Sometimes the best advice for small businesses comes from other small (or not-so-small) businesses. That’s exactly what we at Swiftic have found as we’ve gotten to know BeTerrific!! — an awesome online video channel that specializes in positive and inspirational stories about business, technology, and more. Because so many of today’s consumers rely on our smartphones for sustenance, this terrific media platform has recently released an equally terrific app that regularly delivers the good news right to the palm of our hands.

We interviewed Michael Artsis—co-founder of BeTerrific!! and globe-trotting five-time Emmy Award-winning host, anchor, producer, director, and video journalist—about his app-creation journey with Swiftic and his expert tips for small business owners. Here are some of his useful insights on using an app to better connect with customers, keep those customers coming back, and increase profits.

Why did you decide to create an app for BeTerrific!!?

We wanted to create an app that we could use to effectively engage our mobile fans with our live and archived content, our schedule, and our social media activity. The app has more than lived up to the billing, and we couldn’t be happier with it. Mobile is where it’s at, and this lets us make our product easier and more fun to consume and interact with, especially on the go.

What specific features did you incorporate into your app?

Our most important features were our in-app video archive and live video. Our About Us, calendar, and social pages were key as well. And we have a whole lot more cool stuff packed in there. We plan to add a store for our swag and a global app search in the future.

What has been the response to your app?

Everyone’s been really impressed, and they love the app. I believe it’s their favorite way to consume content because it lets them actively interact instead of just observing. Our app is also cross-platform and -device, which means our users can get our content anywhere and on virtually any device. What can I say? They love our app, and so do we.

Your app is all about keeping your users connected by providing them the latest news and interviews. Can you please tell us about how this strategy has worked for you, and offer some ideas for how small businesses could use it to enhance customer loyalty?

I think that at this point BeTerrific!! is still in many ways a small business. We have great audience numbers and traffic, but we are still small. I think that it is key to engage your audience regularly and give them new content all the time, between push notifications, videos, and all sorts of other things you can do in the app. It’s really important for all small businesses—whether they are a doctor’s office, a restaurant, or a toy store—to constantly be reminding their audience (customers) that they exist and they have something to offer. Especially today. The app is a great way to do that with built-in resources. I also think it’s important to refresh content regularly to give people a reason to come back and make them excited.

Do you have any other ideas for ways that small businesses could use their apps to grow?

I think that the app is an extension of many aspects of your business—marketing, sales, delivery—so treat it as such. Give people a reason to hire you or buy from you through your app or in person. I think in your app you have them captivated, so you should sell them your products or services right there. We use our app to sell some merchandise and also talk about our video production. Our main focus now is on our brand and our content, and the app helps deliver that better than any other platform.

The businesses that use our platform send out push notifications and emails regularly. From your experience, what are the best tips you can give on creating content that begs to be clicked?

I think the best thing to do is to offer this stuff regularly. People say that you shouldn’t send push notifications too much, but I don’t think there is such a thing. We try to do it once a day. We want to remind people we exist. They downloaded the app for a reason and they leave push notifications on for a reason. Sure, there are people who don’t know how to turn the feature off, but they are the minority. So we want to tell them what’s going on.

Don’t do it for the sake of doing it—do it when you have something to say. For us with the daily live show, we send notifications daily. But until we had the daily live show, we did it weekly or when we had new content. People love to be in the loop. Don’t be afraid to communicate. Use the tools that are there.

As for mobile coupons and email, limit that. Make coupons feel special. Thirty percent off three times a week doesn’t feel special, so limit that to twice a month. People love coupons and love to save, but you need to show self-control. It’s easy to lose sight of that, but stick to it! The app is a great way to get customers using those coupons and track your results. The retention rate will be phenomenal. It is for us!

Thanks to Michael for sharing his expert insights on ways for small businesses to use apps to better reach customers.

Want to reach your customers with a terrific app?