Once upon a time, businesses would conduct marketing by traditional advertising methods such as print, radio, television, and junk mail. Then along came the Internet, and suddenly it became important to establish a web presence. But then social media rose to prominence, and wasn’t enough anymore to simply be on the web; now you had to have a viable social media engagement strategy.

Now with the increasing dominance of mobile computing, apps are all the rage and sure enough, conventional wisdom says that companies incorporate apps into their branding. Alright then, fine. So, how should an app fit in with branding efforts?

Great apps should not only be useful, they should blow users away with their coolness.

Apps Need To Be Useful

Let’s say you have spared no expense in creating an app for your business. It works perfectly every time, and it looks terrific. But if it doesn’t actually do something that people want or need to have done, then it will just sit there, either languishing away on the customer’s smart phone, or not downloaded in the first place. It’s hard to build a brand if the tool you’re relying on isn’t actually put to use by the target audience.

Here We Are Now, Entertain Us

Apps need to be useful, but that is only part of the equation. People want to be entertained and amused. Thus it stands to reason that apps need to attract attention, keep that attention, and be entertaining and interesting enough that users don’t just give it a one-shot try then forget it. It has to be a sticky app that people keep coming back to time and again. Prolonged exposure helps keep your company’s name front and center, which is essential for good branding.

It Has To Provide A Frictionless Experience

Or to quote a point made in the article “5 Reasons Your App Needs to Reflect Well On Your Brand”, ” … users will share poor app experiences”. The whole point of using apps in your branding strategy is to promote your business in a positive way, not give people reason to back away from you slowly. The app needs to work properly and be easy to use. It can’t be buggy, slow, or detrimental to the processing speed of the user’s device. Your app is your ambassador in the world of mobile computing, there to represent your business in a favorable light. That ambassador must be charming, witty, and personable, not stagger into a social gathering drunk, insulting the host, and hurling in the punch bowl.

It Needs To Point To Your Business

In keeping with the concept of your branding app functioning as an ambassador, the final point here is screamingly obvious, but needs to be touched upon anyway. If your tech people create an amusing app that allows the user to zap cartoon renditions of the Ebola virus, well, sure, that’s fun and all, but if you’re in the pet grooming business it makes zero sense. You end up with a lot of people excited about eradicating diseases, and no one’s thinking of getting their dog an appointment for a bath. The app needs to have something to do with your business, and that connection needs to be obvious, not something that needs to be pointed out. Nothing is sadder than a joke or a novelty license plate that needs to be explained. The same can be said about your branding efforts.

Apps are a cool way to build better branding. If your business could use more ideas for marketing, then check out “Top Ten Marketing Tools For Your Online Business”.