Smart devices are changing the way we live. Will your business grasp the opportunity?

 Can you count the number of times you used the telephone yellow pages book during the past year?  When you are considering a major purchase – let’s say a kitchen appliance – do you spend time visiting store after store, talking to salespeople, comparing features and prices?  It is very likely, since you are reading my online blog post, that you have done neither of the above in quite some time.  Most of us rely on Internet searches to locate people and places, to comparison shop and, in fact, to do most everything, these days.

 “Google” is now a verb in our vocabulary, search engines are a way of life and laptops have replaced desktop computers for many of us  – or so it seems.  However, if you take a good, hard look around, you’ll find that laptops and notebook computers are giving way to the mobile phone as the latter becomes smarter and smarter.  Could it be that – as technology advances – our reliance on search engines will be replaced by mobile apps?

 There’s an App for that!  You’ve heard the buzz.  Android and iPhone owners can download an app for just about anything, making the need to go to the search engine less important.  Searching for the nearest sushi place or finding out where gas is least expensive before you fill your tank is already commonplace. Even reading the next big novel, browsing websites for research or doing your grocery shopping can be done using mobile apps.

 So wouldn’t it make sense for a business – any business large or small – to distribute an app to its target market so that customers and prospects can make use of it when the need arises?  Perhaps an auto repair shop would distribute an app to customers to remind and allow scheduling for the next auto maintenance appointment.  Maybe an insurance agent would offer an app to allow customers to update their policy, pay their bill or even file claim information without hassle.

For the small business owner who has had the foresight to include useful, relevant and plentiful content on their business website, the easiest form of app you could distribute would be one that allows a mobile user to quickly access that website content, find what they need and use your website’s features in the time it takes to ride the elevator to the 5th floor.

 Having your customers and, even better, your prospects carrying your website in their pocket should certainly excite the marketer in you and get your creative juices flowing.

 Have you thought about how your business could use mobile apps to stay in front of your market?  Does your website already have a mobile version built in and available for use by mobile visitors?

 Let us hear from you!