital media from 0.3 hours per day to 2.8 hours to day on average. This accounts for 51% percent of their total time spent with digital media! But you already knew they were using their mobile device for the internet, right? Well here comes the heavy hitters.
89% of mobile users’ monthly media consumption is spent on media found through mobile apps. EIGHTY-NINE PERCENT! The other 11% is spent on the mobile web. And yes, there are games, entertainment, productivity, and other social apps users spend time on, but YOURS could be one of them.
Now, let’s be clear. Personal computers and laptops still have a significant presence. But as Danyl Bosomworth of Smart Insights said, “It’s no longer a case of asking whether mobile marketing is important, we know it is! It’s now a question of using the statistics to understand how consumers behave when using different types of mobile devices and what their preferences are.”
So, while it is still important to have both desktop and mobile websites, it is equally, if not more, important to equip your business with its own mobile app. If you’re interested in checking out your options for your very own mobile app, contact us and let’s chat. We’d love to be your first step towards capitalizing on your potential mobile success.