Nowadays, simply conceiving a killer app idea is not enough to land millions of dollars in your pocket.
Currently, there are around Five Million apps operating in both IOS and Android platforms combined.
These extravagant numbers strongly indicate the diminished scope of creating an absolutely unique mobile app these days.
Therefore to cope up with the dynamics of the current state of the app industry, app developers need to ensure that their app idea is augmented with a full-proof plan.
A plan that primarily includes strategies for countering with the competitors currently operating in its service category and ensuring the app?s long term existence.
Let’s talk about three such elements that every app developer should carefully consider while creating and launching his mobile app.
1. Knowing your customer base implicitly
Unless you are creating an app that is strongly based on a generic functionality, it’s extremely crucial to know your target customers in and out.
The term “Knowing your customer persona” generally has a standard definition:
And that’s to have a robust idea of the demographics, psychographics, and spending habits of the consumer.
However, in the case of creating a new app, the scope widens.
The question every app designer needs to ask himself is:
“Whether my app has the potential to benefit my audience in a differential manner??
Social media listening is one of the ideal platforms where you can conduct your research and find an answer to the above question.
Be a part of social media groups or pages that have followers/members having discussions regarding your app’s service category.
Facebook groups can help you the most in this case.
This is because they can give you a direct peek into the customer’s mind as to what is the average consumer’s perception or views about your app’s service category.
You can also try to initiate certain conversations regarding your app’s features and functionalities and subsequently analyze the responses.
2. Analysing the existing players in the market
It’s almost impossible to launch a highly unique app nowadays.
No matter what service category you pick up, you are hell-bound for numerous existing competitors.
Well, if you ask me, it’s not that much of a bad thing.
Analyzing existing players can significantly help you to create a relatively safer and lucrative trajectory for your upcoming app.
There’s no doubt that you have to heavily invest in marketing operations in order to make your new app stand out.
But on the other hand, existing players can help you in elucidating some of the most uncertain issues of launching a new app.
Some of them are:
- Longevity
This is arguably the most difficult element of Mobile app development that designers have a really hard time cracking.
Every service category has a few apps that have passed the age test and are running strong over a good number of years.
You should thoroughly analyze the business approach of these apps when it comes to releasing updates, handling customer complaints, streamlining their current services, etc.
- The platform dilemma
If the majority of existing apps in your niche have been able to successfully carry out their operations on both android and IOS without suffering losses, then there’s a strong chance that you would be able to achieve that feat as well.
- Key features
You can conduct a thorough analysis of that one key feature that every app in your segment mandatorily has.
This is something that is the most sought after from your target consumers in terms of ease and relevance.
You can always build on this key feature and add to its functionality in order to provide a relatively higher value to your customers.
3. The marketing approach
No matter how unique your app is, it needs some astute marketing initiatives to bring the app to the consumer’s notice initially.
The thing is, a post-launch marketing strategy takes a really long time to flourish.
And there is a high chance that your app would disappear among a myriad of related apps before your marketing efforts start showing results.
The first few months are extremely crucial for your app’s future, and therefore, you need to have a proactive approach to your app marketing.
In short, having a pre-launch marketing strategy is non-negotiable when it comes to today’s app development scenario.
You need some Digital marketing tactics that can directly communicate the functionalities of your new app prior to its release.
The most effective option in this scenario is to leverage influencer marketing.
Try to go for collaborations with micro-influencers operating in your niche instead of celebrity influencers.
That’s because the former would provide a customer base that is much more driven towards your app, instead of celebrity influencers that have a highly generic follower base.
You can easily get micro-influencers to create social media or Youtube content regarding your new app for a few hundred dollars.
Want to go a notch higher?
Conduct a podcast with the influencer where you can share your app development story and key features your upcoming app would provide.
The takeaway
App developers should always consider the bigger picture while creating their dream app.
It’s quite common for new apps that are based on a modestly good idea to have high download numbers and engagement levels, during their initial few months.
However, majority apps fail to carry on this dream run while the app starts to age.
Therefore the above-mentioned factors should be given an equal amount of importance as the app idea.
About Author: Hi There, I am Shaun Williams, a content writer with Goodfirms, a research platform for Blockchain Technology and Bot Development companies, among many others. I enjoy communicating ideas and knowledge creatively and also ensure that the readers never suffer from boredom while reading my posts.
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