How to Make Your Mobile App Successful

How can you make your app the next best thing on the Internet? This is probably the most daunting question every app developer and marketer has. The app industry is a thriving industry. Apple alone receives 100,000 app submissions on a weekly basis based on its latest announcement, prompting the company to roll out improvements at the store level last September.

In line with this, app competition and thereby discovery will intensify at least on the App Store. The next best thing is to make your app stand out. Here are the essentials of a great app.

1) Offer a solution

All successful mobile app in the market solve a particular problem. There are two routes to take. First, you may choose to address inherent problems. These are the issues that require urgent solutions. People cannot live without these things because these apps make their lives easier. A perfect example is an app that reminds home patients to take their medicine at a specified time.

Second, you can also feature enhancements. These are the necessities although a little customization would help. Some examples are to-do and calendar apps.

2) Make it intuitive

Great apps are not only native but are also intuitive to the users. It means it should be user-friendly. The users should be able to figure out how to use the app in a matter of seconds or a few minutes. Don’t let them guess what the app can and cannot do.

User experience (or simply UX) will also suffer if the app has bugs. The same goes with if it crashes upon opening. Users may try a failing app twice and no more than that. Ensure that you test your app before you launch it.

3) Cover the basics

Amplify the discoverability of your app through tapping the use the profile page. For one, you should have already come up with a memorable and unique app name by now. Make good use of the 50 character limit in Apple’s app store. Write the most accurate app description, integrating the right keywords into it. Be concise with the functions and features of your app.

Also, don’t forget the images. Upload stunning screenshots of your app in the page.

4) Do advance marketing

An app marketing plan should start even before the app hits the stores. Advanced marketing is the secret behind volumes of downloads or installs in the first few days of the app. Unfortunately, some developers start promoting the app once it is fully developed.

Pique the curiosity of your target users through publishing previews and teaser videos on various relevant sites and blogs. Synergizing the app with the other digital assets such as your website if you have one and app store profile page is also necessary. For instance, display carefully crafted banner images on your page perhaps with a countdown to launch day. This will be the pre-launch phase of your marketing plan. The next stages are during launch and post-launch.

5) Choose strategic channels

As fundamental to your marketing plan, there is a need to identify distribution channels available to you. However, you need not be on all these channels. You only have to choose those that will work best for your target users.

One channel to look at is the social sites. If you have previously created a LinkedIn or Facebook page for your app, good for you. If not, you might have to look elsewhere. Mobile App review sites can also be utilized. Publishing articles or posts on tech blogs are also advisable.

6) Offer it free

At first, that is. Pricing is a critical factor. You can offer it for free or on a freemium basis. Freemium means offering a free version of your app or a trial period so that users may decide whether to purchase the app in the future or not. For monetization purposes, you must provide in-app purchases if you choose the latter as well.

In the world of apps development, the users are king and the apps themselves are their queens. These are the ways to gain traction and increase the chance of making your mobile app the next success story. The goal is to make your app preferred by the users to achieve long-term success. And of course, don’t forget to publish updates to your app.