How to Build a Mobile Marketing App

People are using their smartphones to access more and more information and knowing how to build a mobile marketing app means that you can take advantage of this growing trend and put your business and services in the pockets and purses of the people living in your community.

While having a website may be important, until now getting your website in front of people living in your local community has often meant having to spend a great deal on website optimization. Now you can put all your details onto the phones of your town or city inhabitants quickly and effectively and can even make use of these great marketing tools to increase your website trade and improve your website optimization.

So How Does It Work?

A local business App is very similar to a mobile website, but is far more interactive and intuitive. Not only can you include interactive features such as having customers email photos taken with their devices right to your email box with the touch of a single button, but you can also reward them for doing just that. One of the most effective uses of an App include rewarding your loyal customers with discounts, specials and new products or services. While having a mobile website is like watching a movie, Apps are more like acting in it! Your customers can add comments on your App fan wall, they can make recordings and send them to your mailbox or can even scan your QR codes to reveal rewards.

Once your customers have downloaded your App onto their phones, you can then send them unlimited push notifications telling them about your discount offers & promotions. Push notifications are 100% permission based and are completely free of charge, so you can communicate with your customers without having to spend another dime. You can also build your mailing list through the App and can add your shopping cart if you want to offer that service. In addition, you'll be able to add all your social media sites and have instant updates as they appear and unlike your mobile website, your App can go viral and can be sent from one person to another through the integrated tell a friend feature. Now your happy customers can pass the word on in a way that makes sense - with just the touch of a single button.

How to Build a Mobile Marketing App?

If you don't have any technical skills, fear not! There are a wide range of app building softwares available online. Some softwares work only with the Apple operating system, while others will allow you to build Apps for both Apple and Android. Many of these app building softwares have easy to navigate back offices where you will be required to cut and paste information and upload graphics of a particular size. It is important to check the features included by each of these companies and find the ones that will best suit your business needs and requirements.

Package prices will depend on the number of features included, how much pre-build work is done for you and how much work is required by yourself to complete the App. You will also want to ensure that there are no hidden costs such as having to open a developers account for the Apple store, or having limited push notifications. Where possible it is best to find a platform that includes guaranteed acceptance in the App stores, or you may find yourself submitting and re-submitting resulting in multiple costs just to get your App live.

What Should it Cost You?

If you are going to be building your own App from the ground up on an App building software, then consider the cost of submitting it, the developers account costs and the time that it will take to complete the task. It is possible to get a pre-built App including a certain number of features to ensure its acceptance into the App stores for less than $500 and with a growing number of companies offering these services, you can even find them for less than $400. For this price you should also be able to get both an Apple and Android App built - there are a number of two for the price of one specials online.

It is important to remember that you will be charged a monthly hosting fee. Things to look at when calculating a good hosting price are:-

- Are unlimited graphics and pages included?

- Are unlimited push notifications included?

- Are there additional features which you can add later?

- Is the hosting per platform or is a hosting bundle?

Limited hosting packages can be found online for as little as $8-$10 per platform, and an unlimited hosting bundle including Android, Apple and HTML 5 shouldn't have to cost you more than $50 per month.

Knowing how to build a mobile marketing App will ensure that you get the product you want for a price you can afford and will ensure that you too can take advantage of this innovative and cost-effective marketing tool.