In 2022, the global mobile app market raked $206.85 billion and is expected to rise by $613 billion by 2025. This shows how enormous the mobile app market is and its potential across the world. However, high reward is proportionate to high competition.
Every newcomer who wants to penetrate this market should know the keystones that make their endeavor successful. Keep reading on and learn the right steps and must-have ingredients to create a mobile application successful in 2024!
Table of Contents
Overview
From social networks and games to streaming services, people spend a considerable amount of time on different apps in the world. An average mobile user has up to 93 applications on their phone, out of which 41 are used each month. This means out of countless apps, only a few are used for a fair amount.
According to a Gartner study, one in 10,000 apps became successful in 2018. This indicates that the success rate for every 10000 launched applications is just 0.01%. Due to an oversupply of applications in the market, it is hard to gain user attention and make an app a ‘hit’.
To stand out in this crowded industry, a business seeking to invest in an app should make significant efforts to create a mobile application that fits the needs of their target market.
To help you strike your goals and create a successful mobile application, this step-by-step guide includes all the essential tips to earn your share of this highly rewarding mobile market in 2024.
Step-by-step guide to create a successful mobile app
Today, the Google Play Store has 2.43 million apps which was 1 million in 2013. This shows that the demand for mobile apps is showing no signs of slowing down. Whether you want to go for hybrid app development, cross-platform, or a native application, your mobile app development process will surely magnetize high revenue if you add all the essential ingredients and follow the right steps.
An average mobile user has 20 to 30 apps installed on their phone, out of which only 3 to 5 apps are frequently used. The key goal of every business must be making their app among the few favorites of their target audience. However, reaching this ultimate goal is not a cakewalk as the competition is getting ferocious every passing day.
Here is the path towards creating a successful mobile application in 2024!
Audience identification
The first thing before starting with app development is identifying the target audience or people who are going to use your app. Determining this aspect will help you analyze the potential of your app idea and whether it is meeting the market requirements. This step will also aid in strategizing the communication method, channels, and message for your app.
You can identify your target audience through qualitative and quantitative research, searching insights and statistics, understanding trends, and collecting feedback on app prototypes. Check every single thing, gather all the demographic data such as gender, age, location, etc., and collect info about your audience’s behavior and motivations.
Once you have your findings, discuss them thoroughly with your team members, industry experts, co-founders, and other important people who can help you with your app idea. Consider narrowing down your audience as targeting niche businesses is easier and comparatively less competitive than large markets.
App validation
Once you have identified your audience and brainstormed your app idea with the concerned teams. The next important step is to validate your app idea. Innumerable businesses have failed badly in this critical step and faded out of their existence. Although mobile application development is built with different attributes, one thing that all share mutually is ‘solving a problem’.
All successful mobile apps provide a solution to a common problem. Simply put, these apps provide much-seek value to their target audience through one app. Mostly apps are downloaded to get assistance or seek quick help with a particular problem. Even gaming apps solve the problems of stress, boredom, and loneliness.
Under app validation, the next most vital aspect is to determine the monetization method. Decide through which method your app is going to generate money. The most common methods of app monetization are monthly subscriptions, in-app purchases, advertising, commissions, single-purchase fees, affiliate links, etc. You need to choose the monetization model for your app strategically.
Competitor analysis
From 2023 to 2030, the CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of the global mobile app market is expected to grow by 13.8%. We have entered into an era where no matter how unique your business idea is, there will be some level of competition in that niche. This is why it is crucial to do competitor analysis. Do in-depth research on your competitor’s products and marketing strategies that your competitors are using.
Why would you do it? They have been in the app industry for a while, so they have a better understanding of the target market. Your competitors might have already unraveled what things work in the app market and what doesn’t. Doing this analysis can help you increase the success of your app.
With in-depth competitor analysis, you will be able to figure out the missing functionality or any other aspect that users are complaining about. It might be possible that many users are not happy with their marketing methods. Understanding all these aspects works to create a successful app and surpass your competitors.
Conceptualizing and Researching app idea
Once you have thoroughly researched the market and done the competitor analysis, it is time to conceptualize the app. Your app idea should have two vital ingredients i.e. scalability and exceptional technological integration.
For example, WhatsApp which was initially started as a messaging app that helped users to connect easily over the internet without any charges. With time, more features were added, and still get updated to improve engagement and make it more interactive.
Once you have conceptualized the app idea, the next step is to thoroughly research it before coming to a final decision. Research competition (already discussed above) evaluates the target market, understands the potential of your app and its statistics, etc. You can utilize platforms like Quora to understand target market preferability and behavior. You can also conduct surveys, and polls, or ask questions on different social media platforms to get insightful feedback.
App strategy
Once you have finalized your app idea, it is time to begin with the app strategy. This includes all the technicalities, name of the app, user flow, and functionalities. Technical aspects of your app include language, frameworks, and platforms that you would use in the app development.
When it comes to including the functionalities it is further categorized into two parts i.e. business-centric and customer-centric. In a business-centric approach, payment methods and app maintenance are quick and smooth, adding updates is cost-effective, data protection and security is ensured, etc.
Whereas a customer-centric app caters to all expectations of users, ensures data protection, affords stable performance and reliable workflow, offers interactive user interface design, etc. Therefore, first, you need to have a clear idea of when, how, and where you will launch your idea and for whom.
App design
To create a mobile application and make it successful, you must work on several aspects and details. When talking about making an app ‘a hit, its design plays a crucial role, especially when developing a customer-centric app. Whenever you begin with app design, its functionalities should work well on both iOS and Android platforms, if you are opting for cross-platform app development.
Remember, both platforms have specific guidelines that have to be followed while developing an app. Whereas, if you are designing only an Android or iOS app, you will cater to the guidelines of that specific platform only.
Another vital approach in app design is its flow and look. You can go for simple designs or complex ones, additional graphics, sound effects, or animations. No matter what you choose, it should be easy to navigate and user-friendly.
App development & prototyping
Now, it is time to begin with app development. The first component of app development is deciding the approach i.e. cross-platform, native, or web. Each app development approach has its own sets of pros and cons on functionalities and features that need to be thoroughly comprehended before selecting one.
After this comes choosing the programming language which should align with your skills and expertise. The app development process should align with the timeframe and budget you have decided.
Now, you will move on to the most important step in the development process i.e. prototyping.
Prototyping is all about combining your ideas and translating them into an app with basic needed functionality and features. This is also known as the Minimum Viable Product (MVP). MVP examples could include a simple to-do list app or a basic messaging app. Prototype helps you to evaluate the app from different angles, make improvements, and add features to make the final output flawless. A prototype can be sent to the testing team to further analyze it for functional bug resolution.
Developing & Launching App
Once you have reached this step, you can create a mobile application as an upgraded version of its prototype. In this step, you need to ensure that your MVP (minimum viable product) is secured. You can add personalized notifications to increase retention and user engagement with your brand. Plus, maintain the communication means with your users, integrate socializing features, etc.
Once your app is fully developed after detailed research, brainstorming, prototyping, etc. it is time to launch it. Launching must be done with proper strategizing, mobile application management, and schedule.
App Testing
Proper app testing is done to keep it well-maintained and updated. You can utilize various analytical tools such as Google Analytics, Firebase, etc. to gain a clear understanding of your app and its performance among your target market.
It gives you detailed information about a number of downloads, visitors, click-through rate, etc. to aid app optimization. Once you have these details, you can keep enhancing and innovating your app to increase user engagement.
The Bottomline
So, this was our step-by-step guide to create a mobile application and make it successful in 2024. It might look like a lot of work but all the steps that we discussed in our post are essential in app development. The major goal of developing an app is to make it reach a maximum number of users and do well. So, after developing and launching the app, always keep up with its management and run targeted marketing.
By now, you have a good amount of knowledge for making an app successful. Keep all the important aspects of app development in check while giving your best shot. Good Luck!
Author Bio
Upma is the Seo Executive at JoomDev. She loves to convert her ideas into reality by developing products to make your online business success with her mobile app development company.
