App market today is a fish market. There are three dynamic processes that are happening at the same time – new apps are hitting the market, users are browsing through the app market and advertisers are trying to pitch in their agenda during that span of time. Not all apps make it big. Now you have to first define “big”. It might mean the return on investment for some while for some it might refer to being popular. But only a thin line separates these two types of meanings. A popular app will finally bring in a lot of money with advertisers pitching in or from the freemium model it is based upon. So the end result of a big app is popularity and big returns. Some might also envisage that a popular free app might be a step to establishing brand value of the app developer. But I hardly see any hope that this market will be ruled by any formidable brands. The only aspect of creating brand value in an app market is reaching out to people and finding loyal customers.
Characteristic of Successful Mobile Application
The Apps That Make It Big:
So what are the apps that make it big? You think you have struck a huge jackpot when on the first day of the app launch, you discover the rate at which your app is being downloaded. I call it the nascent stage. This stage is the most volatile period if you want your app to be next big thing. It has been seen that most of the apps do well during this period but then they observe a downward trend in the number of downloads. It has been rightly quoted that an app becomes stale if an user just downloads it for the heck of it and then doesn’t do anything meaningful with the app. Now what can drive that first day downloads depends on two parameters – the release date and the description. There will be many apps which will fail on the first day itself. Some developers don’t bother changing the release date and since the default date is the day it was ready, it never gets picked up in the new releases list to grab any attention. Some apps carry interesting graphics of what the app looks like but in the app market, amidst so many apps, everybody wants to be sure what app are they downloading and for what purpose are they going to use it. A well written description is an indispensable requirement for driving first day downloads. What follows next is sustainability of the app?
What Follows Next After A Successful Launch?
Every app that makes it big is sustainable in itself. Sustainability comes from client engagement and that depends on how you are going to go about it. It depends on how you want to have these loyal users use your app more often so that they remember it and can recommend your app to their circle of friends.
This is where a freemium model comes into extensive use. Take the example of a simple game. You will have to ask yourself this question – Will the user be excited enough to unlock the next level and will he want to make an in app purchase to get the tools by which he can pass the next level?
If you are not following the freemium model, then you need to have a pricing strategy in place.
Behind every app’s success are hidden the ingredients of catchiness and uniqueness. This will help you leverage your downloads through bloggers who will write about your app if you have an app which has excellent graphics, a different appeal and user friendly functionality and is unique in terms of its execution. Even if the idea is similar to a top performing app, then also this might attract the bloggers from talking about it if it out performs the similar app in terms of appeal and usability.
To err is definitely not tech savvy. So the app in order to be big needs to be bug free. Having said that if your app is cool enough, then be sure your app is going to make it big.