Not so long ago, the most popular functions of phones were calling and sending texts.
Smartphones changed the game, however, turning the phone into a multifunctional device. This was made possible by the development of mobile applications, or as we now lovingly call them “apps.”
Apple launched the App Store on July 10th 2008. At the time, if you bought an iPhone 3G that summer you had access to 500 apps. Now, you have access to hundreds of thousands of apps.
Today, any business worth its name has designed a mobile app to run on the smartphone, tablet and many other mobile devices. Apps are widely considered the way to get the most out of your devices, whether that’s for learning, earning or entertainment.
A growing share of Americans now uses smartphones as their primary means of online access at home. To support this, 95% American own a cell phone of some kind and 77% own a smartphone. If we look at the millennial demographic (18-29) the statistics are even larger with 100% owning a cell phone and 92% a smartphone. Even our co-founder, Evan Savar, conducts most of our business from his smartphone.
This trend is not surprising when you considering the recent results from a Gallup survey:
- Nearly three-quarters of Americans check their mobile phones at least once an hour
- 90%-of that mobile-phone time is devoted to using apps
- Americans now spend more time looking at their mobile phones than they do watching television
- In addition, your prospective residents conduct 48% of their online searches on a mobile device.
As this series on mobile apps will explore, the cost of adopting a mobile app for small businesses is firmly within reach. This means small businesses can use mobile apps like so many big businesses have to help them increase sales, improve customer engagement, and increase customer loyalty.
This is why more and more small businesses are asking themselves the all or important question, “how can I adopt a mobile strategy in 2017?”
Your residents have gone mobile. Just as websites became a “must-have” for properties in the late 2000s, mobile apps are now a must for successful multifamily properties.
Every multi-family property we speak to who has developed an app with our mobile platform has found that it has directly impacted their business in the following ways:
- Helped attract new residents
- Improved resident experience
- Saved them money
- Increase resident retention
- Improved their brand and marketing
- Optimized how they run their property
- Allowed them to measure where they invest their money
In 2017, there is no reason why your residents shouldn’t be able to manage their living needs from their smartphone. To the same extent, there is no reason why your staff and properties shouldn’t be using mobile technology to optimize how it is run and maximize the level of service provided.
Next in the series, we’ll be discussing what a multifamily company should be looking for when creating their own custom-branded, mobile app.
