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Stagnant App Marketing Strategies Are Hurting Your Brand

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Old marketing habits can be hard to quit, especially if you’ve been using them for your entire career. But, it’s time to face the truth, you’re really hurting your brand. With the advancement of technologies, we’ve pretty much spoiled our customers. And because there is a lot of competition in the market, every brand wants to be the favorite and every one of them would do as much as they can to please their customers. Expert companies keep upgrading their marketing strategies to make sure that their brand stands out and attracts customer attention. The point is that, if you’re still stuck with the old marketing habits, then you’re in for a haul. I’m pretty sure that you’re really looking forward to learn about app marketing strategies. For marketers that can’t seem to leverage their brand, I will reveal exactly how they are hurting their brand and what strategies they should adopt for success and revenue. Top App Marketing Mistakes That Hurt Your Brand First, let’s dive into some app marketing mistakes that are lowering your brand’s reputation: Not building relationships with customers A very common, in fact, a traditional marketing habit is bombarding users with boring information about your product rather than creating two-way dialogue. The problem is that marketers just want to sell their products, they are more focused on the ‘me, me and me’ approach when in reality your marketing strategy should be more focused on ‘benefiting the user’. A simple example of this is, advertisements, people hate advertisements. A survey held by Statista, reveals that nearly 26% of users utilize ad blockers to get away from the otherwise annoying ads. The ‘me-and-only-me’ approach would probably be successful in the 1950s, but not in 2019. In today’s world, two-way communication has become very important, so instead of bombarding users with information, you can try providing them content that shows that you’re working to help them solve a problem. If you’ve created a fitness app, you can highlight the value it will add to the user’s routine. If you’ve created a gaming app, you can show all the incredible features and functionalities that make your app stand out from the rest in entertainment. When you connect with your customers on social media, online forums, and through emails, make sure that the content you send out reflects that you’re open for conversation. Instead of useless product praising, you can add a question, or tailor interactive elements that will help generate dialogue between you and your customer. Rarely updating your social media and website information Suppose you’re looking for an app that sells sneakers. You’re thinking of purchasing 2 pairs of the latest Air Jordan’s from the same retailer. After a few minutes of looking through the app store, you finally come across an app that sells the latest branded sneakers. You decide to visit their Facebook business page. You look for page reviews, but you can’t find any. Then you decide to look at their posts, but, it appears that the last time the admin posted something was 5 months ago. You look at the images, but the sneakers you’re looking to buy are not there. What would you do? Most consumers would probably abandon the page as well as the app as soon as they see outdated posts. The point is, if you are using social media to attract visitors to your mobile app, there is no point if you’re inactive and you rarely update your social media platforms or your website. In today’s world, in order to validate your products, most people look for proof that verifies your authenticity using social media, reviews, and your website. You have to show some activity, after all, your competitors might be doing a pretty good job, and your visitors have plenty of other options. Inability to re-market to past users It is a common saying among marketers that ‘80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers’. The problem is that mobile app companies focus on increasing their audience and forget about increasing the value of the 20% users. A recent report shows that from the 100% users that install your app today, only about 25% will be active after a weeks’ time. And some marketers follow the logic that once users have had their app experience, they are of no value to your app. However, they are wrong. The 70% of users that have already converted have a greater chance of engaging with your app as compared to new users. If you cannot re-engage your converted customers, then you’re in-fact losing 70% of your users every week. In order to re-engage your users, you can send personalized notifications, interactive ads, and offer discounts for re-engaging with your app. Not focusing on mobile app reviews As mentioned in the above example, before users purchase goods they look for validation using customer reviews on social media and other platforms. If your app doesn’t have any reviews and ratings, most people would think that your app is useless or spammy. Social proof plays a major role in the number of app downloads; High ratings and good reviews help you rank on the app store, and also increase your audience. Pushing out random content A stagnant and very annoying marketing strategy, is creating and distributing lengthy content that doesn’t meet the expectations of today’s consumers. Users are more attracted towards content that is interactive, relevant, and compelling (e.g this year marketers are more focused on sending out video content because users are more attracted towards videos as compared to other elements). So if you really want to improve your app marketing strategy, focus on pushing out engaging content that resonates with your target audience. Ways to Improve your App Marketing Strategy Progressive web apps can do wonders Progressive Web Apps are websites that look and function just like your native mobile apps. PWA’s have been accepted with open arms by popular companies including Google. By incorporating this fresh technology in your

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6 Reasons Why a Bad UX Can Kill the App

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Since the first man arrived on Earth, the world has changed drastically. Studying the history of mankind, we can easily see how man has progressed and advanced from someone with minimal opportunities to a being who defies every force to reach beyond the highest level. Though this change is present on all levels in all fields of life, it is nowhere pronounced as in the world of computer technology and cybernetics. The Age of Mobile Apps As we moved from using bulky and immovable desktops to light and portable laptops and then ultimately to the very convenient mobile phones, the way we do business also changed. From having only physical outlets and no digital presence, our organized first found themselves finding customers through websites and then added mobile apps to the train too. Today, as many as 42% of small startups conduct their businesses through a mobile app. Out of the total remaining startups which do not already have an app, 30% are planning to build one soon. Mobile apps are expected to hit a humongous $581.9 billion in revenue by 2020! The Benefits of Using a Mobile App for Your Business Mobile apps have transformed the world of e-commerce and completely changed the way we do business today. Having a mobile app has unlocked multiple doors for businesses – both small and large, and made surviving and thriving in the competitive corporate world slightly easier. Let’s see some of the most prominent ways in which having an app can help a modern business. Mobile apps help your brand become popular with a broader audience A large part of people who might be interested in buying your services and your products, shop exclusively on their mobile phones. Developing a good app helps you tap into this unexplored market and expand your customer base. With more customers on your plate, you are ultimately going to generate more substantial revenues. But the benefits of a smartphone app are not just limited to finding new individuals who might hire you – mobile apps are also an excellent tool for branding. Reaching to a larger audience with your message helps you become famous and might even make you into a trend that everyone wants to be a part of! Mobile apps assist in building better communication between you and your customers Secondly, mobile apps are a superb platform to reach out to your customers and ask them what they think. Excellent at generating quick feedback, your smartphone app can help you establish better communication between your brand and your customer, making your customer feel like you genuinely care about them. Making use of mobile apps, you can appear more reliable and trustworthy Thirdly, mobile apps can enhance your image in the eyes of your target audience. Many people today would not trust a company if it did not have some sort of digital presence. While having a sound website is the standard, adding an aesthetic and helpful mobile app to the mix makes you appear that much more reliable and trustworthy. This encourages your target audience to do business with you and, ultimately, contributes to a more substantial profit at the end of the month. How Can Lousy User Experience Kill Your Mobile App? From the above, we can see that a mobile app is an indispensable tool for all businesses – regardless of how small or big it is. But if you fail to develop a winning app, it can quickly die down and result in a loss of customers, instead of hiking the numbers up. If your mobile app fails to meet the standards, the smartphone users today have in their minds from apps, you may end up harming your business instead of boosting it. In the following paragraphs, we will discuss 6 ways in which bad UX could kill your mobile app. Your app does not have regard for its’ users time If your app takes ages to load, your customers are not going to like it. In the fast-paced life, they do not have enough time to stick around and wait for a slow app to stop refreshing. As page load time increases from 1 sec to 3 sec, the probability of bounce increases by 32%. Add a couple more seconds, and it will increase to 90%, and at the 6-sec mark, it will reach an alarming 106%! For some exceptionally slow apps that take 10 seconds to load, the probability of bounce increases by 123%. A complex and challenging to use app starts the user off on the wrong foot Sometimes, amateur designers and app developers might add a lot of unnecessary features to make your app look ‘creative’ and ‘unusual.’ They do this on the pretext that customers will see these unique features and think of your app as out of the box and one of a kind. As a result, they will be drawn to the app and begin using it regularly. However, what these app designers and developers fail to realize is that many people may not understand these features because they have never seen them before. Because of this, these unusual features are more of a hassle than something your consumers would appreciate. The key to running an e-commerce mobile app is to keep it simple and minimalistic. In this way, you can not only guarantee aesthetics but also maximum functionality. People cannot find what they are looking for Another app design mistake that can lead to bad UX and ultimately, the untimely death of the app itself is not keeping your app organized. This is why you need experts! One of the biggest reasons people like to shop online is because, in online shopping, they do not have to search extensively through racks of items to get to the one they are interested in. If your poorly developed app takes away the liberty to find what they want in an instant from the customers, you are killing your app. For the above reason,

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Characteristics of a Really Successful App

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More than half of the US citizens between the ages of 25-29 now own a mobile phone but no landline telephone. A study by the National Center for Health Statistics found that more and more people are increasingly becoming reliant on mobile phone technology as it penetrates deeply into our lives. At the heart of this increased reliance lies the prevalence of the internet and the rise of mobile app development. They have become one of the main reasons why consumers now find themselves hooked to their smartphones and tablets. If we look at the amount of time spent using mobile devices, we find that mobile apps consume around 87 percent of mobile time, while web browsing takes the remaining 13 percent. The survey conducted by eMarket research revealed that users spend two hours and 11 minutes per day using mobile apps, and this time keeps growing. For the first time in 2019, people will spend more time using apps than watching TV. The Current Mobile App Marketplace There is fierce competition for users’ time among hundreds of thousands of applications available on the popular app stores today. As of November 2019, there are 2.1 million mobile apps on Android Play Store and 2 million apps on the Apple app store, while more than a thousand new apps roll out every day on Google Play Store alone. Even if you build a unique app, chances are that you will have a competitor with a similar app like yours at the time of app execution. With such steep competition, it is becoming increasingly difficult for developers to make their apps stand out from the rest. Many are trying to mimic the tactics used by other successful apps like Instagram and WhatsApp, while others have smaller objectives. Regardless of the goal, it is evident that the app market is exploding, and you will have to find your way to break through the noise to succeed. In this blog, we will guide you on how to build an app that stands out and separate itself from the crowd. There are apps that provide an immersive experience and stand out from the regular apps. Close observation of these successful mobile apps reveals that they have a few common features that you can also apply to your mobile app. These characteristics should be on top of your mind before you start planning your mobile application. The Characteristics of a Successful Mobile App Regardless of your business model, the objective should be to develop an app that provides value and delivers a rich experience to the users. After all, millions of apps are screaming for users’ attention, and the battle is not an easy one to win without implementing these features. The App Solves a Problem Before you start developing an app, you must have an idea that addresses customers’ pain points. This might sound obvious, but most of the apps fail today because of a flawed idea. To achieve the ‘top 100’ status in app stores, you will have to create an app that attracts a large market of buyers. In most cases, people purchase a product that they need, but a good business will also create a need for a product. Think of the time when you buy a new version of the iPhone. Did you need it? Of course not. But Apple created a need for it, and people now line up for the device to fulfill the need. Identify the Target Market for the App A great idea alone is not enough. You must develop an app with an end-user in mind. Lack of market research is one of the main reasons for the demise of mobile apps. According to CB Insights, 14 percent of failed startups had not examined their potential customers. To save yourself from the turmoil of making a substantial investment, go for an MVP. But that too after doing the needed research. It will help you in narrowing down app features and determine the potential revenue streams. Once your audience approves of your MVP, come up with a refined version of your app and include all the features that fulfill your customers’ needs. Compatibility Successful mobile apps are entirely compatible with the platform they are developed for. Developers keep the aspect of the platform in mind and ensure the best possible experience for mobile users. While a cross-platform app may be an ideal choice, the decision should be based ultimately on factors like target audience, app features, and the revenue model. Android is a better choice for the audience in Asia, Africa, and most of South America; however, iOS suits the audience in the USA, Australia, and Western Europe. Impressive UX/UI Design Both User Experience and User Interface designs are crucial for the success of an app. With so many options available on app stores, users mainly rely on the first impressions of an app. Studies show that 94 percent of the first impressions of a product are design-related, while it takes only 17 milliseconds for users to form design opinions. That is just human nature. They form an opinion about an app within the first few seconds of usage. Winning apps keep this in mind and design apps that are attractive and keeps the users hooked during the time they use the app. They leverage a compelling and engaging UI/UX, which ensures that users face no difficulty in finding what they are looking for. Successful apps use colors consistently, maintain white spaces that balance the text, and uses only the primary features that improve that visual appearance of the app and provide a positive onboarding experience. User Engagement One of the dilemmas that app developers and marketers face today is the overwhelming desertion of mobile apps. Recent research by Statista shows that 25 percent of mobile apps worldwide are accessed only once after their installation. Adding gaming elements can prove very beneficial to avoid the pitfall. Outbank – a financial app – for instance, visualizes transactions

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3 Quick Ways to Measure the Code Quality of Your Mobile App

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Every year, more and more people adopt smartphones and tablets. And apps come in the package. Hence, with every passing year, mobile applications are becoming an integral part of the lives of many. This might explain why, as per the report, by 2022, we can expect over 258 billion annual app downloads! Unsure about the profitability of the app sector? A simple game will help prove otherwise. Name any activity of the day, and you will find quite a few apps available for it. For instance, you wake up in the morning with the help of an alarm app. You converse with your friends through instant messaging apps. You might keep tabs on your exercising habit and calorie intake through a wellness app. If you wish to launch a startup, a mobile app can become a vital part of your offering. Between e-hailing services and e-wallets, there are a plethora of niches you can target with a well-positioned app! However, you must note that it is no longer enough to launch an app. In 2020 and beyond, to succeed, you must develop a relevant and high-quality app. This is where the code quality of your mobile app comes into the equation. What is Code Quality and Why You Must Care? After you have decided on whether you want an iPhone or Android app, you must take various steps to develop the solution. Once it is ready and coded, you might be in a hurry to showcase it to the world. This is where you need to slow down and take a step back. Before releasing your app for the world, you must measure the code quality of your app once it is developed. What is code quality? In laymen terms, code quality refers to whether the codes used in the app are of high quality (good) or of low quality (bad). This is not an objective quality index. Whether or not the codes of your mobile app are good depend on the definitions you judge them on. Here, help from resourceful teams of coders and developers is required. You must also keep the context in mind. For instance, if you are gauging the code quality of a mobile app, the analysis of an automotive developer won’t matter. You might wonder, if code quality is such a subjective index, why does it matter? After all, what difference can it make to your app? Well, if you seek the right opinion and assessment, code quality tells you a lot about the quality of the software and whether your codebase is safe, reliable, and secure. To distinguish a good code from a bad one, here are some questions you should ask: Does the code do what it was created to do? Is it consistent in its operations? Is it easy to understand? Can the codes be tested? Is the code documented well, for future use? How to Measure The Code Quality of Mobile App? There are multiple ways to measure code quality. Each method focuses on an essential aspect of mobile app development. Here are three elements and the quickest ways to measure code quality based on the factors in question. Reliability Reliability refers to the risk attached to the codes and software. It also illustrates the probability the said code of the mobile app will fail. The more reliable code is, the less likely it is to fail. Measuring the reliability of code is vital to reduce the chances of malfunctions of an app. Here are some quick ways to measure the reliability of a code: Keeping tabs on production incidents: The lower high priority errors are identified during the app development process, the higher is the reliability score. Load testing whereby you check how the code functions when a lot of users use it. Regression testing, where you count the number of new defects that arise when you try to change the app, keeping the given code constant. Reliability evaluation where experts create a market-like environment and see whether the app works flawlessly in the stimulating environment. Security We live in a time marked by security breaches. Recently, a giant like Facebook, too, came under fire for the drastic data theft it witnessed. While living in an online world means that our sensitive data is more vulnerable than ever; this doesn’t mean that steps cannot be taken to prevent such breaches. In fact, more than ever, consumers are now careful about which app they download. Every user wishes for a secure app, and this security begins at the coding level. This is why gauging the security of the codebase is an excellent way to measure the code quality of a mobile app. Attackers are likely to breach software and gain access to highly sensitive and personal information if poor coding practices are used. This is why it is essential to minimize the number of vulnerabilities an app faces on the coding level. Here are quick and tested ways of assessing code quality on the basis of security. Scanning the mobile app to identify the number of vulnerabilities present in the app. Deploying a Security update in case the app has been launched. Analyze how many users have updated the app and whether its vulnerabilities have reduced since then. Identifying actual security incidents and gauging the severity and frequency. Mostly, measuring the code quality on the basis of security means waiting until you launch your app. However, since app development is a continuous process, this factor ensures that your mobile app is flexible enough to cater to problems that arise with time. Maintainability and Testability The ease with which software and hence a codebase can be maintained governs whether or not it is of high quality. To measure code quality on the basis of maintainability, it is essential to assess the structure, consistency, and complexity of the codebase in question. Here, factors like testability come in. It is hard to provide a single quick metrics for judging the quality of a

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