A New-Age In Small Business Marketing

Small business owners have a very unique talent, the talent of juggling. They juggle day to day operations of running a business from accounting, sales, marketing, management and many other daily functions of operations. While trying to manage many different tasks, business owners often lose focus on one or two of these business functions and majority of the time marketing goes right out of focus. There are many reasons for this but a large reason is because of the exponential growth rate of technology. Times keep changing very fast, almost too fast for the business owner to worry about.  This huge growth in technology has created some very interesting marketing strategies that the business owner might not even thought about before.

Mobile Marketing

This is one of the fastest growing fields know to marketing. In the present year, 2013, mobile Smartphone usage growth is up 125% as opposed to only 12% for desktop computers. Millions of people across the country are going mobile, gearing up with smartphones and downloading mobile apps. These smartphone users are spending massive amounts of time on their mobile devices. It is projected in 2013 that over 100 billion mobile apps will be downloaded by smartphone users.

As a business owner you might think these numbers are fascinating or simply irrelevant to your business. But after really analyzing more data, the proof is in the pudding that consumers are using these devices and the market is only getting bigger by the minute. This means it is time to launch your mobile marketing campaign.

Where to get started...

First, look at your website on a smartphone. Is it optimized to fit the device? If you have to pinch and zoom to find relevant information, chances are it is not optimized and does not look good. Your web page is your first chance to capture your online audience by displaying the most relevant information in a place where users can easily find out about you. Creating a beautiful mobile website is your first step.

Next step. 

We recommend the next step is getting app ready. The numbers do not lie and people are downloading mobile apps as mind blowing rates. People love apps. It's really that simple. So you must create an engaging mobile app that will benefit your app user and keep them coming back. If you are a restaurant you can switch your paper punch-cards to a mobile punch-card. Something as simple as this will engage users on their smartphone with your businesses mobile app. 

Send them a push notification. Our mobile apps allow you the ability to send out unlimited push notifications to all app users. You can send them friendly reminders about special events you are hosting, new app changes, new business services and even happy holiday messages. Communication is key in every relationship and push notes will by key in your communication with your app users and your small business.


Where is my competition?

Still over 50% of small businesses are not mobile, meaning they do not have a mobile website or mobile app...or really any type of mobile marketing at all. By you simply following the two easy steps above, you will be ahead of over half of your competition and your customers will love you for it.

To recap, mobile is not going anywhere anytime soon. There is no time for procrastination when it comes to growing your business and we recommend you getting started today. They only way to complete a 10,000 mile journey is to take the first step.


Contact Us
If you have any questions please email our support center at support@grandapps.com. You can reply to this blog or visit one of our Social Media pages to leave a comment.

Thank you for reading!

How Mobile Marketing & Dating Are Similar?

You have read the title correct, mobile marketing & dating are very similar. We wanted to share with you how important mobile marketing is by relating it to something many are familiar with, dating.

We will cover two main mobile marketing techniques in this article: Mobile Websites & Mobile Apps.

Mobile Websites 

Mobile websites should come before your mobile app for your business. Mobile websites are your first impression to customers via mobile. With over 50% of Google searches mobile, you better believe that a mobile website is needed. This is your first chance to impress your customer, or your date. This is the first thing they will find when they browse your company on their smartphone and if it is not optimized to fit the smartphone, many customers will have a very unpleasant experience that will turn them away to competition.

How it relates to dating.

When you go on a date for the first time you make sure everything is right. Do you have clean clothes, did you shower, are your fingernails clipped and many other things you cover. But the overall idea is you want to be presentable. The first time your date sees you should be a pleasant experience. You don't want to see someone in sweats & a stained tee shirt while on your first date with a full scruffy beard and long fingernails.  That image would probably cause an unpleasant experience which will not result in a second date.

The Goal

As a business owner, your goal for the mobile website marketing is to score a second date. You want to look very presentable to your customers with a pleasant mobile experience right off the bat. If your website is optimized, you are surly going to see return visitors, or a second date. By keeping the customers coming back, you will increase sales, which will increase your happiness at running a successful business.

Mobile Apps

Mobile Apps on the other hand are for customer loyalty. The main objective in developing a mobile app for your business is not to generate hundreds of thousands of downloads, but instead to obtain thousands or hundreds of LOYAL customers engaged with your brand & business. Business owners do not need millions of downloads to generate revenue from your mobile app for your business. Would you rather have thousands of people simply looking or hundreds buying? The answer is easy, buying...which is the smaller number of downloads. (We know, totally backwards from your original thought, but you do not need tons of downloads).

The main focus of a mobile app for you business is to provide your loyal customers with more. They can perform all of the following things with a mobile app from Grand Apps for your business;

-Get your information quickly (No slow wifi searching)
-Get exclusive mobile app updates via Push Notificaitons
-Get exclusive app discounts for using your mobile app

 These three features alone are HUGE in customer engagement. You are communicating with them, keeping them coming back.

back to your date...how does it relate? 

Congratulations! You have just scored a second date and are now dating. In human relationships, communication is key. If you do not communicate, you are not dating. So this is exactly how a mobile app relates to dating.  Our mobile apps keep you engaged with one another, scheduling more and more dates with customers.

The Goal of Mobile Apps

Again, let's cover the goal...it is to ENGAGE & COMMUNICATE. Not to generate millions of useless downloads for your business. Keeping fewer people engaged and spending will do you far better than thousands of people not engaged and not using your mobile app.


What do I do now?

Now what, you may ask. You have obtained tons of useful information and it is time to put it to work. Below are some quick steps to take to get you in the right direction to date your customers & keep them coming back!

1) Is your website optimized? If not, do it!
2) Do you have a mobile app from Grand Apps? No? Well you know how to get a hold of us.
3) Setup a quick marketing plan that will cover the following;
    - Scheduling Push Notes
    - Maintaining your Mobile App, Do not let it sit dormant!
    - Keeping content fresh with new app graphics & messages
4) Incentive your mobile app. Make customers WANT to download it. Give away something small. 

If you follow these quick, simple 4 steps then you will be on the right path for a great mobile marketing campaign that will increase traffic & sales. You will provide a pleasant mobile experience that will leave customers happy & satisfied. The best customers are happy customers.

We hope this information was useful for your businesses mobile marketing campaing. If you have any questions, comments or want more help...Simply email support@grandapps.com to hear more.

Leave a comment to give us your thoughts about mobile marketing!

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Importance of Mobile Websites

Hey everyone!

We just wanted to first and foremost thank each and every one of you for visiting our blog today. We have some very interesting stats on mobile websites and why they are so important for a business. The information we will cover can benefit you if you're a business owner, a mobile website salesman, a local marketing company or just someone interested in learning more about mobile websites and the importance of them. 

Let's first start out with a scenario. We will use this example throughout our article about the importance of mobile websites and refer back to it. 

Meet Joe, Joe meet audience. Joe is your average guy who works 9-5 as an accountant at a large firm. He does not work weekends, so normally him and his girlfriend will have date night every Saturday. So, the day comes and he and his lady start by walking around downtown trying to find something different, a new local restaurant to grab a quick bite before they go see the new Jackie Robinson movie. He pulls out his smartphone and searches "restaurants". Pretty amazed how fast his smartphone is and sees about 10 different options. He finds one that looks great and selects it. But to his disappointment, the website loads VERY slowly. When it DOES load, he cannot find the number anywhere because he has to "pinch and zoom" like crazy. Very frustrated with his experience...he hits the back button. This is the most dreaded button if you're a business owner because Joe is leaving your page.  He selects the next restaurant with a fast loading, mobile friendly website that displays the number clearly and menu items. Joe and his girlfriend go to this restaurant because they can easily access the information, they have a great date night and loved the movie. 

Some of you already know what happened here. Some of you might even think of it as a simple equation.

Bad Mobile Website = Business Lost

Congrats! You got it! Yes, it is THAT simple. Yet it is still amazing that about 75% of business owners have not recognized this. We agree it is that simple, but we wanted to really break down why Joe decided to choose the website that was mobile friendly. 

5 Times 1

If you're a marketing company, this is a great statistic to educate business owners on. There are currently 5 times as many mobile phones than PC's in the world!

This means there are more people with mobile phones than PC's. This means that customers are mobile ready. They are all connected with mobile and demand a great users experience because this is their primary source of connection. 

• 25% of Americans use the internet ONLY on mobile devices
• 91% of adults have their phone within arms reach 24/7

Let's look at Joe in this case. Joe is a great example of these statistics. He had his phone within arms reach on his date night. He also could very well be one of the 25% and we know the world has 5 times more mobile devices than PC's. So we now know that Joe is connected, as well as most of the world. 

• There are 6.8 billion people on the planet
• 4.0 billion use a mobile phone
• 3.5 billion use a tooth brush

*We hope Joe is apart of the 3.5 billion! 

Local Search

• 95% of smartphone users looked up local information
• 61% of the 95% have called
• 59% of the 95% have visited

The statistics just above prove that users are searching for your business and when they find it, they are likely to call or visit. Joe is a numbers guy and he can appreciate these statistics. He also fits them very well. He is an average consumer searching for business and wanted to call / visit. As a business owner, it is crucial you provide a mobile friendly experience because if they cannot find your information that is needed, how are they supposed to contact you or come in? Check out the percents of consumers that will actually TURN TO A COMPETITOR with a mobile friendly site. 

So it can be now known that consumers are always on their smartphones searching for local businesses. There is not a high demand for mobile friendly websites because without a mobile website, business owner can actually be losing out on business. 

Summary

We now hope you finally understand exactly why mobile websites are needed for a business. Do not let your "Joes" turn to competition with readily displayed information. 

Bad Mobile Website = Business Lost

This is very simple, but most things is life are. Remember the K.I.S.S. philosophy? "Keep It Simple Stupid!" Well, we are asking everyone to keep it simple. Understand that if you do not provide your customers will a great mobile experience, you will lose business...and these are facts. 

There are over 70% of businesses that do not provide mobile friendly experiences. Why? Maybe they're just uneducated. So, we hope that now you will be educated to spread the word! It is time to wake up and realize that mobile is here to stay and your customers demand it. 

If you have any questions about the information covered above, email Grand Apps at support@grandapps.com

Fun Fact

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Mobile Apps | Chiropractors 2013

Grand Apps specializes in mobile app development for the chiropractic industry and today we are bringing chiropractors across the world a very in depth look at mobile app development and mobile app marketing for the chiropractic industry.

Before we jump into this article, we wanted to share why we specialize in mobile app development for chiropractors. Grand Apps was founded by a chiropractor, Dr. Jacob Canfield, the owner of Simple Truth Chiropractic. Dr. Canfield noticed a need in taking his marketing efforts to the next level and with the upcoming trend in mobile, he decided to invest and help start Grand Apps back in December of 2011. Since then, Grand Apps has been working on mobile app development for chiropractors and showing the benefits of apps in their practice. 

Why Mobile?

We understand that some chiropractors may not fully understand mobile app development or why and how it could possibly benefit your practice, which is why we want to share some outstanding statistics about mobile. 

As you can see above, mobile app consumption is on the rise. People are almost spending as much time on mobile apps as they are watching television. We even have statistics proving that people are doing both at the same time! According to Google, 33% of smartphone users are using their phones while watching television. 

Now, hopefully we can all agree that mobile app development is crucial for your business because more and more people are spending massive amounts of time on mobile apps and mobile smartphones, even while consuming other types of media. Your marketing plan may call for many different needs to best fit your practice, but this should be one of your top priorities taking the next step. Unlike ever before, you now have the chance to be in front of your patients 24/7 on their phone with your mobile app. 

Mobile Is Easy.

Our goal with mobile apps and mobile app development is not a simple marketing ploy to intrude in your patients privacy, not even close. Our goal is to create a friendly experience for your patients. Our mobile apps make your patients lives a little easier by making their experiences with your practice a little more efficient. Mobile should be easy, engaging and useful.  

Grand Apps provides many useful features that will save your patients time with their mobile app. Below are a few examples of some features and how they are useful.

• Contact Us - This feature allows the mobile app users to contact you on the fly. Instead of opening their browser, searching for your practice, waiting for the internet to load, trying to find your phone number on a non optimized website, and then calling you...your users can simply open your mobile app and select contact us and get a hold of you in just two touches. 
• Scheduling - This feature allows patients to schedule on the fly by opening the app and logging into their account in the mobile app. No more hassle calling in and waiting on the phone. The mobile app allows users to schedule whenever they want, wherever they are. 
• Messages - This feature allows users to view push notifications you sent out, just in case they missed them. For example; Let's say you closed your practice because of an emergency and wanted to let users know. You can send out a simple push notification to let them know and if they miss it, they can simply check their messages. 

Above are only three different features that we offer with our app development. We have tons of other great features that will help your practice, but we wanted to keep this simple and show you that simply by implementing just three basic features, you can make your patients lives a little easier. 

What about Mobile Websites?

This is a great question and one we often get from numerous clients and see in blog forums. There is a difference between mobile websites and native mobile apps. 

Mobile Websites

This is a version of your current website, but it looks better on a smartphone...that simple.

Mobile App

This is a prebuilt program that is installed on your phone. So instead of going to your browser to get information, you can open your app. Mobile apps also have many more useful features that websites do not offer. 

You may have come across a few websites on your phone that were optimized for mobile and some that were not. Checkout the versions below to see the difference. 

Not Optimized

Optimized

As you can see above the drastic difference between an optimized website and a not optimized mobile website. Simply put, the mobile friendly website will look better and fit to smartphones. The not friendly website will force you to pinch and zoom and play hide and seek with their information. This is not fun. Consumers are demanding mobile friendly websites and mobile apps. We know this because consumers are even likely to turn to competition with a friendly mobile website. 

Grand Apps also offers mobile website development, not just mobile app development for chiropractors. We help you get your mobile marketing campaign started by helping you implement mobile websites and mobile apps into your practice. 

Final Thoughts

Hopefully now we have shed some light on the mobile world in chiropractic. We also hope that we can agree on a few things;

• People are spending more and more time on mobile apps
• People are on apps almost as much as other popular media (i.e. TV & Internet)
• Mobile apps should be easy to use, engaging and interactive
• Mobile websites are just as important as mobile apps (in the consumers eye)

All of these are proven by numerous surveys and the majority rules, smartphones are here and they are here to stay. Mobile apps and mobile websites are a must in today's evolving marketing world. Chiropractors across the country are now realizing this before their competitors and implementing them. 

Grand Apps prides itself in app development for chiropractors and would love to work with your practice soon. If you have any questions about any of this information or would like to learn more, email our support at support@grandapps.com

or visit our website at www.grandapps.com

A few apps in the market now. Simply click the app icon to view it in iTunes. 

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Mobile App Industry | December 2012

Mobile App Industry | December 2012

Grand Apps Readers;

It is crucial today that small businesses start thinking about mobile, and with Grand Apps, small businesses have an opportunity to go mobile with the leading Grand Rapids app developer. Grand Apps will provide you a complete mobile marketing strategy with a mobile app and a mobile website for less than the price of newspaper ads. 

Mobile websites are perfect for acquisition through local searches, and mobile apps are perfect for customer loyalty through engaging features such as loyalty programs, coupons, mobile shopping, food ordering, push notifications and more. 

Still not totally convinced that mobile is the way to go? Checkout the below images. 

Mobile Apps are being downloaded at exponential rates by users. Also, the smartphone business will grow at 30% compound annual growth rate for the next five years!

Customers are shopping online by the millions, should't you give them the option at your local business? Also, by 2015, 81% of U.S. cell users will have smartphones. 

Overall, your customers are downloading apps at very exponential rates and spending millions of dollars on them. Isn't it about time you invested in a mobile app for your local business. Again, Grand Apps is the leading Mobile App developer in Grand Rapids, MI. We do not limit to West Michigan App Development, we actually develop mobile apps for iPhone and Android Apps across the country. 

Checkout our website and we will talk soon.

Grand Apps Update | December 2012

New Features Update | December 2012

Grand Apps Readers;

We are are very excited to announce our biggest launch of new feature updates this quarter! We believe companies should be focusing heavily on creating beautifully designed products, and that's exactly what we did in this update. We made tons of our existing features beautiful. Take a look at the images below for an overview of what the new update has to offer.

Thanks and Happy Holidays!

-Grand Apps

Loyalty Tab Update

Reservation Tab Update

Email Photo Update

Contact Us Tab Update

Mailing List Tab Update

Fan Wall Update

Tip Calc Update

Music Tab Update

Podcast Tab Update

Info Tier Tab Update

New Layout Designs

Authorize.net Payments Integrated