With 1.96 million apps available to download on the Apple App Store alone, the question arises, how can I make my app successful and how do I get mine noticed?
Users look for apps to enhance their day-to-day life, whether that’s creating memos on a phone or laptop or looking for the latest candy-crush-like mobile game to waste some time on.
What makes people choose certain apps over others and how can I make my app successful? We answer both these questions in our guide, here are some steps to consider when developing your application:
Make your app serve a purpose
It may sound obvious but is your app going to solve a problem or make the user’s life easier?
To set yourself apart from the competition, target a USP (Unique Selling Point) and narrow down the audience that falls into that category.
You can take inspiration from existing apps and build upon their features, offering a more well-rounded package.
You could go completely niche and focus on solving problems with a small but dedicated group of users e.g creating an app to update users of the current status of animals at the zoos in their country, providing animal names and baby updates. The options are endless.
Be innovative
Make your app new and don’t be afraid to bring your own twist to the app market. Innovation can come in many forms, for those of us who aren’t app geniuses, research allows us to innovate.
If you find out who your competition will be, innovation will come easier as you can add onto what they already built, with your own twist of course.
If your app becomes high-ranking, innovation doesn’t end. You should dedicate time in your schedule for updates and consider employing a person or team to specialize in application support. This will ensure maximized availability, complete and uninterrupted functioning, and sustainable application evolution. You might not hit the app market with the next “big thing” right away but after a year or two of innovative updates, your app can climb the ladder of success.
Brands must become more relevant to mobile and computer users
As the current trends of modern tech are fast-paced and ever-changing, it’s vital for old and new brands alike to have a presence on an app store. It is even more important for brands to make their apps relevant to their intended users. Here is an example:
A small business is looking to create an app for selling candles to their majoritively women-based audience. If that business decides to tailor their app design, function, and vibe around scented candles for men, they would have misjudged their user base and end up with inactive users.
Relevancy and inactive users come hand in hand. When marketing your brand spanking new app, ensure the marketing team working on the project are fully aware of the audience profile. Some marketing companies offer CPI (Cost Per Install) ad campaigns that don’t consider context or user behavior when advertising your app, resulting in people installing your app – yes, but retaining active users using your app for the intended use – no.
Make your app a must-have
If you have an existing website and users, why not try using cookies and data measuring tools to see exactly what services your customer base uses. This is a great way to design an app that is built for a purpose and one that offers must-have qualities.
Third-party integrations are a must to make your app sought after. They allow you to add features to your app that your rivals may not have.
The research will make or break your app. Let’s say you want to design a fitness app for home workouts. Use all tools at your disposal. Find out what the current top fitness apps provide and assess if you can build upon them. E.g instead of offering workouts alone, integrate a home workout add-on and even go as far as integrating a survey add-on to help generate a personalized workout for each of your users.
You want to make your app the “no-brainer” choice of all the competing options. Imagine your app as an extension of the user and provide them with a service to make their life easier.
Optimized design makes apps successful
The way your app performs and the way it looks is critical for success. Most user drop-offs after downloading an app occur due to a choppy UI and unattractive design.
Visualize a thorough idea of what you want the app to look and run like.
If you are a one-person team, consult an app development team. If you have a significant budget, you can even build an app from the ground up. Or you can use app-building services, which come with multiple design options.
Summary
If you want a successful app you should consider our pointers to help guide you. With great planning comes great success and we encourage you to break your app project into manageable stages.
Start with research and keep researching throughout your app’s development. Remember, success doesn’t always look like the number of downloads, but rather providing a sought-after app that makes your target audience’s life easier.