Mobile apps have well and truly taken over the world. Almost everything we do in our lives is offered to us from our apps. The time we all spend on our mobile devices makes them the epicenter of all kinds of marketing activities. The emergence of technology, safe passage for transactions and connectivity like never before has made mobile apps the main source of revenue for most businesses.
There is something about these magical little things that we carry in our pockets. What started as means of mere communication has now become a world of its own. Parallel inventions have aided its popularity and today it has become incomprehensible to define the phenomenon of mobile devices and apps. Just to give you a quick idea about how impactful mobile apps are, take a look at these stats:
- 230 billion apps were downloaded in 2021.
- Average consumer spend on a mobile app is somewhere between $5 to $10 per consumer.
- Android & iOS together generated revenue of $133 billion in 2021.
- Users spend close to 5 hours on their mobile phones.
Why Should Your Business Have an App?
This should not be a question in 2022 but unfortunately there are a lot of people still undermining the power of mobile apps. The hidden opportunities are unlocked for those who have partnered with a skillful mobile app development agency while there are still people who wonder what the fuss is about. While the former continues to grow, we have a formal list of benefits of having a mobile app for your business.
Better reachability
Mobile apps help you reach out to a wider audience as compared to any other form of advertising or marketing technique. Although mobile apps are a lot more than just marketing tools for your business, merely having an app creates more awareness about your business than any other method. Smartly analyzed user data can get you great business leads as well.
New revenue stream
Most businesses opt to offer their products or services through their apps. With safe transactions and integrated APIs, it is possible to offer your services directly to your consumers cutting the need for a middle man. A whopping 48% of the total revenue generated by apps across the globe has come from in-app purchases. These purchases can be anything from subscriptions to products or services. Those businesses who worked without a mobile app have found a hidden gem in terms of a new source of revenue that mobile apps turned out to be.
Technology
There are many things that advanced technology can do in an app which we couldn’t do otherwise. For instance, any online retail store can present their products in a real world scenario using augmented and virtual reality. This feature gives a real time and actual look and feel of a product you are interested in. This makes a lasting impact on the consumers and results in greater conversion rates as well. Features like integrated maps help your consumers reach your stores and premises faster while technologies like integration of social media apps and sharing across instant messaging apps provides you vast visibility.
User data & trends
It was very difficult in the pre-internet era to identify the user’s taste. But based on a user’s interaction with an app and possible feedback, you can get to know the pattern slightly better. Machine learning and artificial intelligence sorts and filters data according to your parameters and you get a thorough report of how the users on your app think about your business which eventually helps you serve them better.
These are just a few of many benefits of having a dedicated mobile app for your business. Knowing the importance is still the first step in the right direction. Achieving a well-functioning app is the penultimate step. We are now going to talk about steps you need to take between these two.
What is Mobile App Market Research & How to Go About It?
If you have realized the importance of having an app for your business and thinking about getting one, you might want to take some time off for the due diligence. When it comes to taking crucial business decisions, timing plays a very important part. While the post-pandemic world is ideal for any business to go on a mobile app, there are some key aspects that need thorough understanding before you handover your project to anyone.
Mobile app market research is a process of due diligence and advanced research that helps you shape your app better. Apart from the technical aspects, it also helps you learn the business better. Due to the eruption of easily accessible platforms, the cost of developing an app might not sound like a big challenge. But doing the homework right before taking a key decision almost defines all your steps from then on. Let us now take a look at a list of points we have prepared that you must uncover in your own research process.
Scalability
Checking the scalability of any business is a very important study. This study stands true for both new as well as established businesses before getting an app made. If the scale of your business through your app is going to be limited then you must be prepared with a plan to expand it and how to raise the scale using other tools. Knowing how many users you are going to cater is a very crucial point to understand as it will define your volume of business through your app. On the technical front, your app must be prepared to handle any overwhelming number of users in case you manage to upscale your business through it.
Competitor Study
The world today is full of unique ideas yet we find multiple enterprises competing tightly with each other for a small section of consumers. Knowing how your competitors have set up their application helps you get a step ahead of them. Learning from their success and failures helps you define your app better. Having a thorough competitor study helps you channelize your ideas and execute them steadily.
Benchmarking
Once you uncover your competitors and their approach, you must set a goal for your own app. The competitor study will surely give you a hint of what you want your app to do and based on those ambitious findings, you must set a benchmark aim for your app and work towards achieving that with your developers. Benchmarking makes your path further clear.
Data
Perhaps the most important aspect of any research study is the analysis of data. While it’s a common practice to analyze research data before the beginning of any project, one very popular practice in today’s time is the continual collection and subsequent real time analysis of user data and their behavior. This remains an area of interest particularly for most android app developers as the data you collect from your user also helps Google’s ad servers to place ads on your apps which prove to be an additional source of revenue. The competitor research and some idea feedback from your end can get you an idea of user trends and how you should set up your app to attract the most traffic. Continuous data analysis of your existing app’s users also helps you improve the overall experience better and helps you understand what your users need from you.
Social Media
People tend to take social media in a very casual way but anyone knowing how apps transform businesses in today’s time would tell you to do otherwise. A detailed understanding of social media trends and behaviors help you understand your target audience better. By simply analyzing data of your ads on social media, you can gauge the actions you need to take in your apps. Interactive social media tools and their advertisement concept give you a great insight of how users think in today’s times and that eventually helps you improve your app.
Updates
All the research remains pointless without periodic execution. The process of improvement for an app is a lifelong one. Despite that, after every periodic analysis, you must take necessary actions and offer updated versions of your app to your users. It is only based on their feedback that you will get to know them better. Updating your app regularly helps you offer an improved and secure user experience.
Security
A largely underrated aspect of mobile app market research is security research. Getting to know the history of threats and significant attacks can help your developers prepare an arsenal against it. The debate for security between iOS & Android is a never ending one but it is generally believed that iOS app development services have fewer checks for security compared to their Android counterparts. Apple is rather rigid in its security policy. The evident halt of ad servers and other mandatory practices make iOS a much more secure place for apps than Android but even then a thorough research of threats and attacks is important and proves to be helpful in your app’s development.
The Verdict
Research is an age old practice before any action. When it comes to doing the right research for your new app, you would normally stop at doing competitor analysis and overall market research. What most developers skip are the history of attacks on various apps and a thorough understanding of user data. It goes without saying that all this information and research counts for nothing if it’s not analyzed and acted upon properly. So before you hand over the precious responsibility of developing the app for your business, make sure you indulge in a detailed app market research involving all the points shared above.
Pinal is a React Native Developer working with Gtech Web Infotech Pvt. Ltd., a leading mobile app development company in India. Being capable of building cross-platform applications that are highly proficient and offer intuitive user experience is her forte.
