Mobile applications have become an integral part of our lives. The number of applications available for purchase and download on the App Store and Google Play exceeded 4 million.
It is not surprising that not every product succeeds and collects at least some kind of user base with such competition. And even if users download your application, often, they open and use it just once.
Why do mobile apps fail? There are many reasons for this, from the application's wrongly chosen idea to its poor implementation and execution. Read on to learn more about each failure factor and how to avoid them.
The application does not solve the problem
One of the main reasons your application is not successful is that it does not solve the user's problem.
You can perfectly design the product, comply with the latest trends, be trendy and convenient. However, the application still doesn't solve the problem of the end consumer.
How to avoid it?
Before developing an application, you need to do a lot of research and analysis. Ask yourself a few questions:
- Do the users need your app?
- Will your product provide more value to users than applications they already have
- Can you influence users to download the application?
Collect a focus group and identify the primary users' pain. What functionality do they expect to see in the application to solve the problem? All this will help to correctly put down both the idea and the final purpose of the product.
Wrong target audience selection
We have already mentioned research and analysis above. Market analysis is essential to determine a niche for the app and create a user persona.
By ignoring this stage, companies face the challenge of applications not reaching the expected demand.
How to fix it?
It is necessary to collect as much information as possible about users: demographics, behavior patterns, interests, goals. The more aspects you cover, the more likely you will create the most accurate user persona.
What practices to follow?
The most practical method is to create an MVP (minimal viable product). It'll help you test the product, analyze how effectively it corresponds to users' needs, and identify technical gaps.
Integrate the iterative process. It is based on creating, testing, evaluating, improving the product until the desired result is achieved. In other words, your work will be in the following flow:
- preparing a specific version of the product;
- testing it;
- identifying errors and shortcomings;
- improving;
- creating a new version of the product.
Not an original product
The market is overflowing with options. It becomes almost impossible to impress the user and stand out. And a mediocre interface that looks like hundreds of others will not help you get more clients.
What to do?
Once again, make a thorough competitive analysis. Analyze and study competitors' products; how will your application be better? List the advantages and disadvantages that you can find in them. What can you improve with your product? How to change the approach to what the user already likes?
Create your Unique Value Proposition (UVP). It is the only way to stand out among similar products and show the user how you differ from others.
Wrong choice of monetization
Why are you creating an application? Apparently, to make a profit. Lack of income after the product launch often leads to project closure.
Why is this happening?
Entrepreneurs choose the wrong monetization strategy and do not use and test different methods.
Mobile applications can be monetized in different ways. Among the most common strategies:
- in-app ads;
- paid installation;
- free trial period with further paid activation of the product;
- subscription model;
- in-app purchases.
Look at the niche your app will be featured in. For example, large social media platforms mainly use ads, providing free access to applications. In games, the most common model is in-app purchases. Select the appropriate monetization model after doing your research. You can implement several strategies like mixing in-app ads and in-app purchases.
Choosing the wrong marketplace
The success of the application directly depends on the choice of the platform. Studying your target audience will help you decide and make the right decision. You can create the same app for both iOS and Android. However, the user persona of these platforms is significantly different. For instance, it is known that users of Apple products are ready to spend more in the App Store and on subscriptions. Such aspects will affect monetization strategy, which must be adapted to the platform you select for the app.
How to decide on a platform?
To answer this question, you need to accurately define the purpose of your application, as well as the audience for which it will be suitable. If you know the target audience is on both platforms, consider creating a product for the two systems. This way, you will collect more users and more profit.
The complexity of the product and its UX
If the user fails to achieve the result using your application, it doesn't solve his problem. The product should be intuitive so that users do not have to solve puzzles when registering in the app or adding a photo. All this will affect the level of UX of the application and bring down the overall performance.
There are several factors to avoid:
- long loading time;
- complex access to features;
- long registration process (ideally, you should use the possibility of registering through social media/mail accounts);
- low performance of the application.
What to do?
Using the simplest technologies, let users interact with the product with one click. Don't complicate the interface with different elements; let the menu contain only the sections you need. Pay attention to the text; it should be clear and concise not to cause any doubts from the user.
Not keeping up with trends.
When creating a product, you must understand that the work does not end with its publication on the marketplace. The mobile application needs to be constantly improved and developed. First, the industry is continually changing and updating, adding new requirements. Secondly, even the devices used by people are changing, which means that your application must meet all these criteria for correct display and performance.
What to do?
Regularly track changes, new trends, add new features to the product. Users will see your participation and be more loyal to your product.
Bad marketing strategy
It isn't very reasonable to hope that after publishing an application to the store, its sales and installations will skyrocket by themselves. Without a well-thought-out marketing campaign and the right promotion tools, you won’t be able to succeed.
You need professional help. Gather a marketing team, analyze how and where to promote better, refer to SEO.
Today, many promotion techniques do not require significant financial investments. The main point is the collection of statistical data — the results of each campaign. Otherwise, how to understand which of the activities influenced sales growth, for example?
Conclusion
Mobile app development is a complicated process. And as practice shows, one idea is not enough for the successful implementation of a project. The optimal way to protect yourself from failing is to study the issue and prepare for the development process. Information and accurate data (user profile, platform, monetization) will help create a more viable product to succeed.
