Introduction
Mobile applications have become an integral part of our lives, and they continue to change the way people interact with each other. For business organizations, mobility is imperative to meet the growing demands of customers as well as their workforce.
When planning to go mobile, it is important to develop a strategy that can be used to attract new customers and generate revenue while ensuring maximum app penetration and adoption. Developers and entrepreneurs alike need to keep up with the evolving environment where change is only constant.
Given to the diversity of mobile users, devices, and development parameters, there are a few points we need to consider. Since app development requires a broader perspective, with this in mind I have compiled a list of 10 key pointers you need to ask yourself to help you develop an effective mobile strategy for your app.
1. Commercial Aim(s) of Your App
Even smaller businesses can benefit from an app if it is backed by a proper strategy to market your products in a very powerful and engaging way. However, before developing any app for the business, one must have a proper idea of its commercial aim, such as promoting an existing product, or generating mobile advertisement revenue.
There are basically three types of models used for apps to make money, sell or promote apps, and more. They are described as follows:
- Revenue Stream- these are the apps that are directly sold to the smartphone users. Most of them look appealing, enticing, and have features to engage visitors. They are entertaining as well as useful. Businesses developing these apps need to be sure to give their audience an expected return on their investment. For this, it is important to understand the installation price you are going to charge from them. In addition to this, you need to develop a proper strategy about the features you wish to embed to give your users a full entertainment value.
- Promotion Platform Apps- Promotional apps need to be simple and yet engaging enough to keep your customers returning. Such kind of apps are those which range from loyalty apps to those which help customers to place orders on the go. Convenience should be the core functionality and only those features should be added that make your customers life easier.
- Advertisement Space- By incorporating some ad space, many apps have strengthened their mobile revenue potential impressively. This has helped Instagram and other mobile-oriented apps earn millions. It’s a strongest revenue model and comes as a handy way to convey messages to the target audience.
2. How Your Customers Use Their Devices
If you already have an existing website, use analytics to understand how your customers use their mobiles. Are they using it to gain knowledge or information? How many of them are using Android or iOS; smartphones or tablets? Evaluating this kind of data will help you take informed decisions and development plans.
3. Understand Your Customer Demographics
What kind of users are you targeting? Male or female, kids, teenagers, or adults? Based on the answers you get, you may decide to create an app that has a multilingual interfaces, versions for both iOS and Android, integration with social networking sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc. Perhaps you’d want to publish a free version at first and then charge prices for additional features and updates.
4. The Looks and Functionality of Your App and Website
Talking about native apps for iOS and Android, there is a tendency among users to expect an application to look different from its current website. For this, companies are proceeding to develop “mobile web apps”, or mobile-friendly websites that only runs after determining it is running on a smartphone or tablet device. To get the job done, developers will upgrade the main website and integrate features that are included in the mobile app. The entire process might seem daunting to you, but as your business grows you’ll start enjoying economies of scale because your website serves both desktop as well as mobile users.
5. The Size of Your App
You should consider every technological and distribution point that you think is sufficient for your app. Make sure your app does not eat up too much storage data, as most iOS and Android phones have a storage space ranging from 16GB ~ 32GB. If your app is turning out to be a giant monster, consider making it smaller so it does not scare your users away.
6. The Scope of Your Mobile App
Applications have their own set of core functions, and they are incredibly good at executing them. Trying to force two or more core features into your app is a huge mistake. The more functions you build into an app, the more complicated it becomes for the user. Make sure your application design and features are simple enough to provide a meaningful experience to users.
7. Portrait or Landscape
Whether your app will run in portrait or landscape mode is a critical consideration if you are developing a gaming app. Some games work well on landscape, while some on portrait mode, and some of both modes. Make sure you test your application well to check if there are certain deviations like application crashing or UI bugs when switching to another orientation.
8. Network Connectivity Issues
The majority of mobile applications are developed in the presence of WiFi to ensure a good network connectivity. However, mobile app developers should invest time to test applications in an environment when there is a low or no network connection is available. Usually, when people are on the move, the network connectivity starts to drop. The current location of the user also determines the kind of connectivity they are expected to experience. Your application should be capable of handling all these issues smoothly and it must be tested for it.
9. Evaluating Your Application Security
Security is a major concern for anyone dealing with web technologies, and it becomes all the more prevalent as applications demand personal information to process certain functions. If you are developing an e-commerce app that will need sensitive information such as credit or debit card details, phone numbers, addresses, e-mail IDs, and so on, then consider data privacy at any cost. Users are worried about their data being exposed to vulnerable locations. Develop an appropriate approach to encrypt user name, passwords, and other confidential information over a network. One method to test the security of your app is to route your mobile’s data using a proxy server and detect loopholes.
10. Understanding Monetizing Mechanisms
Application developers should strive to create an environment that encourages users to get involved with their business. In simple words, an environment should stimulate users to make purchasing decisions. The app can start out free, but then seamlessly moves users to the next stage by offering in-app purchases to access additional, premium features.
To effectively implement this strategy, you need to have a strong understanding of the areas where triggers can be placed and also understand what your users need. This is a nice approach to improve conversion while ensuring a delightful user experience.
Conclusion
Application development is a challenging as well as exciting experience. Make sure you have the right strategy beforehand to develop cutting-edge and competitive apps.
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Author Bio: Juana Steves is a prolific writer, who brings to the table a quantum of knowledge and creative writing skills. She works for Xicom Technologies, a market leader in the field of PHP Development Services and Hire PHP Developers from Xicom.
