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Attracting new clients is one of the most expensive things in companies' budgets, and it is relevant for both B2C and B2B segments. At the same time, both of these industries are actively using online channels to attract sales. Why? Well, digital channels are able to significantly accelerate the process, as well as address the target audience with more focus and more accurately. Traditional tools such as website optimization for search engines (SEO), contextual advertising, and e-mail have already proven to be effective channels to attract customers.
And although quality marketing promotion is certainly important, there are other aspects that must be considered. The application itself is an excellent additional channel of contact with the target audience, which provides great opportunities. Nevertheless, it can be extremely difficult for you to capture the hearts and minds of the audience with a ready-made software solution, which does not stand out from hundreds of your similar competitors. A quality custom software can not only become an effective tool for brand promotion and user base expansion, but also be a significant competitive advantage. We offer you to consider 4 reasons why custom software is a necessary thing to attract new customers.
.1 You have competitors
The out-of-the-box solution can be brought to the market quicker. Experts in the field of off-the-shelf software use to call this characteristic a competitive advantage because it supposedly allows you to outperform competitors. Even if we assume that’s true, such a thing is only a short-term advantage. Your competitor has already noticed a similar or comparable software solution. Yes, this software was also sold to him. Within a year, your competitors may have the same digital offer on the market, and they will position it as a newer and updated version of what you have provided to your customers. If you think about the long-term perspective, the true competitive advantage is an unique custom software that takes into account your business processes and the needs of your customers.
Moreover, for companies that cannot demonstrate their brand, it can be difficult to maintain the loyalty of employees and customers. When developing an individual software solution, enterprises can optimize the system design, making its layouts and overall user experience reflect the vision and values of the brand. Features such as customizable forms, automatic responses to messages, reports, and notifications can be customized to provide a higher level of branding that standard software may not offer.
.2 You need technological superiority
You probably won’t argue that users prefer platforms that use the most advanced solutions. However, if your core business isn’t exclusively technology focused, you may need help in choosing the right technology.
By the right technology, we mean choosing the technology stack that fits best into your business, along with using best practices to implement and customize solutions. Moreover, a smart technology partner can help you identify new directions in your business where digital channels can create new monetization opportunities for your benefit. Also, when developing a custom solution, you can always equip it with the latest technological advances. Artificial Intelligence? Machine learning? Blockchain? All this can be implemented! A rare boxed solution will boast of such powerful tools and those can cost a lot of money. Just don't forget to discuss with your technology partner the feasibility of implementing such a solution first, as implementing it simply because you can isn’t always the best move in this game.
If you are primarily engaged in retail sales, you might want to invest in an e-commerce website. The right software development partner can find the ideal e-commerce solution for you. They can implement it with uniqueness and individuality according to specific business needs and ensure that it can be expanded for the future, depending on the growth of your business. This way, you can kill two birds with one stone: provide an advanced technological solution and lay the foundation for further expansion.
.3 Excellent scalability
When you decide to go for tailored software development, an additional advantage is that the software is customizable to suit your business growth rate. It can be built with a flexible technology architecture that allows you to expand it in terms of processing power or functions as your business grows.
A cloud-friendly development architecture ensures that you can add more storage, processing power, and handle multiple deployments as the volume of software operations increases. This way, users will be attracted to the speed of your application. This was one of the main factors that led to the popularity of Google Chrome some time ago.
In addition, having a special technology partner to develop custom software can help you mitigate potential difficulties arising from changes in business processes that will occur in the future. Such a partner can also ensure that custom software developed for your business can easily adapt to these changes at the right time with minimal effort and greater cost-effectiveness than standard software solutions. This is one of the key factors proving the importance of custom software development.
.4 Security
When you buy commercial off-the-shelf software to meet your business needs, you may inherit some problems with protocols and security policies. However, today's tight privacy and data protection regulations in several countries require small businesses to offer stricter and safer customer data protection. Your business may have its own unique security policies, which must be integrated in your digital channels.
This is where custom software development can come in handy. Your software development partner can work with you to identify the best security policies, integrate them into your software, and ensure that your business applications meet all regulatory requirements in the area you do business.
In addition, it becomes easier to set up new rules if you own a custom solution, when it comes to starting a business in a new territory or country. And don't forget that users like security. A good example is Telegram messenger, which had rapid growth to 400 million users. Especially if we consider the fact that the market had enough strong competitors in this area.
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Remember, if you want to attract users, the main thing is uniqueness, the ability to develop faster than the average market rate, and create something new. Be faithful to yourself and pave new ways, and our experts will help you. You can contact them by clicking the button below the article.
