Building a successful mobile app is a tough task. Chances are low for all mobile app developers to excel. New app developers who are jump starting out in the game are afraid to take the risks, as most of the new apps are left unnoticed in the market. If you see the app store, you will find that more than 50% of the apps fail in the market. This is the reason why beginners face a lot of challenges to become successful app developers.
How entrepreneurs enter the app market
There are many companies that encourage beginners to step up and try their luck in mobile app development. There is a great difference between being technically skilled and becoming successful. Not all skilled app developers are successful in mobile app industry. The biggest task for app developers is to develop a unique app and market it straight to their customers. I would like to share the top 6 mistakes entrepreneurs should avoid while developing and marketing the mobile app.
- Building an app for multiple platforms
This is one of the common mistakes app developers do. Entrepreneurs face a very competitive space, as there are millions of apps on Google Play and Apple Store. Instead of doubling the cost of developing app for multiple platforms, one should focus on building for one platform first. By launching a mobile app on two different platforms simultaneously, you are adding more to the development time and cost.
Additionally, if you make any changes to the design and/or functionality of the app in one platform, you have to do it on both places. Hence, developers should avoid this mistake of developing for multiple platforms at the same time.
- Incorporating too many features
Most of the mobile apps fail in the market due to very less or too many features. However, there are lots of apps that are plain and simple, and yet have a great potential to sustain in the market. Users check new apps for a short period of time. Providing too many features will drive away users, as the features may make the app look complicated.
The goal of entrepreneurs should be to keep the users glued to the app. This is possible by incorporating essential features on primary screen and rest of the features to secondary screens. This strategy not only keeps the app simple, but attracts new users too. The app users will not show much interest in overwhelming design and features, and discard the app. Hence, it is important to develop apps with this in mind.
- Forgetting the ‘WOW’ factor
The number of mobile app users is expected to reach 80 million by the year 2018. Seeing the increasing number of mobile app users, App Stores of Android and Apple have set a bar with the design and user experience. If you give your Smartphone to a child, he/she will know how to use it. This means, the expectations of mobile users are entirely different from that of web. The user will give up on your app, if it is very difficult to use.
On the contrary, online users may not give up so easily despite of poor user experience. App developers should understand this difference and build extra-ordinary mobile apps with stunning features and functionality. As soon as the user launches the app, there should be a ‘wow’ factor to hook up the users.
- Inflexible marketing plan
App development and app marketing are two important phases of building a successful app. However, entrepreneurs tend to show much interest in development compared to app marketing. As the App Stores are crowded with millions of apps, your app may not be discovered on app store even on the day of launch if you fail to market it properly. Entrepreneurs should think of a perfect marketing plan as the app is being developed. Apps can be marketed in multiple ways by creating a clear strategy of target audience and their preferences.
If we see social media, we understand how drastically it has changed in the recent years. Marketing goals are changing from time to time, as a result of which what is working today may not work tomorrow. Entrepreneurs should create a flexible marketing plan that accommodates current and future market situations. By being flexible with own marketing strategies, app entrepreneurs can stay ahead of others.
- Putting all the efforts in one basket
Technology and marketing are ever evolving, which means a single strategy will not generate same results. If you see the development and marketing plan of the top 10 best mobile apps, you will see how they used technology to market their apps. The marketing channels they used earlier were entirely different from that of the channels they are using now. It means entrepreneurs should diversify their marketing efforts to ensure that they are not putting all the efforts in one basket. Focusing on one tactic for long period may diminish the returns.
My advice is to consider marketing plans as investment strategies. If you want a steady increase in popularity & profitability of the mobile app, you need a healthy mix of marketing tactics. Trying new marketing tactics and plucking the ones that are no longer effective will increase the popularity of the app.
- Ignoring the audience and not releasing the updates
As an app entrepreneur, you should understand the fact that you are developing mobile app for other people. We all know that people have different need and preferences, and it is difficult to develop an app for everyone. It is essential to define target audience before defining the features of apps. Before developing an app check what actually users want and what type of solution they prefer.
Even after developing an app that has demand in the industry, there would be people who are unsatisfied with the features or performance of the app. The job of an app entrepreneur doesn’t end with development and marketing. The mobile app should be improved on a regular basis according to the user’s preferences. Once the bugs are fixed, an update must be released so that audiences are aware of the fixes.
Developing a great mobile app is not an easy task. There are lots of hurdles that come across while developing and marketing the app. By avoiding the above listed mistakes while developing and marketing the app you will increase the chances of creating a successful app that is covered by press and is well monetized.
