Mobile apps can create innovative connections with new audiences and draw more leads into the sales funnel. In the best-case scenario, launching a mobile app for your business will bring in added revenue and solidify your brand presence in the virtual marketplace. But this is not always the case and many businesses spend a great deal of time and money building a mobile app that doesn’t do much to help their bottom line.
If you are searching for mobile app development services, we would love to help you bring your ideas to life. But we also want to be upfront about the dynamics involved in making this endeavor a success.
In this post, we aim to arm you with all the information you need to make the best decision whether to build, or not to build, a mobile app for your business.
There are a lot of developers out there who will be more than happy to take your money but don’t really care if your app will actually make money for your business. Before you commit, make sure you have clear metrics and milestones in place to measure the app’s effectiveness.
Because the truth is, mobile apps executed without vision often fail. This can be due to the quality, the demand, or the competition. That’s why it’s crucial to see the big picture and understand what makes mobile apps successful in an admittedly overcrowded space.
Once you get a handle on how a mobile app fits into your strategy, turn your attention to the purpose of the app. As you know, your app will need to stand out in a massive sea of competition.
Just take a look at your mobile app store of choice: between the Apple App Store and Google Play, there are currently over 4.4 million apps available to users. That’s a lot of apps. What makes your idea unique?
Also, take a look at what your competitors are doing. Now, we are not saying you should have an app just because the competition has one, quite the opposite actually. In some cases, you may discover that an app simply won’t resonate with your target audience and learn from your competitors’ mistakes.
On the other hand, it could be that you can see ways to meet a more specific felt need or address common pain points your customer persona is experiencing on a regular basis. If you build an app that makes your customers’ lives easier, they’re more likely to download it and use it regularly.
Read More: Does My Business Need an App?
Along the lines of thinking through the purpose of having a mobile app for your business, consider this: successful mobile apps add unique value to your customer’s experience with your brand. If the app is simply a cut-and-paste version of your website, that doesn’t add much value.
If you really want to have your icon taking up valuable real estate on your ideal customer’s smartphone, you need to have specific functionality that they can’t resist interacting with. Think: what can they do on our app that they cannot do on our website?
Take retail stores, for example. A mobile app value-add may include barcode scanners, weekly specials, or coupons that are only accessible via the app. If you’re running a lifestyle brand, the value may come by way of push notifications, appointment requests, location-based services, and other on-demand communication features.
If video is a major part of your marketing strategy, apps often make it much easier to organize and view videos. For example, a health and wellness company featuring a catalog of workout videos may add value with a mobile app to organize videos while providing easy ways to cast videos to larger screens like smart TVs.
After you work through the steps above and have a value-driven idea for developing a mobile app for your business, you will need to find a mobile app developer. This part can get really complicated because there are tons of developers for hire who can do the job so you need to know what to look for in a mobile app developer.
App development involves taking your idea and building it from the ground up to provide an app that meets the needs of your customers. This means designing, creating, programming, testing, and launching your app.
If you want to get a mobile app developed you want to make sure it is done by a professional custom mobile app development company. Apps are complicated, and any number of issues can occur if they are not done right.
There are many advantages of mobile app development but finding the right practitioner can be tricky. When looking for a developer you have plenty of options. You’ll want to evaluate the different choices to see which is the best fit for you.
A portfolio is the best way to see the sort of work a developer produces. You can think about what you want, and see if they have any apps that are similar, or just get an idea of the quality of their work.
Do the apps they develop work well? Will they be able to make your idea a reality? Are their previous projects successful? Are they capable of cross-platform mobile app development? These are all questions to ask yourself when making a decision.
Speaking of cross-platform development, our mobile app developers at Cross & Crown use the ionic framework for mobile app development. This framework delivers a smooth application across all platforms and simplifies critical functions relative to maintenance and updates that ensure a successful user experience.
If a developer has built mobile applications for reputable companies, they will more than likely want to promote that. If it isn’t immediately apparent which companies they’ve worked with, it is imperative to ask for references.
Depending on the money you’re investing, you may even want to contact other businesses to inquire about the experience working with the app developer you’re considering.
There are many contributing factors to a good vendor-client relationship so it’s important to ask about ancillary services such as the project management process, if timelines were met, how change requests were handled, etc.
One key thing you want is for your app to be successful in the long run. Some companies may be with you through the mobile app development process, but once it is launched you might be left on your own. If you run into any issues or want to make any changes, you could be in trouble.
We won’t leave you high and dry after the launch of your app. Cross & Crown offers ongoing support based on your unique needs. This may include maintenance and updates, as well as any other strategy or design recommendations the team might have.
Once you have had a look around and narrowed down the app developers you’re interested in you might want to check a few things with them. Quality developers will be willing to consult on the front end to ensure all of your questions are answered as you’re making your decision about who to hire. Don’t hesitate to reach out and ask questions. It’s important to be sure you are getting what you need.
Make sure they have a solid process from start to finish. Keeping things organized is essential to a successful project, and this will give you an idea of how they keep you in the loop throughout development. Be sure to provide a copy of your branding style guide and ensure they understand the importance of brand consistency (more on that below).
Make sure you go with a company that prioritizes quality in its final products. Ask specific questions to be sure you understand their review process. They should take measures throughout development to ensure every function of the app is working correctly and the user experience is as good as it can be.
Make sure you know what the process is and why it works. Our developers base all designs around the user experience, making sure the app is both visually appealing, and functions well. The results of the final product are always a key focus.
On top of that, you want to make sure they can fit your brand identity into the app. Consistent branding is key across all platforms, digital and physical. Another advantage of working with us, we offer branding design, video, web, and mobile app development services that can ensure this consistency is achieved across all platforms.
Read More: Brand Identity 101: The Ultimate Guide to a Fresh New Look for Your Business
As with all digital marketing assets, mobile app development costs range drastically from agency to agency or freelancer. For example, e-commerce mobile app development costs will differ from the cost to build an app without purchasing power. The cost will hinge on what you want the app to do.
One thing you should bear in mind is that if you go with a developer because they are the cheapest around, you will probably get what you paid for. With that being said, you will need to keep within your budget.
Discuss your budget with your developer and make sure you understand any added fees such as last-minute requests that fall out of scope or maintenance costs you should know about in advance. Know all the potential costs beforehand and you shouldn’t run into any issues in the long run. Just be sure that you don’t settle for a lower-quality app just to try and save a bit of money.
Of course, you could try to DIY this project, but we strongly advise against it. You need to focus on more important aspects of running and growing your business. It’s better to outsource more technical projects to experts you trust.
A standard custom mobile app takes expertise and resources that the average person simply doesn’t have. Even if you manage to get an app finished, odds are it will have a number of functionality issues and may have a low-quality look and feel to it.
Apps are a great way to develop your business, so it is not something that you should take any shortcuts on. Hiring custom mobile app development services is by far the best way to get the best return on your investment.
Now that you have an idea of what to look for you can start looking for the best mobile app development services for you. We hope you will consider Cross & Crown in your search!
We’ve developed apps for businesses and nonprofits, alike. Check out this post on mobile apps we’ve developed for our clients. If you would like more information, be sure to contact us and we can share more examples and any specifics you may need to help you decide if we are the right mobile app development company for you.