With half of the world owning a smartphone, there is immense potential for aspiring entrepreneurs to launch successful apps. However, there are many precautions to look out for as well since there is a great deal of competition in the app market, and if you don’t do your homework properly, it will cost you your precious time. The last thing you want is to put all your hard effort into your new app idea and then find out that you don’t have a large enough market size for your app, or someone else is already offering what you were about to offer. We are here to present you three useful guidelines your app should follow and ways to perform accurate research that will prevent your app from being part of the 80% of apps that are dead on arrival.
1. Serves a large market with a meaningful purpose
Before doing anything else, examine your market size. Is the market large enough for you to introduce a new idea to? If yes, do you believe that the purpose your app serves will interest the majority of your market size? If the answer is no, it probably will not be a good idea to go through all the hassle of marketing your app. Here are some smart ways to forecast the performance of your app idea.
a. Create online polls: You can utilize Reddit to create online polls to determine how often people would want to use your app. Just find the appropriate subreddit and post your poll. You do not even have to worry about finding or building up an audience since everyone in the subreddit will see your poll. Be careful not to give too much info about your idea as someone could easily plagiarize it before you turn it into a successful app.
b. Utilize Google Keyword Planner: If you have a Google Ads account, you can use Google Keyword Planner to find the average number of monthly searches for keywords related to your app idea.
c. Competitive analysis: Every successful business idea starts with a proper competitive analysis to confirm that your entrepreneurial journey will be worth the effort. Pay close attention to how many competitors you have, who they are, and what their customers are saying about them. Maybe your competitors’ customers wish they had an additional feature that you can provide.
2. The app is a need rather than a want
You may have heard of the vitamin and pain-killer analogy, and that is what we are talking about here. At one point, many of us were addicted to games such as Candy Crush and Temple Run. Some may even shamelessly agree to have stayed up for hours playing such games. But most of the time, people stop using their favorite entertainment apps at some point in time because they simply don’t NEED them. In fact, they may even think that entertainment apps are a distraction and they need to delete them off their phone.
That is why it is best to have an app idea that does one or more of the following:
- Solves a problem
- Helps you make money
- Saves you money and time
- Makes your life easier
- Boosts productivity
- Improves lifestyle habits
Apps such as MyFitnessPal and Trello have performed well because they solve a lifestyle issue or help increase productivity, and people will continue using such apps because they have become part of peoples’ daily lives.
3. Intelligent design and marketing
What is a good app idea actually worth if it is not supported by outstanding marketing skills? This is one of the most important and overlooked aspects of introducing a new app. If you fail this round, you have only wasted your time and effort, and others may end up stealing your app idea. Run through this quick checklist of properly marketing your brilliant app.
a. Logo design: This is most important! If your logo design does not catch the eyes of your target audience, you are doomed. Try drafting out some creative designs in Canva, an online graphic design tool which offers thousands of templates for logo designs and more. If you are not confident in creating a good logo design yourself, you can hire a freelancer to do it for you.
b. Smart title, description, and screenshots: These are obvious to create a proper app store listing. Keep the title and description simple, yet meaningful. Make sure you have at least 3-4 screenshots of the different features of your app.
c. Social media: Almost half of the world is on social media now. It takes seconds to create an account on all of the major platforms. Do not miss this opportunity!
d. Influencer endorsements: Going along with social media, if you have set aside a decent budget for marketing, you can even reach out to influencers to promote your app on their social media accounts and/or YouTube channels.
e. Google Ads: You can also start getting the word out for your app through Google Ads. If you have a tight budget, you can start with a budget as low as $2/day. Google Ads allows you to tailor your ad so that it only shows up for your target audience.
When you have decided that your app fulfills the guidelines listed above, you are ready to launch your app! You want to pick a reputable low-cost app development company that knows how to take charge and assist you through the entire process of conceptualizing, designing, developing, testing, and deploying your app. You are then ready to kick off your entrepreneurial journey!