10 tips for app success

Both the Apple appstore and Google Play now offer more than 700,000 apps each. Consumers spend an average of two hours a day on apps. The average usage time has doubled in the last two years. But there is also a fierce competition among apps. About 63% of the apps used daily now differ from those used daily a year ago. Moreover, consumers focus on a handful of apps at a time. How can you overcome this fierce competition and be noticed? This article gives you 10 tips that put you on the right track, so your app can be a true success.

1. Focus on needs

Needs that are not fulfilled (yet) are the base for all success. Solve a problem for your potential users and you will be a success. Find the blind spots or frustrations in the current market.

2. Get niche

It's getting more and more difficult to be successful on the mass market. Get niche or get lost. Choose your target markets and know the needs of their potential users.

3. Magic power

What are the UPS’s of your app? Do you really add something new? What makes your app really special? You have to be able to tell it in an elevator pitch of three sentences maximum or you will be lost!

4. Borrow, but don't steal

It's good to borrow concepts that work from others. Study and learn what works and what does not. Know what's available on the market. Implement the best practices, but never copy without adding something extra.

5. Start small

Apps can be updated any given day. It's better to be live in 6 weeks, than work on the ultimate version for 6 months. The world changes to fast to wait any longer. Release early, release often!

6. Prioritize

When you want to push your app to the market fast, you have to set priorities. Use the Moscow model to set priorities and diversify between must have and need to have.

7. Keep it simple

Why do you think Apple has become so successful? They master the art of making the lives of users better every day. Keep it insanely simple and don’t make me think.

8. Motivate

Users want to feel good. Introduce concepts from gaming theory or introduce a competition element where possible. Is your app too serious for that? Than at least make sure everything works like a breeze. We have to keep those users of the first version on board.

9. Share!

Share and multiply. Give your first users an instrument to share their experiences in an easy way by using social media. Marketing does not get any cheaper than this.

10. Spread your budget

Don't fall in the development trap. The real journey begins after your app has been launched in the app store. Make sure you have enough budget left for the promotion of it. A good rule of thumb is to use 50% for development and 50% for the promotion of your app.

These tips were part of a presentation I did on Mobile Pioneers. Next to these tips you can find a lot of other valuable pointers in the presentation on how to build a successful app.