App Building Platforms: The Must-have Tech for Marketers

Michelle Lawrence Picture

by Michelle Lawrence | Last Updated: Sep 7, 2021

According to a recent study from BrandMaker, 62 percent of CMOs indicated they wished they had more time and activities related to marketing strategy.  SEO, content, and social are just some of the things that come to mind when thinking about tactics in your marketing strategy. But why is mobile often overlooked? Having a solid mobile marketing strategy is the key to delighting your customers. And no, I’m not just talking about designing your emails to be mobile responsive (though, you should be doing that too).  Figuring out the right elements to implement in your marketing strategy is crucial to connecting with your audience. App building platforms are an essential tool that every marketer should have in their tech stack to accomplish this. Plus, it’s a pretty cool brag to say you’ve built an app.  Why Mobile Apps?  Think about where you spend the most of your time. Yep, we all said our phones. Consumers are spending upwards of four hours on their mobile device each day. Marketers need to start meeting consumers where they’re at and delivering an experience they’ll actually want to use.   Consumers expect authentic and engaging digital experiences. I don’t need to tell you how our world continues to shift towards digital each day. You probably experience this on the daily, like accessing restaurant menus via QR codes, paying for your groceries with contactless payment, and even relying (maybe a little too heavily) on mobile ordering If your organization doesn’t already have a mobile app, take this as your sign to build one using an app building platform What is an App Building Platform?  Remember playing with building blocks as a kid? That’s essentially what an app building platform is. This software gives you all of the building blocks you need to quickly spin up apps.  The best app building platforms have a long list of Components, integrations, and design elements to choose from when building an app. Fair warning, once you start building an app using an app builder, you might find it rather addicting.  Your New Favorite MarTech Here’s why marketers love app building platforms: they have complete freedom.  When marketing is in control of app building, there’s no waiting for months for your project to be completed. There’s no tense Zoom meetings arguing about the design of the app or bribing your developers to make changes quickly. All of the power lies in your hands. And if you want to share that power, you can invite team members to join you on your app building journey.  Building the Right Mobile App Fun fact: there are different types of mobile apps. The apps in the app store are probably what come to mind when you think of mobile. But there’s a different mobile experience you should know about.  Enter: Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) 👋 They work exactly like native mobile apps, just better.  PWAs are leading the charge when it comes to mobile. Even your favorite brands are building PWAs...we’re looking at you, Starbucks, Pinterest, and West Elm Marketers all over the world are making the switch to PWAs for a number of reasons, because PWAs: Building a PWA is a win-win. You’ll love them because you’ll never have to deal with the app store again, and consumers love them because they deliver an unparalleled mobile experience.  Building a PWA vs. a Native Mobile App Different mobile app platforms will deliver varying types of apps, so it’s important to partner with a company that delivers the best mobile experience possible (which for many consumers, is a PWA).  With that being said, if you’re in gaming or need to use Bluetooth, building a native mobile app might be your preferred method.  But for the most part, you’ll want to hop on the PWA bandwagon. PWAs make building personalized apps at scale possible. Think about this, what if you could deliver a personalized app and meet them exactly where they are in the customer journey? All you have to do is design the app template, enter the personalized content, and watch your app dynamically populate for each user.  App Ideas to Steal The hardest part about using an app builder is figuring out what to build...but luckily there’s a list of more than 30 ideas you can steal.  Here’s a list of some apps you can build with an app building platform:  The list of possibilities is endless. And with how easy building a PWA is with an app building platform, you don’t have to choose just one. I’d be willing to bet you could build at least several of these on this list in one week. Think you’re up for the challenge?

See Lumavate in Action

Meet with one of our experts to see how easy it is to centralize your product data, manage digital assets, and create digital product experiences. Trust us…you’re going to be wowed.