Expert Tips For Mobile App

So you want to know how to build successful mobile apps that’ll be a hit in Google Play and the App Store? Get ready to drink from a firehose! Here’s a list of 11 things every app team must know in order to build an app that’s a hit with users.

• What’s Your Elevator Pitch?

One of the first steps you need to lock down in your mobile app development process is your elevator pitch. You’ve got a few precious seconds to explain your app to somebody and why it’s going to be the next big hit. What do you tell them in the clearest, most concise manner ever?

For example, are you creating an app to digitize your mobile sales force? Is your goal to enable your sales team to enter sales visits and outcomes from the road, getting that information into the office quicker than ever before? Or do you have a completely different idea? Bottom line – you need to have a concise, mantra-like explanation of your app to share with others.

• What Business Model Are You Using?

When it comes to selecting a business model for your upcoming app, you have six main options:

• Freemium, which is when you give users a free app to gain adoption, build trust, and encourage them to upgrade to the paid version.
• In-app purchases, which are common in a variety of apps from games to Uber.
• Ad income, which is when you make your app free, but sells ad space to other apps.
• Selling user data collected from your app to a third party.
• Affiliate, which is when your app makes money for promoting other products – either for services or a commission.
• Enterprise apps you create to boost your own company’s productivity, reduce their paper usage, etc.

• Who Will Use Your App?

Before you begin developing an app, you need to have a good idea of who is going to find it useful, interesting, or fun and use it. Oftentimes we flesh out these steps during mobile app development by creating user cases, so we understand who uses the app a lot, who uses it a little, and what needs to happen to get someone to use the app more frequently. Knowing this information helps us build successful mobile apps.

• What Functions Does Your App Need to Do?

You may not be the technical person behind your app, but you’ve got to explain what features it needs at least at a high level. During our mobile app development process, we like to create user stories that explain how one process leads to another. It helps us to better understand who will be using the app, and how, as well as how different people will find the app useful for different reasons.

• What Integrations Do You Need?

Many of today’s most successful apps require third party integration. You may be building an app that needs to rely on Bluetooth Beacons or Saas. The possibilities are endless.

• Who’s Going to be Accountable for What?

At this (very important) step, you and your partner, if you have one, decide how you’ll work with your mobile app agency, and who will be responsible for what, and how much free reign your mobile app agency will have. The most important thing you can do in this step is to over-communicate. Make sure that everyone knows what’s expected of them, what they’re expected to come to you for, and how issues will be resolved.

• What’s Your Budget?

You absolutely must know the cost of your mobile app, as well as how you’re going to get the funding to build it. And whether you’ll be self-funding or raising capital, your budget must be locked down so that you don’t overspend.

• How Are You Going to Market Your App?

You can have the best, most bug-free app there is, but if you don’t promote it, it’ll get lost in a sea of apps in Google Play and the App Store.

Your app promotion plan is going to depend on what type of app it is. Are you creating a game for the youngest members of GenZ? Advertise on YouTube! Have you created a business productivity tool to be used in your own organization? Work with your corporate communications team to create an in-house marketing push, as well as helpful guides, videos, and other information that will aid in the app’s adoption throughout your company.

• What Are Competing Apps Like?

You’ve always got to size yourself up against the competition. Even if your app is the first of its kind, look at the next closest competitor to see what they’re doing, what they’re not doing, what people love about it, and what they wish they could change.

• What Are You Going to Do Post-Launch?

Selling an app isn’t an event – it’s a process. While your first upload to the App Store or Google Play is a momentous occasion, your app will need to be constantly iterated on – and have new features added – to keep it relevant. Before you ever have a line of code written for your app, you should know how frequently you’re going to review and update it every year.

• Android? iOS? Both?

Finding the best platform for your app can be a tough decision, especially since the choice between Android and iOS can be polarizing. 

In some cases, though, making a platform choice is easy. Are you making an enterprise app and the company has standardized on iPhones? Then you’re making an iOS app. Do they use Samsung phones instead? Then you’re making an Android app. Remember, even if you want to develop for both platforms, you can always focus your initial mobile app development efforts on bringing one platform to life, first.

The Bottom Line When it Comes to Successful Mobile Apps

You need more than a vision to create successful mobile apps. You need a plan that’s tied to a schedule and a budget. 

At our mobile app agency, we help people just like you with mobile app development and determining the cost of mobile apps. If you need this assistance, we’re here to help! Simply call us at (877) 682-2012 to get the conversation started.

Not big on reading? That’s okay. Watch “What You Need to Know to Successfully Build a Mobile App” instead.

Using the power of Artificial Intelligence, we turned this blog into a video for you. Check it out below!