In today's technologically advanced market, no matter the size and type of business, mobile or tablet apps can help you to nail your marketing goals quickly. Indeed, an app widens your audience significantly while also strengthening brand awareness and profit margin.
Did you know that according to research studies, users spend at least 2-3 hours a day on their mobile devices to explore various apps and use them as per need? Given a large number of online users, this period is a great thing to capitalize on. Since an app showcases a brand's logo, name, and images, it greatly helps to consolidate the company’s position before the audience.
However, if you are new to this mobile app development game, no doubt many questions will arise in your mind. Is app development worthwhile for your business? Does it make sense? How to promote it before your target audience?
So, before hiring a developer to build a mobile application for your business and write those first lines of codes, it's essential to understand the needs and requirements of the project clearly. To attain success in the competitive landscape, it's always better to prepare a solid plan for mobile app development. Here are a few things you need to consider to make your initiative a success.
Learn About the Purpose
Why do you want to build a mobile app? What are the purposes that you want to serve with it? Defining the app’s exact purpose can help you to create an app that fits your business strategy. Whether you want your app to be an additional channel to reach your target audience or an official one to conduct business, defining your purpose helps you to create an app aligning with your business goals. Apart from learning about the purpose, determine the category of the app (fashion/e-commerce/games/messaging, etc.) that will help you choose the features and technologies that your app needs correctly.
Define the App's Features
After identifying your app's purpose and determining the category, the next important step is to define the app’s features. For example, if you want to make a simple application with only a few basic features, it would take less time and resources to develop. However, if it’s complex, like a large e-commerce app that requires intricate features like a shopping cart, login page, user information storage, and so on, it would require more effort. Defining your app's features is essential for setting a budget and avoiding overspending.
Know About Your Competitors
To develop a relevant and highly functional mobile app, it's essential to research your competitors. It helps you gain a deep understanding of your competitors’ technologies, features, and functionalities and gives you an idea about what worked for them and what didn't. By doing so, you can better understand the trends to be incorporated in your app development process and focus on features and functionality that can improve the chances of success. Additionally, it helps you incorporate unique features in the app to create your unique brand identity.
Plan Your App Development Process
This is one of the most important stages as it shapes and turns your idea into reality. After you have decided on your requirements by identifying your purpose and researching your competitors, it's time to create a product roadmap. Note down all the requirements and group them into delivery milestones. In this phase, learn about the skills of the developer needed for this initiative. Learn about the mobile platform (iOS or Android) for which you want to develop your app. Proper planning is essential for the very next step, that is, hiring a good developer.
Choose the Right Platform
Choosing the right platform, i.e., iOS or Android, for your app development is one of the critical factors to consider while planning for mobile app development. This is particularly important if you own a startup or are new to this business. In most cases, newbie entrepreneurs do not have enough resources to develop the app for both platforms. As Apple is considered the market leader, developing an app for the iOS platform might bring you more profit. On the other hand, when it comes to the smartphone market, Android is the clear dominator. Thus, depending on your business goals, choose the platform preferred by your target audience and bring you more profit. However, if budget is not a concern, you can target both platforms to reach as many users as possible.
Hire the Right App Developer
Hiring a mobile app developer is an integral part of the mobile app development process. As you have now learned about the mobile platform for which you want to develop your app and the features you would like to include, determine the skills and experience necessary for building it. However, suppose you are working on a complex project and want to maintain consistency. In that case, it's better to outsource your project to an experienced company that can do justice to it. Hiring a company with a specialized app development team saves your time and resources while providing you with additional benefits from a diverse talent and technology pool.
Mobile app development can be a tad tedious in the process. It requires proper homework, along with systematic implementation. Most importantly, the app is a manifestation of your mobile business in today’s ultra-savvy age. So, you want to make doubly sure that you’re doing it right.
Copper & Vine is a creative design agency helping clients develop growth-enabled products for over 15 years. Copper & Vine covers all the steps to meet your diverse and complex needs from concept to application development. With an aim to provide you with the best of services, we make sure to develop products according to the market needs, product roadmap, and budget. For a FREE consultation with our expert developers, call us at +1 202.455.6992 today!
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Resources
https://www.tpptechnology.com/top-7-things-to-do-before-starting-your-mobile-app-development-project
https://www.invonto.com/insights/mobile-app-development-process/
