There are over 2 million apps available in Apple’s App Store and nearly 3 million in Google Play. New companies trying to launch an app today have a lot of competition. Getting attention for your app nowadays is no easy feat, and the organization and planning to have a successful app launch can be more strenuous and lengthy than people might guess.
If you don’t adequately prepare your company for your mobile app launch, you won’t get the traction, public interest, and revenue that you’re hoping for. Like any business action, a mobile app launch needs a keen marketing strategy, a demographic whose needs you’re trying to satisfy, and something innovative that you’re bringing to the table. Here are five tips for a successful mobile app launch:
Establish Target Audience
The first thing you need to figure out for your app is who it will be geared towards, that is, who your marketing demographic will be. What problem will you claim to solve, and who is having that problem? Knowing who you will market an app towards can help you decide on what sets of features your app should come with, what design and aesthetic you will aim for to make it visually appealing your customers, and what the app will be for.
A financial app that helps you monitor the progress of your investments, for example, will be geared towards older customers, who may also be slightly less phone-savvy. In this case, you’d want to make the functions intuitive for older folks used to paper records, as well as sufficiently helpful as an independent app that your more tech-savvy customers find it helpful in accomplishing tasks that would be relevant to their day-to-day life.
Have a Marketing Strategy
The early steps of app development should include market research. Figure out what currently exists on the market today in your related field. Are other companies offering similar services? Is there a glaring hole in the marketplace for a service you can provide? Are there particular complaints that show up in customer reviews across the field you might be able to take care of?
You should use this research to help figure out what you can develop that will set you apart. According to Inc. Magazine, you will not find success with an app that only incrementally improves a feature others have. You must bring something significantly new to the table, or your already-established competitors will easily be able to one-up you and overshadow you with their size. Find something unique and make that your selling point.
Search for Feedback Before Launch
Before you launch your app, you should have a customer beta period that will give app users an opportunity to describe what the user experience actually looks like. During the development process for your app, you should seek out beta testers that can review your app as you construct it, giving you chances to improve along the way. This will reduce the amount of post-launch updating and bug fixing that you would have to do without ample in-development beta testing.
In addition, you should conduct beta-testing once development is completed but before the launch to cast any last-minute errors or bugs.
Use Social Media
This is the era of social media, which means your app launch has to focus on and include social media in its marketing plans. Do this by constructing ads that play off popular social media icons. Even if you’re designing a GPS app or an app-based game, you can use the icons to market, making posts that encourage users to repost, retweet or otherwise share to reach a wider audience, and get your app mentioned in the news and on blogs.
Social media is really just representative of what people are talking about – which means if it’s on social media, it is what people are talking about.
Respond to Feedback After Launch
Once your app is launched, you need to make sure you have a robust customer service department and bug reporting programs that can give your customers the chance to quickly report issues, and give your team the chance to resolve them quickly. Customers who feel ignored will quickly take to social media to complain as quickly as they went to social media to learn about or talk about your app, which means it is now more important than ever to respond to social media and to give your customers private outlets to easily get in touch about their issues.
Mobile apps are ubiquitous, which means you have to be responsive, innovative and smart to make a successful app in today’s marketplace. Adequate research and planning can help you find that success in your mobile app launch.
Read more about mobile apps here on Tech.Co
