The proliferation of smartphones has driven the rapid growth in the use of application on mobile phones (Fu at el, 2017) . In 2017, consumers downloaded 197 billion mobile apps to their mobile phones with expected growth to almost double to 352.9 billion by 2021 (Dogtiev, 2019). Businesses are realising the importance to effectively use mobile channels to attract their customers, with studies to support how users actually prefer to use mobile apps rather than websites (Deshdeep, 2019). Apps provide a multitude of functions and have influenced how much a person can customise and personalise their mobile device, so much so that many people consider their device to be an extension of themselves (Linnhoff, Smith, 2015).

Reasons why users prefer to use apps rather than websites 

How to make it work

An article on Forbes (2013) describes the 12 steps of how to build your first mobile app, the focus is on research and careful incremental changes to refine and build a successful but long standing app.

The logistics 

There are many available frameworks online to help users create their apps who may not have the resources and know how to do so alone. For a business it is pivotal to decide the right framework, platform the app will run on and development strategy to compete in the mobile industry today (Raboy, 2018; Masi et al, 2012). Frameworks such as Ionic, Flutter and React Native are all of low cost, up to date and well reviewed by consumers to create native apps for IOS and Android (Rajput, 2018).

App analytics are also a key software for understanding how well your mobile application is working and ways to improve, attract new customers or keep them loyal to the app. Kumulos or Firebase are both examples of app analytics that can analyse the number of installs, opens, purchases and other data points to track the performance of the app (Dogtiev, 2019).

Firebase Analytics Tutorial- How to track mobile apps

Analytics allows a company to deliver personalised, consumer focused marketing which creates a competitive edge for a company to contest for visibility and customer attention (Apptentive, 2015). It can also be used as a benchmark against competitors and therefore companies can hone in their focus into particular areas of importance found through analytics data (Mullan, 2017).

Alva (2018) explores the importance of understanding users which in turn can improve a companies app, gain revenue and acquire more users through the use of a mobile data SDK.

Click here: Three Benefits of Analysing Audience Insights

Risks of Apps 

“App design trends come and go, but being unique apps never goes out of style”- Beiley, 2016

With over 2 million apps available to consumers and 1,500 apps growing a day it is increasingly important for businesses to create an app which stands out and allures an audience (Statista, 2018). The app developers dream is to be in the top 25 charts, because after that, the app can get lost in the world of the app store never to be seen again. The importance of creating an app that is personalised and the needs of the consumer are at the heart of the strategy is what adds value to consumers and what can distinguish a successful app to a failure (Marston, 2016).

Once an app has been created, the next step is forming an effective app marketing strategy in order to stand out and compete in the fiercely competitive industry. As well as defining the target audience and researching competitors, one of the most important features is creating a landing page that sells with an effective title, icon, videos, description, and screenshots (Forbes, 2018). Exploiting on these features will lead to user growth and engagement which is classified into decisive visitors (60% of app traffic) and explorers (40% of app traffic) who decide within 3-6 seconds whether to remain on the page (Pur, 2017). Therefore first impressions matter otherwise companies run the risk of losing potential customers.

4 Essentials of an Effective App Marketing Strategy

Freemium vs Premium

Another risk of apps is whether companies decide to provide a freemium app or ones that require a payment. Freemium accounts for 71% of Apple store revenues within the US, therefore charging a premium price limits the consumer market and is only really effective if there is a strong demand for the app in niche areas (Lattice, 2013). Although premium or paid apps create a larger revenue it may not be the best option for a new app that is looking to increase their brand image. Free apps have a zero-download threshold have the ability to attract more downloads and are more likely to receive positive reviews (Taylor, 2016). Therefore, this is an important aspect to think about, depending on whether there is a target market that a company can monopolise on and charge a premium or get their brand known through free downloads.

Within the Journal of Special Education Technology, the article devises a rubric that evaluates the effectiveness of apps in the case of ipod apps; ‘Evaluating the Effectiveness of Apps for Mobile Devices’ (Newton et al, 2011).

References

Alva, D. (2018). Audience Insights: The Future of Your Mobile App. [Online] http://www.oneaudience.com/audience-insights (Accessed 28th March 2019).

Apptentive. (2015). 5 Benefits of App Analytics. [Online] https://www.apptentive.com/blog/2015/07/21/5-benefits-of-app-analytics/ (Accessed 28th March 2019).

Beiley, A. (2016). How To Make Your Mobile App Stand Out In A Crowd. [Online] https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/275673 (Accessed 28th March 2019).

Deshdeep, N. (2019). 10 Reasons Why Mobile Apps Are Better Than Mobile Websites. [Online] https://vwo.com/blog/10-reasons-mobile-apps-are-better/ (Accessed 28th March 2019).

Dogtiev, A. (2019). App Download and Usage Statistics (2018). [Online] http://www.businessofapps.com/data/app-statistics/ (Accessed 28th March 2019).

Dogtiev, A. (2019). Top App Analytics Tools (2018). [Online] http://www.businessofapps.com/guide/app-analytics/ (Accessed 28th March 2019).

Forbes. (2018). What Are The Best App Marketing Strategies? [Online] https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/03/28/what-are-the-best-app-marketing-strategies/#6e97734afea0 (Accessed 28th March 2019).

Forbes. (2013). How To Build Your First Mobile App In 12 steps. [Online] https://www.forbes.com/sites/allbusiness/2013/10/30/how-to-build-your-first-mobile-app-in-12-steps-part-1/#114d807b3377 (Accessed 28th March 2019).

Fu, B., Lin, J., Li, L., Faloutsos, C., Hong, J. & Sadeh, N. (2013) ‘Why People Hate Your App- Making Sense of User Feedback in a Mobile App Store’. [Online]http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~leili/pubs/fu-kdd2013-wiscom.pdf (Accessed 28th March 2019).

Lattice. (2013). Premium vs Freemium vs Subscription. [Online] http://latticelabs.com/blog/2013/09/premium-freemium-subscription/ (Accessed 28th March 2019).

Linnhoff, S. Smith, T. K. (2015). An Examination of Mobile App Usage and The User’s Life Satisfaction. Journal of Strategic Marketing. Vol: 25 (7) P581-617.

Marston, R. (2016). Why App Engagement Must Be Personalised. Online: https://www.cmo.com.au/blog/mobile-strategy/2016/04/27/why-app-engagement-must-be-personalised/ (Accessed 28th March 2019).

Masi, E. Cantone, G. Calavaro, G. (2012). Mobile Apps Development: A Framework For Technology Decision Making. [Online] file:///Users/pollyhumphries/Downloads/Mobile_Apps_Development_A_Framework_for_Technology_Decision_Making_PROCEEDINGS1.pdf (Accessed 28th March 2019).

Mullan, E. (2017). Mobile App Analytics: The Best Practices. [Online] https://blog.hurree.co/blog/mobile-app-analytics-best-practices (Accessed 28th March 2019).

Newton, D. Dell, A. Walker, H. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Apps for Mobile Devices. Journal of Special Education Technology. Vol: 26(4) p59-63.

Pur, H. (2017). App Store Optimisation Tips for Beginners. [Online] https://www.leanplum.com/blog/app-store-optimization-tips/ (Accessed 28th March 2019).

Raboy, N. (2018). 3 of the Best Frameworks For Mobile App Development In 2018. [Online] https://www.thepolyglotdeveloper.com/2018/04/3-best-frameworks-mobile-app-development-2018/ (Accessed 28th March 2019).

Rajput, M. (2018). Top Mobile App Development Frameworks in 2019. [Online] https://www.mindinventory.com/blog/mobile-app-development-framework-2019/ (Accessed 28th March 2019).

Statista. (2018). Number of Apps Available in Leading App Stores 2018. [Online] https://www.statista.com/statistics/276623/number-of-apps-available-in-leading-app-stores/ (Accessed 28th March 2019).

Taylor. (2016). Free vs Paid Apps. [Online] https://appinstitute.com/free-paid-apps/ (Accessed 28th March 2019).