Growing your business with an app

There are many different tools available for businesses to use to market and promote their products and services. Social media is one of those major platforms, but the passive nature of these websites and platforms doesn’t always make them the best way to reach customers. Creating a mobile app for your business allows you to directly engage with your consumer base, but designing and paying for a complex mobile app isn’t always within your time and budget constraints. Max Bluvband, the CEO and co-founder of AppsVillage, is working to solve this problem with his platform that allows entrepreneurs and small business owners to create powerful commerce mobile apps in seconds based off their Facebook business pages.

ADM: What kind of businesses, who are already on Facebook, look to use an app to market their business and why do they want an app?

Bluvband: The Facebook platform is great for exposure, but if you want to retain your customers and get them to buy more products, an app is the best channel to use to accomplish this goal. Businesses on Facebook who are interested in creating an app have high loyalty rates among clients and they want a better way to engage with these customers through a direct channel. These types of businesses range from fashion stores, restaurants, and beauty salons to barbers, therapists and more.

ADM: When is the right time for SMB's to use an app versus social platform?

Bluvband: Apps and social media platforms are both important marketing tools that can be utilized in different ways. Social platforms are best used when sharing longer content with customers, such as articles and videos. They are also best used to initially market a business and acquire new customers. Apps are the better tool to use when sending immediate notifications to your loyal customer base. If a business is launching a new discount or coupon, using an app will alert the customer immediately and increase the likelihood of the customer using the promotion.

ADM: How do you identify your audience via FB and translate to the app?

Bluvband: When creating an app, it is pivotal to make certain that your followers on Facebook are informed about the app. Businesses need to give incentives to influence customers to download the app. SMBs will typically give a discount for their clients once they download the app. An example would be a 5% discount on every purchase made through the app. Businesses should use all channels including social networks, newsletters, texts and in-store promotions to let customers know about the new app. To make it easier, we allow promotion of the app via Facebook and other channels using easy-to-make graphics.

ADM: Does your business rely on Facebook reaching these businesses?

Bluvband: Yes, Facebook is rich in SMB’s and business owners who are open to having an easy to use mobile app. We are looking at businesses that understand the importance and value of digital marketing. The SMB’s on Facebook are developed and mature enough to add this kind of powerful new marketing tool to their strategy.

ADM: What are metric options the app uses for ROI?

Bluvband: In addition to seeing how many people are downloading the app, you can see how many people have claimed coupons or booked appointments as well as how many people are viewing each update on the main feed on the app. You can also see how many people are going to your business’ website or Facebook page with Google Analytics.

ADM: Can you leverage the app beyond FB to Instagram, etc.?

Bluvband: Currently, AppsVillage only uses Facebook as a leveraging tool but we are exploring other social platforms as the company continues to grow.

ADM: How does the app enable small businesses to create tailored and focused adverts?

Bluvband: When a business creates an update on the app, it can be sent to app users through a push notification feature. Additionally, AppsVillage will soon provide boosting capability directly on the application, allowing updates to be boosted on Facebook, Google ads or other platforms. The app will become an even more powerful advertising platform.

ADM: What is the adoption rate of small businesses to apps and what categories have successfully done well?

Bluvband: We reach businesses through traditional outlets via Facebook advertisements and adoption rates can average up to 30 apps a day. That number is also trending upwards. We already have 1,000 businesses who’ve created apps on AppsVillage in a very short period of time.

Retail, restaurants, fashion, jewelry, massage therapy, holistic healing practices, hair salons, and real estate are some of the most popular industries using AppsVillage. We even have some schools who are using the platform.

ADM: What is the bell curve for consumer adoption?

Bluvband: Between 30-40% of the business’ customers adopt the app and those customers are influencing 80% of the business’ revenue because they are the most loyal customer segment.

About Max Bluvband

Max Bluvband is the co-founder and CEO of AppsVillage, a company that turns your business Facebook page into a mobile powerful app within seconds. Max is a serial entrepreneur and has founded multiple technology and mobile-focused companies. Max led all the funding rounds from angel investors to top-tier venture capitalists, such as Sequoia Capital, totaling more than $12M in funding.

He earned his BSc in Computer Science from Netanya Academic College.