Branded apps

22 Sep How a branded app can increase customer engagement

As the world becomes more addicted to their smartphones and marketing strategies are increasingly moving on to mobile devices, creating a useful, engaging and interesting app to expand your brand and become a more integral part of your customers’ lives is a great way to show that your business is innovative, creative and ahead of the game.

A branded app, depending on its functionality, can have a wide range of benefits; from increasing awareness to increasing sales, giving customers a new way to interact with your brand lets them see you as something more than a sales message and more like a useful part of their life.

Starbucks pulls this off brilliantly; the biggest brand in coffee also has one of the most remarkable apps in the industry; it combines a number of features such as a store locator, loyalty card function, the ability to create your own personalised drink by exploring the full range of Starbucks products and it even allows you to pay via your mobile in selected stores. The Starbucks app takes their brand from out of the coffee shop and right into their customers’ pockets, by being the ideal functional yet fun accompaniment to help caffeine lovers get the most out of their Starbucks experience.

Another example of a successful branded app is Nando’s. Fast becoming a high street favourite across the UK, Nando’s has created an app for its customers that combines elements of practicality with novelty and entertainment. Using the app, you are able to see the full Nando’s menu, place an order, find a restaurant, look at the details of your loyalty card, and there’s even a #WingRoulette for those brave enough to let fate decide the heat of the spices on their meal. By making every step of the Nando’s experience as simple as possible for their diners, the company is cutting out the ‘middle man’ of the Google search or restaurant guide, and creating a direct channel of information between them and their customers.

Most customers invest in a brand’s app either because they want to keep informed about the company, they want to receive special discounts, offers and deals, or because they find it much more convenient to find out answers about the brand without have to look them up on their internet browser.

The best apps create a solution to a problem that customers may not even realise they have. Think about your customer and how their experience with your brand could be made simpler, more informed or more enjoyable, and how using an app could make them feel special, valued, and part of your brand’s story.

If you do devise a creative new app to extend your brand experience, you will require high speed WiFi in your venue to allow your customers to use it when they visit. An app is just one way of using WiFi marketing to reap the rewards of providing internet access for customers; get in touch with us at hello@konnectifi.com to find out more.