If you’ve happened upon this post and you’re reading it, you might just be a small business owner who has recently discovered that your competition across the street has a mobile app. And you’re asking yourself, how on earth can they afford one? Maybe you’re peeking through your blinds watching passerbyes become walk-ins after they scan the QR Code in the window. And they’re walking out…with bags.  “Damn, those people could be walking into MY store.”

The answer to your question: Not only can you afford a mobile app, you can’t afford NOT to have one.

Obviously, it’s tools like Magmito that make app creation easy and affordable. How’s $9.99 grab ya for an app that reaches all phones? It’s certainly a small investment when it means grabbing customers. And the benefits to creating and sustaining a small business app strategy extend beyond revenue into significant cost savings.

A recent study by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council estimates that small business owners are saving 372.8 million hours of their own time, and 725.3 million employee hours annually. In total, the co-authors estimate that small businesses are saving almost 1.1 billion hours annually by using mobile apps…employee hours saved alone, are worth an estimated $17.6 billion each year…

Source: Saving Time and Money with Mobile Apps: A Small Business ‘App’ortunity

There are a number of apps created by third party developers that small businesses are using to save time and money. And thanks to tools like Magmito, small businesses are creating their own apps for product promotions, event invites and agendas and company overviews…all mobile marketing related. These apps can be cross-promoted via other marketing channels like print, Web, email and even product packaging using QR Codes and social media integration, effectively ‘mobilizing’ traditional marketing tactics.

Those are some of the obvious uses for the tool. But then we have some forward-thinking small businesses who are using the tool internally to save time, money and increase productivity.  According to the same study, “nearly 50% of the small businesses surveyed believe they have been able to spend more time on growing business revenues due to their use of mobile apps.” How?

Take, for example, a customer who uses a Magmito-generated mobile app to communicate with its service technicians in the field. Not only do they dispatch service personnel to repair jobs but those folks report back to HQ via a simple app form.

Magmito repair app example

A simple app for field technicians

Magmito repair app example

Technicians just input info for direct communication with HQ

Think about the benefits to this business. They’re processing calls faster, servicing clients faster and reducing the amount of ‘paper’. Techs can spend more time servicing and less time filling out reports.

We also have a client who uses apps to train its salespeople on the fly. Read about how Sennheiser communicates the latest product info and offers to its sales reps.

Sennheiser has reported better and more timely communication with its reps, with 100% of them accessing the app.

Think about the areas of your small business that could be optimized and develop your own comprehensive mobile app strategy. From mobile marketing campaigns that drive traffic and revenues to up-to-the-minute internal communication that increases productivity, make more money with mobile apps today.

And with Magmito, you’re looking at $9.99/month or $99.99 a year per app for a business version OR $4.99/month or $49.99 a year per app for a 10-page app. Beat that ;-) .

Until our big announcement on Monday (which has to do with small businesses ;-) ,

Ted…

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Filed under: Mobile Application Development

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