It is not shocking to say that the digital marketing landscape is changing all the time. What was once an excellent way to reach customers yesterday falls flat today. Companies have to stay ahead of the game to make sure they reach their target with an effective and engaging method, but how?

Unless you are a professional digital marketer, you are likely to get overwhelmed by all of the off-the-shelf solutions thrown at you once you decide to invest in digital marketing. Investing in these cookie-cutter digital solutions can leave you wanting. They do not usually take into consideration the different aspects of your business that may not fit with their software’s model.

Instead of going the pre-made software route, getting custom-built software can help you gain the edge you have been looking for and explore new revenue streams. You may get uneasy thinking about the price tag that typically comes with custom-built anything, but investing in pre-made commercial software often does more harm than good. Here are five reasons why you must invest in custom software for your business.

Targeted Solutions

Running a business is a multi-faceted endeavor, and you may find that each operation needs different tools to reach peak productivity and revenue. Most off-the-shelf products will offer a few solutions and tools for each operation, but they will rarely meet all of your business’ needs at once. This means having to invest in multiple products just to get going, which is far from ideal and may even be expensive.

Custom software offers you a solution to streamlining your operations throughout your business instead of having to deal with multiple vendors and put in considerable effort to keep things organized. You can have a personal suite of applications that are tailored to your business operations, creating an efficient and productive workflow.

Scalability

Off-the-shelf software solutions may advertise being scalable to accommodate different workloads, but that does not always mean they will suit the flexibility needs of your business. Using one of these commercial software products may just end up leaving you with an expensive product that can’t rise to the occasion. Instead, custom software development allows you to set the limits for your business and build the software around those parameters.

Instead of a cookie-cutter software program that focuses only on the industry standards for your niche, custom software can be built with your business’ goals in mind. Custom-built software will be able to accommodate your business and workflow requirements as new challenges arise. This is especially useful if you are running a small business, as easy scalability will be critical as you reach your business milestones.

Support for Existing Technology

It is easy for businesses to follow market trends and invest in whatever software seems top-tier at the time. If you find yourself with a software that was once a trendsetter but is no longer living up to the hype, you may assume you need to scrap the whole thing and start over. However, starting over with a new vendor presents its own set of problems, like figuring out how to integrate and putting in extra effort to maintain existing software.

With custom software development, you do not need to undertake such a major project to make changes that better fit your business. Instead, you can build onto existing applications, saving a significant amount of effort and money in the process. If your business has a team to customize the software you already have, it is a much simpler and faster way to go than tacking on an off-the-shelf solution and adding on expensive customizations.

Future-Proofing

For businesses to stay competitive, they have to be innovative. The more you innovate your business, the better your business’ chances of catching its customers’ interests. Many businesses assume that buying ready-to-go software from big-name vendors means they will be able to pass off the need to innovate onto the vendor and that the vendor will rise to the occasion. Unfortunately, businesses that go this route often end up feeling left behind and may have to purchase more software from somewhere else to stay ahead of the market.

However, if you invest in custom software, you will have much more flexibility to grow and change as the market does. You can try out new marketing concepts to see how they fit with your business and make revenue-boosting changes fast. Doing this will give your brand an edge in the market as your customers will see your brand as an innovator rather than a late-adopter of new platforms.

Compliance with Industry Standards

Running a business is complicated, and there are a lot of standard practices and processes that need to be followed to remain compliant with the law. Off-the-shelf software often has issues with compliance, as they are designed to fit the broader needs of business in general rather than the niche needs of a specific industry. This causes business owners to have to jump through hoops to make sure they are compliant, which creates even more work and stress for the owner.

This is another area where custom software can save you from a huge headache scenario down the road. Data privacy and consent management are two of the most crucial compliance issues that you may encounter, and not following these regulations can result in hefty fines and lawsuits. Custom software can be built around specific compliance requirements and industry standards, freeing up your time to focus on other important areas of your business and preventing any legal mess down the road.

The Bottom Line

Technology should always support your business operations and help you reach your goals. Cookie-cutter software programs will struggle to do this for you, ultimately wasting your time and money in the process. Custom software is the best way to meet the needs of your business and streamline your business operations.

Don’t put your business at the whim of a third-party vendor. Invest in a custom software solution for the best results.