App Marketing | 5 Tips To Make Your Mobile App Better
Whether your app is already available on the app store or currently in the development stage, you’ve probably thought long and hard about how to make sure it lives up to you and your end user’s expectations. To help you make the most of your app endeavors (not to mention your investment), in the least amount of time I’ve prepared 5 tips to use as your guide. I strongly recommend that you discuss these tips with your development team and make sure there are no open issues.
App Marketing Tip 1 – Lose the Clutter
This point had to go first, no questions asked. Mobile apps address a specific need for your users while they are on the go. In other words, your users generally have a few spare minutes to use your app. Do them a favor, don’t clutter it with useless information, complicated features, unnecessary or pointless settings. Focus on the main task your app helps achieve and keep your app’s look and feel as straightforward as possible. I know, easier said than done, but think for a moment about the apps you use most. Chances are they do one thing, and they do it right.
App Marketing Tip 2 – Utilize Social Integration
One of the key factors to mobile apps becoming such an immense phenomenon is due to social integration. Mobile and social interactions work together beautifully, which means you should give your users more of what they love, social enabled apps. Utilizing services such as Facebook and Twitter integration turns your app from a personal experience into a group experience. The more your users share, the more visibility your app receives which in turn translates into downloads and potential sales. That being said, there’s no excuse for spammy apps.
App Marketing Tip 3 – Invest in Design
There’s a fine line between visual styling and functionality. The most successful apps are the ones that are able to balance functionality and fashion. Remember, people need to know how to use your app within seconds of launching it. At its core, the iPhone is all about, simplicity of use and elegance of design. Developing your app with these two elements in mind helps keep you aligned with the process. From your icon to the graphical quality of your app, you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. Lastly, know that bad design will cost you a heck of a lot more than good design.
App Marketing Tip 4 – Keep Testing
Your end users aren’t beta testers. Surprising right? You would be surprised to see the amount of “quality” apps available currently on the App Market that crash at various stages or buttons that lead to black screens. There are a myriad of usability testing services available to fit almost every budget, including free beta testing solutions such as test-flight for iOS. Get to know these services and make good use of them, before users stumble through the bugs for you.
App Marketing Tip 5 – Increase Replay Value
Gimmicky apps are one thing, but if you’ve developed a game app without carefully ramping up the difficulty level from easy to hard, chances are your end users will lose interest quickly. Similarly if your app has multiple levels and only one game mode, you’re not leaving much room for repeated play once they’ve completed all the stages on the easier modes. Once end users run through the content, whether it’s a game, textual or visual content, there really isn’t any reason to keep using the app. The launch of your app is in fact, just the beginning, prior to launching you should already plan ahead for future updates, features and levels to keep the interest level sky high.
The goal is to build up an audience and user engagement over time. The more time users spend using your app, the better your chance to make monetize, regardless of how you choose to do it
In conclusion – It could be argued that if you did all of the above right the first time, you wouldn’t need to make changes, but as we all know by now, that’s just not how it works. “There are no shortcuts in evolution.” ~ Louis D. Brandeis
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Oren Todoros, CEO of AppsMarketing.mobi
Oren is an advisor in the mobile app industry, working with W3i as well as the CEO of AppsMarketing.mobi which works with independent developers and large scale development firms.
July 6th, 2011 at 10:19 am
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