Many people and companies are coming up with new mobile app ideas. They either want to reach a new audience or better serve their existing customers. Most of them don’t know how to build a social media app.
Consider the right platform – Do you wish to create a web app, mobile app or both? The next question will be is it for iOS or Android users? Your decision will depend on your target market preferences.
However, web app requires a bit longer to get developed compared to mobile apps. Also if you are considering two app versions via cross-platform development, it will still take more time and of course a bigger budget.
Android apps in a native platform contain 40% more code and take 30% more time to develop compared to iOS. Hire best app developers and other parts of North America work at about $150 per hour and those from India and Eastern Europe charge about $30-50 an hour.
User Experience is important – Your app can only be appealing if it is easy to use and pleasing to the eye. The design and usability should be self-explanatory. With innumerable apps storming the app store, people will stop using your app if it has poor UX.
Ask your developer to take care of the structure – wireframing -prototype – and finally add design and usability principles. Start with a well-supported MySQL or PostgreSQL database for structured data. Facebook, Twitter, etc. use it too.
Features of your app – Basic features of the app like easy registration, users being able to add, edit and remove personal data, manage personal information and preferences, one-click invite, contact import, search bar and algorithm around hashtags and random words, selections of new users to connect with, private messaging, newsfeed, multi-language support, posting media content, tools for self-expression, geotagging and the likes are mandatory.
Mobile App Idea and Creation
Your Feature List
Conceptualize your idea begins by taking some notes. Writing down the feature list on a piece of paper helps you focus on your idea and expand on it. This list also will be helpful when you are discussing with your co-founders, designers, investors or developers; they all are going to ask for it. Note that you should have them sign an NDA before you share your feature list.
Market Research
After writing your strong list of features, you want to do market research to find the competition, trends and market needs. Make sure there are no similar apps on the market. If there are, find out their reviews, ratings, feedback, and what is missing in them.
Add features in your app that would make it unique and more attractive to the audience.
Identify the Target Audience
It is very important to find who would use your app and who the audience would be for your product. Your users are from a particular industry, gender, region, age group, existing customers, income group, specific profession, or any other group.
Once you identify some demographics about the audience, you can find out what people from these demographics prefer or like. Knowing your audience helps you re-engineer your app and the features in it to cater to them.
Your whole project moves around user engagement. You can also conduct focus group studies to find out what your audience may like or dislike. Your audience will decide your product’s success.
Identify the Strategy
Making money is the biggest reward and energizes your idea. You can make money from your app idea in several ways: subscription fee, in-app buy, in-app ads, user data, sponsorship. You want to know which one works for your app, audience, and market.
Launching a paid app does not work these days, but you can make the app free with in-app purchase option for more functions. In-app ads are also losing their shine these days due to the user experience.
Having user data is becoming a big monetization technique, as you can use it to make indirect money. You can find sponsorship for the app; this works for an app with a social mission. It is important for you to select the most profitable techniques.
Approach Mobile App Developers
Once you have your first version of the feature list and wireframe, you want to start identifying vendors who can build your mobile app in a high-quality, cost-effective way. You should search for local vendors and some global vendors and reach out to them.
Once you shortlist 5 to 6 good vendors send them the project details. A good vendor should check your details and ask you lots of questions.
You should get proposals from multiple vendors, with time and cost of development, and compare them. You should check the vendors on past performance, process, price, time, testimonial and their eagerness to work for you. Finally, you should be able to select one vendor and start working with them.
The UI/UX of App
Once you have selected the company, you should work with them to create the UI/UX of the app. You should have them first create the detailed wireframe of the application so that you can visualize each screen, function, and flow of the application.
After review, you can decide to add or remove features. Once the wireframe is complete, you want them to create the visual design of the application. It should give the color, theme, fonts and visual appeal for your idea.
This step will give you a near-final picture of what your mobile app would look like and how it would flow. After completing it, have your vendor reevaluate the development plan, time and cost.
Test the App
Have your app developer start building the app for you. They should be able to send you the app (in progress) every week and you should be able to test and give them feedback. It is very essential for you to QA the app as they develop it, as this helps you control the quality, cost, and timeline, and learn whether the mobile app needs some tweaks.
You can involve your friends in the testing as well. If you come up with new sets of features during the development, discuss those with your app developer and get the time and cost estimate.
Market the App
Once you are satisfied with the app, launch it in the iTunes App Store and Google Play Store. You should also start marketing the app. Get some consulting from experts on app marketing.
You can also do self-marketing. Start on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, as this is an easy way to spread the word about the app. You should also reach out to reporters and bloggers who may be interested in your app and write about it.
A press release on free sites or a paid site can be very handy. Also, you can hire a PR or app marketing company.