Building Smartphone Apps for SMBs

The small and medium business audience may turn out to be the sweet spot for smartphone applications. SMBs are among the top smartphone buyers, and with the rapid evolution of handsets, such as the Apple iPhone, Palm Pre, Motorola Droid and Google Nexus One, the momentum will only increase. Credit Suisse projects total smartphone sales to reach 223 million units this year, and U.S. revenue from smartphone apps is expected to increase more than 10 times through 2013 – to $4.2 billion – according to the Yankee Group.

Our own research highlights the interest in SMB-related smartphone apps. Our September survey found that 78% of SMBs are somewhat or very interested in business-related apps. An informal survey of your peer marketers in August found that they ranked smartphone apps behind only forums, articles and webcasts as an important online marketing tactic for the next five years.

Those marketers, and more, have rolled out apps with a vengeance since then. Apps from financial service providers – such as Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, MasterCard, USAA, Visa and Wells Fargo – typically offer easy access to account balances and ATM or branch locations and enable funds transfer. WV United Federal Credit Union even supports remote deposit. Other notable vendor apps targeting SMBs come from Constant Contact, which provides mobile access to email marketing campaigns; Intuit's QuickBooks, which provides access to a QuickBook online account; RR Donnelley, which enables purchases of small business documents; Square, which facilitates merchant payments; and SurePayroll, which helps small businesses process payroll.

Smartphone apps can attract new customers, enhance customer relationships and even generate revenue. Keep these tips in mind to develop effective apps for SMBs:

• Assess your audience. Is your target customer a good candidate for a smartphone app? Our research shows that younger individuals – and larger small businesses – index highest in smartphone usage.
• Be useful. Sounds obvious, but many marketers are simply pushing vanity apps online. Apple increasingly rejects iPhone apps that don't have value, but your customers are the ultimate judge. Be sure you take advantage not just of smartphones' Internet access and touch screen, but where possible their location- and orientation-awareness, speaker, camera and input jack to provide unique value. Be sure your app is versioned for the handsets your customers use, such as the BlackBerry, iPhone and Android.
• Be interesting. Will SMBs use your app frequently? Is it compelling enough for SMBs to share with colleagues? A viral app can also generate great PR.
• Be consistent. Your app should be relevant to your brand, and ideally it should enhance the experience the customer has with your offerings.
• Be economical. If you're on a budget, consider piloting a simple site your mobile customers can access from their smartphones, instead of an app. If you do develop an app, use an experienced developer to avoid production headaches.

Let BBI help you plan and develop an effective smartphone app to enhance your SMB market presence.