As mobile technology continues to evolve and dominate our lives, app development is becoming increasingly more popular. Think about it, we subconsciously use mobile apps every day - whether that’s streaming the latest music on Spotify or linking up with work colleagues on Zoom. Quite frankly - they’re a necessary part of everyday life.
With that in mind, it’s no surprise that a lot of businesses are moving towards developing bespoke mobile apps. But you can’t release any old app and expect groundbreaking results. The whole app deployment process must be watertight and follow best practices to create an industry-leading system that drives business success and exponential growth.
So, this post is your all-in-one guide to app deployment! It’ll include everything you need to know - from best practices to stick to and what successful app deployment looks like.
We’ll cover:
- The need for app development
- Why some mobile apps tend to fail
- Why build an app? The key reasons
- Successful app deployment: The necessary steps
The need for app development
Mobile is the future of everything - FACT. And that couldn’t be more true in relation to app development. When you take a look at the app store on your smartphones, you’ll notice that there are a wide range of apps on there from all different industries. From business to healthcare, sports and gaming.
Over the last few years, mobile internet access has far surpassed desktop - and is miles ahead of any other medium too. Naturally, it’s easy to see why businesses are swaying towards developing apps. You want to reach your audience in the most effective way possible, don’t you? So, if you’re not targeting them in the place that they consume the most information, you could be leaving certain opportunities untapped.
While we might not like to admit it, on average, we spend three and a quarter hours on our phone each day! That’s a lot of time, isn’t it? It seems even more time if you haven’t got an app on the market to promote your business - you’re missing out on a golden opportunity for existing and potential customers to be browsing your app.
There’s only one direction that the mobile app development industry is heading - and that’s up. We’re not talking about steadily cruising upwards either, we’re talking about mass growth. In fact, the worldwide mobile app economy is expected to reach a value of £4.8 trillion by 2021. To us, that signifies that if you haven’t released an app by then, you’ll likely be left behind by your competition.
Why some mobile apps tend to fail
Staggeringly, out of every 10,000 apps that are created, 9999 will fail and only one will triumph. You don’t have to be an expert to see that success rates aren’t great. However, this figure doesn’t give a true reflection on the successful apps on the market. What it does signify, is that there are a lot of poorly developed apps on the market.
Don’t let the figure put you off, as after reading this full post, you’ll be primed and ready to take on the world with your amazing app deployment. The figure is a great way to keep your business constantly grounded. It can serve as a reminder that if you’re ill-prepared, your app may fall by the wayside with the others.
So, why do they fail? Well, firstly, do you have a solid mobile app strategy in place? As with anything, planning is key and if you don’t have a strategy in place you’ll be floundering aimlessly. Plus, you won’t have anything to work towards so that you can judge the level of success you’re experiencing when launched. Strategy is one of the key areas that apps fail.
Lack of or poor market research is another area in which apps fail. Do you know what others are doing well? And what they aren’t doing so well? If your app doesn’t address a gap in the market or a specific need, where’s the draw for people to download it? Close to 80 percent of apps are abandoned and deleted after first use - that tells us that they don’t address a need for the user.
Improper planning of your execution is a major factor in determining whether your app is a success or a failure. Think about it, should somebody download it and it doesn’t fulfil their needs and requirements or it’s hard to use, they’re going to throw it away with the rest of them. Proper planning should include how your app dovetails with the rest of your marketing campaign and wider business goals.
Why build an app? The key reasons
There are plenty of beneficial reasons for B2B mobile apps. Firstly, they’re a great way of improving and increasing your online sales and conversions. Mobile apps allow you to be readily available for the user, wherever and whenever they like.
This improves convenience and allows you to constantly provide the user with product or service information, feedback functionality, search filters and plenty of other features. It gives your users a more personalised experience, which is perfect for improving conversions and nurturing leads down the Buyer’s Journey. Plus, you can turn your app into a remarketing hub that sparks sales improvement.
Customer experience is vastly improved with the introduction of a mobile app. You may have a slick website and an impressive marketing campaign, but it could be further improved with the introduction of an app. Users desire an immersive and personalised experience, which is easily achievable with a bespoke system.
Push notifications are the perfect way to engage your audience constantly - whether it’s pushing the right pieces of content to them at a certain stage, or even a discount code or offer, you can take control of their journey. Be careful though - you don’t want to be known as that business who bombard and annoy their customers, do you?
You should build an app to stay competitive. There’s a good chance that a lot of your direct competitors will have already created one - so, don’t risk being left behind by them and jump on the bandwagon! Aspire to meet your audience’s needs and pain points a lot better than the other products in your industry.
Successful app deployment: The necessary steps
Value proposition
The first thing you need to identify is how your app will add value to your audience. How does it differ from others in the industry? What benefits will it bring to them? How will it solve the issues that they’re currently facing? Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ll have a nice base to start shaping your app.
Market research
Here’s a biggy! Remember what we said earlier - if you don’t research adequately, it’s likely that your app will fall flat on its face. Your market research is the perfect time to validate your idea and get the feedback you need from the people you need it from. Is the market ready? Is there a clear need? How does it differ from the competition?
Outline your key goals
As with anything, your app deployment must have SMART goals. Without goals, how can you gauge the success of your app? You should outline the key indicators of success within your app - look what others do well and how they pull it off. Without goals, your app will stagnate. Make sure they align with wider marketing campaign goals.
Define use cases
This allows you to envisage how your audience will use your app, and how you should layout your information differently for various use cases. Don’t try and clutter your app to appeal to all - remember a tailored experience is what users crave. Clutter appeals to nobody!
Outline your budget
If only you had unlimited money to throw at your app development, right? Well, unfortunately, we’d hedge our bets that you don’t. Keep a strict budget in mind, that way, you can gauge success better and detail the app perfectly to meet your overall goals and objectives.
Determine the framework
Are you going to use a cross-platform tool? Or, will your developers be writing individual code for each platform. A lot of businesses are swaying more towards cross-platform options as it decreases development time. Xamarin vs React Native is the big battle at the minute - you need to choose wisely which system suits your business best.
Seek the perfect agency help
A top-quality digital agency will help you with all of the above steps - but it’s the next phase where they really come into their own. Of course, the discovery phase before this step will be carried out by the agency to gain a better understanding of your overall needs and requirements. But now it’s time for the implementation of all the hard work that’s gone in thus far.
The first step of implementation is the development phase. Choosing the wrong team at this stage will lead to poor quality, poor performance and long development times. At Red-Fern, our development team work tirelessly alongside our partners to ensure that all needs are met and exceeded, plus, all work is carried out to an exceptional standard.
Once the development is all in place - it’s time to move into the design phase. Development takes care of all underlying functionalities, whereas, the design is what makes the app look striking and eye-catching. Good design can be the difference between a successful app and a poor one. Apps with amazing UX are the most successful.
Test, test, test…
Once everything looks ready, it’s important to test EVERYTHING. You should outline a proper testing program and stick to it. This is the stage that catches all the little glitches and mistakes that may have slipped through the net. You need to make sure that you don’t release the app with these in - it’ll make for poor performance.
Launch!
It’s time to put your app out there. This doesn’t mean that your app deployment has come to an end though. You should be constantly analysing and getting feedback on the app. That way, you can make sure it’s always on point for your users and working optimally.
Red-Fern can help with your app deployment
We realise that’s a lot of information to take in, but you need to make sure that your app deployment process is strong and watertight. A lot of businesses seek agency help to carry out their app launches, and there’s a reason why. At Red-Fern, we’re vastly experienced in strategising, building and launching bespoke systems for a wide range of businesses.
To help you further your knowledge on how we work alongside our partners when developing a bespoke system, we’ve created a free guide that outlines everything you need to know. From how much a typical system costs to what you can expect when partnering with us, it’s all in there for you to take a look at.
Unfortunately, we’re just adding the finishing touches to the guide - but that doesn’t mean that we can’t help. For now, book a discovery call with one of our expert team and they’ll be more than willing to help answer any questions or queries you may have! Don’t hesitate and get in touch today!