Developing an app is one thing. The problem is that App Stores are flooded with miscellaneous apps and cutting through the noise can be very hard. That is why we offer you only the most relevant and important content to help you with an app promotion.
The cellular marketplace today is constantly developing, becoming one of the fastest-growing and innovative markets. But when it comes to all those apps, terms, store, mobile, and other similar things, it can seem a little bit difficult to understand how all those pieces come together. Proper optimization of the app store is the key to success.
But even if your app is really good, it’s still very easy to get it lost among the thousands of others available. Below you can see some tips on how to better optimize your mobile, apps, and the store so these all can be involved in a successful marketing strategy.
General Concepts
The main idea of an app store optimization is to make the app more visible for the end customer. The client should see your app among the first customer search results. As it happens with most search engines, if you’re not seen on the first results page, the chances of being visible drop significantly. Visibility is the core point here: the more users can view your app, the more purchases and downloads you’ll get.
It was noted by Google that most of the apps were downloaded and installed after they were found in search engines. To become sure that your app is properly shown in the search engine results, it is important to do a careful review of keywords and other related factors.
Mobile, Apps, Keywords & Store
As it was mentioned before there are thousands of apps available on the mobile marketplaces today. You have to stand out. The first thing you should pay attention to is keywords. These help the search engine to note your app. The main keyword that describes the app should be a part of your app’s title.
Spend some time to explore the common search terms before specifying the name as changing it later can negatively affect your branding. The other keywords can be used for overall terminology and product description. And even after the app is already released, make sure to proceed with the research in order to update the keywords according to the target market’s research habits. This will let you keep the highest positions in the search results.
Downloads
Despite the fact that you can’t control it, the high number of downloads can become an awesome marketing tool. Make your app a celebrity by highlighting the total amount of downloads in the description of your product. Being popular, your app will easily attract new customers.
Get Positive Reviews
Sometimes these are difficult to control but high ratings play a significant role. Each time you search for something on eBay or Amazon, your opinion about seller’s reliability and the product’s quality is based on the amount of 5-star feedbacks the seller has.
Another step is to look through accounts of buyers that purchased the product from this specific seller. The total amount of downloads is important, but positive feedbacks along with generous reviews can do wonders encouraging users to buy your product. So, each time you sell something, subtly ask your customer to leave feedback or at least rate you.
Timeframe
Be prepared to spend enough time to build a high-quality optimization plan for a successful app store. You’ll have to adjust your app’s keywords and description regularly. Sometimes you’ll have to revise the keywords you use, making them more adjustable for search engines and your target market. Actually, it’s almost impossible to make the first set of keywords optimal.
That’s why it’s very important to be ready for constant changes in trends as well as to the regular slight changes in descriptions in your app store. Keep in mind that your time is important, but the results are even more important. Try to not to make your app one of those thrown onto an app marketplace without any strategy in mind. Your sales can be significantly reduced because of no effort being put into optimization. Track every sale’s rank and respond regularly, especially when competition arises.
Marketing as the Core Element of Your Strategy
Once you’ve drawn the customers’ attention to your product, another key to success is to make sales’ raise a priority. Your app’s icon should be unique and eye-catchy. The description should be well-read and explain all the details about your app. Use the keywords carefully as these shouldn’t damage the overall readability.
Add some screenshots that show general usage situations and explain to your customers how people usually use your app. This will let them feel that they already own the product and enjoy its benefits. The most successful commercials allow users to discover the trial version, so they can understand the product’s integrity before they finally buy it. This represents a bond of intimacy before the clients even pay for it. It will be also great to include a short video that will personalize your app and explain what the product offers to its potential owner.
Conclusion
As you could observe, mobile, apps, and store all together compose a special consumer’s marketplace. There are several key elements that make an app store optimization plan. The most important part here is optimizing the keywords in your app title and description so these can benefit to search engine results.
The other factors to consider are the downloads’ count and positive customer reviews. The last ones can be used as effective marketing tools. But you can’t take direct control over them. Deciding to do a correct store optimization plan, you should be prepared to regular updating of keywords and descriptions as these can change its popularity and let the competitors enter the market.
To become sure you are on the top of search results, you should regularly change the keywords making them current and focus on the target market. Finally don’t forget about the art of sales. After you’ve managed to get the top position in the search results, you need to market your product to potential customers.
A stunning icon, proper description, a couple of screenshots, and a short video presentation will help you to achieve the goal.
You’ve come up with a brilliant mobile app idea and you want to develop it and make it popular. It is relatively easy to get an app idea off the ground and into the hands of users. In fact, a good developer will include you in every stage of the app’s creation and planning, and you’ll appreciate the end result. It’s important that you bear in mind though, that even some of the best-designed apps go unacknowledged and ignored.
These incredible apps are buried among a million other applications and lost in the app stores that are milling out apps by the thousands. So what do you have to do to ensure the success of your app? Are there things you can do to prevent your app from being lost in the deepest recesses of a virtual app store? Yes! Check out some of the following solutions below.
Simplify Your Login
The minute your user downloads your app and launches it on a mobile device, the first thing they encounter is a sign in or login option and/or a menu page. You need to make app access a simple as possible. Today’s mobile users are impatient and their attention span is limited. Apps need to offer near-immediate gratification, otherwise, it is likely you will lose the attention of the user as they move onto some other app that will offer instant satisfaction. Social media integration is definitely recommended here as with a few taps of some icons and the user of your app is in and ready to access your content or play the game you have created.
Typically, new app users do not care about having to go through all the fuss of creating a user identification and password, and then verifying everything by email before being able to enter the application. If you are going to have a log-in option with a user id and password, at minimum give your user the option to sign up using social media integrated features as well.
Market Your App
The only way you are going to attract downloads is if you put every effort into app promotion. Through marketing, you can introduce the app to your target audience; track downloads, and monitor the success of your marketing campaigns. Marketing also allows you to tell users what your app offers, how they can use it, and how it will benefit the user.
Do not make the mistake of thinking that marketing starts only after the app is completed. In fact, you need to market the mobile app pre-launch. You can use some people to beta test the app and allow them to generate a buzz about the application via word of mouth and social media.
Create a webpage and make it the official page of the app where users can download the app and access any new updates in the future. Use the page to share your story (consumers love a back-story) and tell them what inspired the app. Write about the development process. The more you can connect with your users the better.
Social Media Sharing
Social Media is just a part of online marketing now. You can create an official page for the app and invite friends to like the page. You can use the page to make announcements about the app, discuss changes to it, and to advertise it to others. Users can like your page and share it with others. It is a super fast way to spread the word about your app and what it offers.
When you use social media outlets, you can offer users incentives and you can even reward them for sharing your information and posts. Reward them for inviting the people they know to your page, and you will get more organic “likes” then you can imagine. Add a function within the app where users can share the app with friends on social media too; it is a simple way to get people to share with others.
Simplify the Entire App
The interface of your app needs to be flawless. You want to keep things neat, nicely designed, clean, and smooth. Always remember you have impatient users who will drop your app like a bad habit if it is not visually appealing and easy to use. At any given moment, if your application makes the user feel like they are inconvenienced, aggravated, or even cheated, they will remove your app. Even worse, they may give you bad feedback and spread bad messages about your app via word of mouth. What this means is the simplicity of your application is at the heart of your app’s success and your reputation.
Make the features the user will use the most the easiest to access. Present the functions in a prominent area of the app. Make everything about the app obvious and intuitive. If you have an app you are creating that is based on a website and the user is already accustomed to the online experience associated with the website, they will expect the app to deliver a similar experience. Make sure your app and website line up in terms of functionality as much as it is possible to do so.
Landscape or Portrait
Ahhh…the blessed “dual-orientation” on many mobile devices: Users either love it or hate it, there really is no in-between. When you are developing an app, you have to consider dual-orientation as well. How does the app look in landscape mode? How does it look in portrait mode? Where is everything Located? Is everything easy to access in both modes? Are all the gestures the user has to make to operate the app smooth and easy? Make sure your dual-orientation factors are user-friendly.
Final Iteration
Final Iteration? The truth is, there isn’t one. When you have an app you’ll want to update it regularly. You may have to debug it, create new versions, add new features, and regularly update it so it remains compatible with mobile devices. Keeping your app current and giving the user new elements will improve the likelihood of your app’s long-term success.
If you spend months designing an app, creating a number of iterations, testing them, there’s no doubt you have a question: How to monetize an app?
After all that hard work you’ll want to get a bit of brand recognition, to heighten consumer awareness or to gain the loyalties of new customers. An app is only as successful as the number of users who download and use the application and just how much money the app generates in terms of overall revenue.
Sure, it happens once in a blue moon. Apps like Instagram, Vine, and WhatsApp come along and sell for huge sums of money. But, in the everyday world of app building and development, the average app won’t make billions. It’s just like the industry of publishing, there are thousands of authors, but only a few of them are bestsellers.
You need to be confident in the success of your app, but there is a small possibility that your app will land you in riches. Statistics reveal that around 2% of the app developers claim more than half of the app revenues. You need to be realistic about your vision of success, so let’s see what you can do with app monetization.
First, you need to define what you want to achieve with the app you’ve created. There are some questions to be considered:
Can your app solve problems of the user, and if it is so, then how?
What features make your app different from all the other apps on the market?
Why will users pay for your product? What is its value?
Research apps in the same category: What business model they are using to sell and market their apps?
Once you’ve answered the questions above, you can move forward to create your own mobile app monetization model.
Below are some of the major ways to monetize apps you can choose from.
6 App Monetization Strategies
Strategy 1: In-App Ads & Free Mobile Apps
This business model is most attractive for users because they can download your app for free, without paying any penny and you are able to make money by selling data-driven advertising space.
How do in-app ads work in free mobile apps?
you gather information about the users
when you have formed a strong user base, you can sell the collected data to in-app advertising networks
publishers select your application to place their ads
As a result, users see the small banners or popups with ads. Ads typically appear at the top or bottom of an app. If the user taps the ad, all sorts of possibilities open up from watching a video to the redirecting to advertiser’s website. For social media apps like Tik Tok or Instagram in-app ads usually are represented by video placements.
Also, there is one more interesting type of ad – notification ads.
Some people are calling them “Trojan horse ads” because they can send you push notifications with the ad even when the app is dormant.
Notification ads can be used while thinking about how to monetize the Android app. Because they are only supported on this platform.
However, there are some shortcomings when monetizing free apps. For instance, some users find the advertisements annoying and decide not to use or even not to download the app with ads.
Also, you need to take into account that advertisements may significantly limit the screen space of your app.
Strategy 2: In-App Purchases
You get the revenue in this strategy by selling virtual or physical goods or services within the app.
It doesn’t matter what you’re selling. It can be clothing, gadgets, accessories or something virtual such as extra lives or in-game currency.
The in-app purchases implemented in your app turn it into another sales channel. This way of app monetization applies particularly well for e-commerce apps or games (where you can buy a bonus or a special ability to skip a level that’s driving you up the wall.)
One of the side benefits of in-app purchases is that you can get deeper levels of engagement by providing users with the opportunity to buy virtual goods.
The only drawback in this model has some cons since app stores usually take a cut of the revenue for virtual goods purchased inside an app. For instance, for songs or a game.
Strategy 3: Apps with Gated Features (Freemium)
This model is a bit like the free apps model.
The app is available for free but some of its features are locked (gated). To unlock these features or get an access to premium features users should pay some money.
In other words, users have access to an app’s basic functionality for free, but the premium features have their price.
The Freemium model is most relevant for games.
Angry Birds game is a great example of how a brand managed to get significant revenue using this strategy. Users were able to upgrade the game to the full version for a small fee.
Such an approach allowed the company to get an extremely large number of fans of the game. After having conquered a few levels, users became engaged enough to pay for the full-fledged version for more hours of fun.
Strategy 4: Paid Apps
You can assign a fixed price to every single app download. The price of mobile app development can vary depending on your app and its functionality. You will want to be fair about the pricing of your app, however. You have to persuade users to download the app by stirring a need or desire for the potential user. This means more marketing efforts.
If you set a price for downloading your app, it means you use the paid app business model. The user has to purchase your app from the app store to install it on his device.
The price of paid apps may vary and it usually starts from $0.99. It is the most common price as brands make money upfront with every new user.
The success of a paid app depends on your ability to showcase the value that users get with your app.
It is not an easy task to sell an app because app stores are so overcrowded and users can find a free alternative to your app.
Thus, your paid app should possess undeniable benefits that differentiate it from similar free apps. Provide your app with unique features, be it design or functionality, or brand.
Strategy 5: Subscriptions (Paywalls)
This model is similar to the freemium model. Instead of the locked features, it makes money on narrowing conThe user. The user is allowed to view a limited amount of content for free. To get more, the user needs to sign up for a paid subscription.
This model allows you to earn revenue on a recurring basis as it most suited for content-focused apps (news, lifestyle, and entertainment). And it is very similar to the “pay later” or “free trial” model.
Apps with updating content can also earn money with ads that other brands place inside of them. Use an app revenue calculator to estimate the approximate revenue of your application.
Want to Learn More About The APP Solutions Approaches In Project Development?
Incentivized Advertising is a kind of sponsorship. It means you form a partnership with advertisers, who reward your users for completing certain in-app actions. Your app earns money by taking a share of the revenue from redeemed rewards. RunKeeper became one of the first apps that adopted this app business model.
RunKeeper uses incentivized advertising to motivate its users to track their running activity to unlock exclusive rewards and promotions.
Takeaway
As the competition between the apps becomes more complicated, you should use a creative approach while building your monetization strategy. You shouldn’t limit your strategy to one model. You can work with blended models. For instance, start with a “free, but with ads” model and then offer users a paid upgrade to an ad-free version.
The end lesson here is: be creative and courageous as much, as it possible and you will bound to succeed.
When Apple Pay was launched in October 2014, that’s when m-commerce had come of age. The Apple Pay was part of the iPhone 6’s innovations, which brought together point of sale (POS) transaction processing with Near Field Communication (NFC) technologies. Essentially, it was with the iPhone 6 generation that a mobile user could touch his or her device to another device with NFC technologies in order to make transactions in a brick and mortar store.
It was the first time a mobile device could be used as a credit card, and it was the moment Apple entered into the realm of transaction and payment processing. As m-commerce quickly evolves, more big-name brands are looking to get into online payment options, including the likes of Amazon and Google.
The year 2015 has ensured that more and more people are accessing the Internet with mobile devices. In fact, the desktop computer is quickly becoming a less coveted item as mobile devices are heralded for their convenience. In the year 2014, Goldman Sachs made a prediction pertaining to mobile shopping and spending, and that forecast suggests that by 2018 will increase to as much as $626 billion.
Bear in mind that a phrase like m-commerce or mobile commerce has multiple meanings. For one developer it may refer to in-app purchases, to another it can refer to premium apps. For someone else, the term m-commerce can suggest touch device technologies or a mobile POS allowing users to pay for something with their mobile device. The categorizations for m-commerce are myriad. There are, however, six key categorizations in the realm of m-commerce. The top six categorizations are as follows:
Coupons sent digitally to consumers for use in brick and mortar establishments.
Response when buyer users a website to buy products/services (Mobile Optimized).
Retail Point of Sale (POS) mobile payment solutions.
App Only Purchases on Mobile (e.g. Square or Uber).
Social Media Purchases (In-App) (e.g. Twitter/Facebook).
Mobile Access to e-commerce website online.
Mobile Devices and In-App Purchases
Mobile users commonly make purchases when using an application: This is the foundation of in-app purchases. Nevertheless, the amount of app that people are interacting with has reached its peak. This means that Facebook is one of a select few that can pull off the development of its own payment system. Thus, social games and their developers may be more reliant on Facebook credits or other options in order to bring in money from gaming applications. Bear in mind that it doesn’t really mean that there’s a challenge against the position of Google Wallet.
Starbucks has jumped on the payment processing bandwagon too, and the company created its own m-commerce platform as an addition to the company’s already existing infrastructure, thereby presenting the loyalty point and transactions via a mobile phone in a useful package that mirrors and complements the company’s offline experience.
Of course, Amazon is an Internet giant in sales so it’s no wonder the company has its own payment processing solutions. What this all means for the app developers throughout the remainder of 2015? There are plenty of viable, outstanding, and trustworthy payment options that can be integrated into m-commerce apps where customers are already participating with one of the big name providers in pre-existing payment processing environments. Thus, mobile app developers can create apps that reward users with things like Facebook credits or Amazon points and other related rewards.
m-Commmerce is More than Mere Shopping
The way brick and mortar retail shops operate has been forever changed by the innovation of mobile devices. Handheld mobile devices have brought an entire entourage of innovations to the retail setting and businesses are following the hottest application development trends. The gap between the physical and virtual store has now dubbed the gap between “bricks and clicks,” and businesses are doing everything in their power to make that gap as small as possible.
The methods businesses are using mobile advertising solutions include offering discount coupons that are scannable via a mobile device, making use of mobile solutions for business is on the rise. For instance, Buzztala has created a platform where users can create video reviews and/or customer testimonials for whatever websites they favor.
Social Media Marketing Remains Meaningful
And of course, for the remainder of 2015, the ever-increasing pins on Pinterest and Likes on Facebook will continue to prove important to the thee-commerce/m-commerce business. As per SocialCode’s Max Kalehoff, there are businesses out there that are spending budgets that are the size of television scale advertising budgets, and it’s all for the purposes of social media marketing. In fact, there’s little doubt that social media marketing will soon match the costs of other more costly forms of advertising.
Mobile Websites Are Powerful Business Tools
While mobile devices and Internet access through such devices is on the rise, that’s when a business owner would be wise to establish a mobile site for the consumer as a powerful business tool. If the business owner has a website online and a mobile-friendly site, then that’s like killing two birds with a single stone, and it will allow the business owner to capture the attention of consumers from two avenues instead of just one.
Credit Cards Through Mobile Devices
NFC technologies are changing the way consumers pay for goods and services, and businesses need to adapt in order to maintain consumer loyalty. Many smartphones are fitted with NFC chips, which allow for banking information and payment to be processed when scanned on a special reader.
This type of POS processing is different than credit card purchases, as it allows for the use of interactive payment processing as well as alternative services. As per David Marcus, the PayPal president calls the service Money 3.0. Is it possible that the latter service becomes pervasive this year? Or will rival options come to the forefront, like Apple’s iBeacon or Beacon by PayPal, both of which are dependent on Bluetooth® technologies?
New Innovations on the Horizon
The mobile app world is evolving at a rapid pace and as such there are new and promising applications on the horizon. Take for instance the usage of Biometrics where retina scans, fingerprint scans, and voice recognition are revolutionizing the way people identify themselves via mobile transactions.
The newest mobile app novelties are bound to shape the way businesses conduct business for years to come, both in e-commerce, m-commerce, and physical realms.
While some mobile app developers count the number of app downloads as a method for measuring the likeability and desire for an application, the actual download count is not necessarily indicative of the app’s overall success. While high numbers painting a picture in hit charts might make it seem that a mobile app is doing well, there are other metrics to consider when it comes time to weigh the caliber of a mobile application.
When attempting to determine the desirability of a mobile app, the developer needs to take in a number of metrics into consideration in order to get a true picture of an app’s success rate. First, the developer will want to know what people are downloading the application: This will give the developer insight into what audience the app appeals to and if the mobile app is reaching its target audience.
The developer needs to examine how many people download the app, if the user opens it, and how each user is interacting with it. In fact, understanding how long a user makes use of a mobile app and the average time the user spends interacting with the app are also important figures to know. The latter information can give insight into what features in the app are appealing or not and thereby give the developer some hints about the necessary changes that can make the app even more successful.
Other things a developer needs to consider is app feedback and comments. Knowing what people are saying about an app and if they will recommend it, helps the developer know of any potential changes are necessary as well as what features users like the most. The mobile app developer also needs to consider in what form users will be able to access the app. Will the app be free with advertisements supporting it? Will it be a lite version that leads to the purchase of the full version? Of course, offering in-app purchases is another option the developer has for monetizing a mobile application.
Mobile analytics will help ensure the success of your app. A good developer with any level of experience knows that the initial launch of an app is not the end of the story. In fact, applications are under a process of evolution and the developer continues to upgrade and perfects the app over the course of time.
With the latter notion in mind, it is easier to understand how the number of downloads associated with an app has no reflection on the app’s overall success since the number does not reflect the quality of the application or the version downloaded. Additionally, when the download numbers suddenly drop, turning to reviews and feedback may not be quite enough information for the developer to identify the issues with the app. It is because of situations like this that mobile analytics is of tremendous import.
Best Mobile Analytics Tools
Appsee
Appsee is a user-friendly analytics program that will reveal the total users of an app, how many launches an app gets, and it will also reveal the average session length and if the app crashes. It also records some of the app user’s usage so you can look at the interaction and determine what is wrong with the app, if applicable.
Appsee lets you identify why a user might stop using the application, what features are most desirable, and when the user stops interacting with the application.
Price: Free.
Flurry
A complete toolkit to measure the caliber of an app. Flurry is like the Facebook of mobile analytic programs, and in the industry, the program is the standard when it comes to mobile analytics program development. The program works with Windows, Blackberry, Android, and iOS devices. The program requires you use three lines of code to start getting analytical information on an app.
Flurry is a program that allows the user to customize the program in order to measure the most meaningful metrics for the developer. Users of Flurry can find out about demographics and other important statistics so the developer can increase the success of an app.
Price: Free.
Google Analytics
Yes, now Google Analytics includes an app that can measure the statistics associated with a mobile application. With the app, the developer can witness user action, demographics, in-app purchase information, and more. If the developer makes a decision on how to monetize an app, there is Google Mobile available for iOS and Android platforms as well.
With mobile analytics through Google, users can find out about relevant users, traffic sources, real-time reports, flow visualizations, event tracking, exception and crash reports, and custom reports, all through a single program. The types of reports you can get out of Google Mobile Analytics include app profiles, and iOS and Android software development kits (SDKs).
Price: Free.
Mixpanel
Mixpanel is a mobile analytics resource supplying details on how a user discovers a mobile application, the location of the user, and details on how the user interacts with the app and for how long. Mixpanel relies on user surveys and A/B tests to generate analytic results. The user of Mixpanel gets access to custom reports revealing information on user retention and engagement.
With Mixpanel, users can access whether or not advertising campaigns are working or if the user needs to change up the way they are marketing an application. The app can even tell the developer if users are sharing the mobile app under analysis. Price: Varies, depending on the plan you choose.
Using one, a few, or even all of the above mobile analytics tools can help a developer begin to identify the real success of a mobile application. Rather than rely on the superficiality of a number of downloads count, the above programs give the developer insight into user behavior, interaction, and appealing features, but it will also help the developer find out about problems and issues with the application that require repair. The analytical programs available to developers are vital to the ongoing evolution of a mobile application and to the long-term success of the app as well.
Believe it or not the industry of enterprise mobile application development has a promising future, one that could lead to a billion-dollar market. At one time cloud applications were all the rage, but now mobile apps are increasing in popularity and are set to enter into a $100 billion market. Today, mobile enterprise is following closely in the footsteps of its predecessor, cloud application enterprise.
The ease of this movement can be attributed to the incredible accessibility and affordability of mobile technologies. What’s more, mobile technologies are seemingly more user friendly than cloud technologies, thereby making the mobile applications an incredibly viable enterprise. Nevertheless, mobile applications have hidden benefits that many are unaware of: The fact that the apps will make the mobile app technology pervasively accessible for businesses, particularly those in distant locations and underserved business sectors.
While there are over three billion people who work in some job position around the world, a mere 20 percent of all the people get access to the mobile technologies needed to help make their job easier and to make their performance more efficient. This means about 2.5 million individuals aren’t getting access to the advanced, simple technologies they could use to make their job performance more effective.
For instance, a look at the construction industry reveals less than 1 percent of all of construction revenue, which is $8 trillion per year, is used on Internet technologies. Or look at the industry of manufacturing, with some 40 million workers, being the fourth largest industry in all the world, uses a mere 2 percent of its revenue for the purposes of Internet technologies.
Many workers without technology at their disposal reside in developing countries. Out of the 2.5 billion people who do not have access to mobile or Internet technologies:
50 percent of those individuals reside in the Asia Pacific
10 percent are in the Middle East and Africa
another 10 percent are in Latin America
However, the latter figures may soon change as mobile technologies is a force to be reckoned with and is poised for actually capitalizing on this gap in the market.
The opportunity of enterprise mobile app development
The opportunity of enterprise mobile app development is tremendous. Let’s consider some facts to determine the potential impact mobile technologies will have on the industry. Imagine the following scenario. The 2.5 billion people without access to various technologies, do not work at a desk. Imagine monetizing each person at about $40 annually, which is a thread of what desk workers spend on technology, and you’re looking at a $100 billion potential market, all of which could be consumed by mobile applications and devices because of their affordability and accessibility.
This kind of sizeable opportunity is huge and something that has not been seen in the past as far as technological enterprises are concerned. This means that an industry that might be able to take full advantage of smartphones and their current features can make use of an enterprise mobile solution for business.
Construction businesses could make use of mobile apps and cameras to make customer quotes or the devices can be used for making communications between workers on site and headquarters faster and more efficient. Those who work in the field of transportation and delivery could make use of mobile tools like phone billing, signature collection, and maps with driving directions.
What’s more, with the biggest opportunity in India presently being the healthcare market, the mobile healthcare apps are bound to prove profitable as well. As of this moment, there are 500 startups that have started up a fund that will be used as an investment in mobile health in Africa, China, and India.
Enterprise application development cost
It takes highly specialized resource and expertise to make an enterprise app that covers all business needs. But the rewards for getting it right can be enormously lucrative.
Answering the question, “What is the cost to develop an enterprise app?”, there is no determined price. To build an app for enterprise is more complex as it could seem.
An accurate cost estimate depends on the number of factors.
Hereby we gathered the app development cost drivers:
The number of platforms and devices that will be supported
The number of enterprise systems the app will interact with
The number and kind of features implemented in app
The size of app development team: basic or extended
The cost of labor
When it comes to hiring enterprise application development company you should take into account the following.
Assembling the right team players is extremely challenging in itself, so you have to explore the market carefully. You need individuals who are highly skilled and focused on a particular area of expertise.
Have a look at the chart below to get understanding about development prices in different regions.
If you are looking for low prices and high quality turn your attention to developers from Eastern Europe and from Ukraine in particular.
How to start?
So what is necessary in order to take full advantage of this exciting opportunity and to establish a mobile enterprise that can address the growing needs of the mobile market? Here’s a few things to consider:
Capitalize on the Original
If you want to truly capitalize on the mobile enterprise opportunity, focus on that which is original, unique, and different in the existing market. Mix the unique with the best, most coveted features, and you’ll have a winning mobile solution perfect for addressing the needs of the mobile market.
Consider using the best features of the smartphone like voice navigation and control, GPS, cameras, and sensors as an advantageous tool. Consider an app like Expensify that relies on the use of the camera in a device to take images of expense-related receipts.
Lean on Those Who’ve Gone Before You
Look at the best of the best in terms of mobile platforms. Consider how Salesforce and Box might help you out as you start to scale your mobile enterprise. Also, you might want to mirror the behaviors and practices of different companies that have reached an international market and use the example to figure out ways to expand your own enterprise. Partnering up with another business to offer innovative mobile solutions is another method you can undertake: One that can prove considerably successful.
When it comes to mobile enterprise a lot of developers are keeping their attentions local. However, if you consider addressing international needs, it can be to your benefit. Mobile space is definitely a wide-open range when it comes to mobile enterprise and the opportunity can land you a serious edge above the competition.
When planning your enterprise from the start, don’t forget to consider how you’ll eventually expand into the international market as well. Bear in mind when you are planning your enterprise that some 70 percent of all the great opportunities are going to be beyond current developed mobile markets. Of course, make sure you make your product localized as well.
Ready Yourself
Technology is bringing about an evolution in mobile enterprise, and those wise enough to ride the wave will assuredly benefit from the boom in the market. The pace the mobile market is currently growing at is clearly evidence of its potential in years to come. A smart developer will definitely jump on the opportunity presented.
You may think that you have come up with a great idea for a new app. There are tons of people out there that have made a fortune just by developing a program that customers love, and one that they are willing to pay for. However, without doing the proper mobile market research, you can find yourself wasting a lot of time and energy on your app (and do not forget about cost to develop an app) only to find out that it is not something that people want.
Before you put everything you have into your next invention, it is essential to do some research to get a better idea of how successful your idea will actually be.
Finding Your Target Audience
In order to create an app that people are going to use, want, and need, you need to discover what that specific audience is lacking. Your first step is going to be defining the audience you want to appeal to. This is also called a niche. When you decide who you want your app to be for, then you can go to work exploring what this specific audience is missing from their app list. The size of your target audience is ultimately up to you.
You may decide that you want to target a smaller audience to appeal to a more direct group of people. This is called a micro-niche market. An audience like this could be a group of young adults who like art. A larger niche, called a broad niche, would appeal to more people.
However, it can be much harder to develop something targeted towards them. For example, a group of people between the ages of 20 and 30 are going to like some of the same things but they will not like all of the same things. Your app may grab a part of the audience but if you aren’t careful on what you choose it could be a very small part resulting in very small success.
Focusing in on a Micro-Niche
Focusing in on a micro-niche audience can turn into very large profits. Even though you are not gaining a lot of customers, you can give the smaller audience exactly what they are looking for. Because your app is so specific, you can charge higher amounts for a specialized product. This turns into bigger sales and more money in your bank account.
When you want to appeal to a specific high-class group like doctors, lawyers, and other experts, you can charge the money that these professionals are willing to spend. Also, when choosing to target a smaller audience, it is easier to discover whether or not your product is going to be one that people want.
One way of discovering if your app is going to be popular is by going into the market of the business or individual you are targeting. Ask them what they want or need for their company and what they are willing to pay to get it. You can open the door by inquiring about any problem areas they are having in their industry.
By defining these issues, you can discover how to be the solution. You now know who your customers are, what they need to improve their business, and how much they are going to pay you for your assistance with their problem.
The other way of learning what companies or people want is by coming up with your own ideas. When you have a basic concept, you can reach out to the heads of the industry you are trying to target. Ask for their thoughts and opinions on the product you have created.
You can then take those ideas and alter your product to meet the wants and needs of your micro-niche audience. The result is going to be a finished app that people are going to want to buy. When you have your final product created you can go back to those supervisors and managers and offer it to them. Let them know that they inspired your product, and it is something that they are looking for. You now have your very first customers before your app even goes live.
Focusing on a Broad Niche Market
When you decide to create an application for a broad niche market, your main goal is going to be finding out what is popular at the moment. All groups of people go through trends from games to discount apps, sports programs, and more. When you are developing an app for the larger market, you need to research the mobile app stores and find out what people are buying.
Discover what Customers are Buying
The best way to learn about what customers are using and more importantly buying is by visiting the App Store yourself. Some of the most successful app developers check the popularity charts found here as much as once an hour. This may be a little bit of overkill, but it goes to show that knowing this information is key to being successful in the app world.
There are several different areas to explore when checking out these popularity charts. First of all, look at what the most popular free apps are. This shows you what people are doing on their mobile devices. You can get your ideas on what type of app you could start working on. Secondly, look at the paid apps. By browsing through this information you can discover not only what people are doing but what they are spending their money on, and how much money they are spending.
One important thing to remember when browsing through these charts is that the information you see is targeted to a specific country or region in the world. You need to explore further to find global trends or seek out the individual area you want to target in order to find the local trends.
Finding Worldwide Trends
The App store does not give you information on worldwide trends so when looking to do a broader search, you need to do other methods of research. One way to discover popular mobile application development trends across the globe is by doing searches in other places.
A popular place to do this is Google Trends. Here you can find what keywords are being searched the most. You can then take those findings and match them up with the information you have found during your App Store search to create the most popular downloads happening currently. When seeking out trends this way, it is important to narrow down your search as much as possible to get the most specific results back.
This can include lessening down time frames or seeking out a specific area of the world. Google Trends will only show you the top 10 results from your search but with a quick download of the available CSV file, you will be able to see much more.
After gathering the keywords you want from your Google Trend search, you input them into the Google Keyword Tool. Here you will be able to see exactly how many searches of any specific keyword have been done based on the factors you create yourself. Be sure to choose the advanced options in order to the most refined results possible.
Want to Learn More About The APP Solutions Approaches?
Now that you have done your search, and you have decided on a topic for your app, you need to be sure that it is, in fact, a popular one. There are programs available to assist you including TopAppCharts.com.
By inputting the information, you will get results of where your keywords rank among the App store. If you do not get a lot of results back, chances are the keyword evaluation you have done is not a valid one, and creating an app-based on them will not be successful.
Xyologic is another place you can discover if your app is going to get the downloads you are hoping for. Search out your keywords and the apps that are related to those keywords will be shown in the results. If there are a lot of similar downloads, moving forward with your idea is probably going to be a profitable one.
When you want to check the popularity of your app idea on a daily or monthly chart, AppAnnie can give you the results you are looking for. No matter what website you look through, you should always do whatever you can to make sure your research and findings are legitimate and popular among your targeted app users.
Prepare for what is to Come
Finally, when coming up with new app ideas, you can use the popular trends found outside of the App Store. Think about upcoming events or holidays and create something that is related to those ideas. For example, during Easter, coming up with an app that is related to creating Easter egg hunts for the family is likely to be successful. This of course would not be as true during the summer months.
When creating an app for any audience, you want it to be profitable. By following these mobile marketing research ideas, you are sure to be on the right path to victory.
Creating an app can use up a lot of your time and resources. There is nothing more devastating than going through all of that hard work and not making any money (i.e. due to a change in application development trends). The next time you come up with a great idea for an app, you may not want to put the development into motion because you are afraid of failing again and constantly thinking of how much does it cost to create an app for you. If you believe that your new app has the real potential of shining bright like a diamond but you do not want to risk losing everything again, you may go another way – app crowdfunding to reduce those potential threats.
Explore the different mobile app funding sources that not only help in bankrolling your application but also give you feedback on your creation and ideas on how to make it more popular.
Why Should You Use Crowdfunding?
When you think of crowdfunding, you may be thinking that you are using this method to fund all aspects of your app. However, that is not necessarily the case. In many instances, you can use crowdfunding to get money to develop certain parts of the app individually. You could also obtain funds to advertise an existing application that is already available to the customers. The main purpose of crowdfunding is taking the idea or application you already have and make it better.
By putting your application on one of the crowdfunding platforms, you can also get a better idea of how interested customers are going to be in your creation. If you do not get any funding, you will know that you need to put some work into your app to make it more desirable.
When the funds start coming in, you can feel more confident that you have something that customers want. These platforms also allow users to provide you with feedback on what you have made so far. This will help you introducing changes and set you off in a better direction. This, in turn, can allow you to build apps that make you money.
Through crowdfunding platforms, you are going to establish a much greater network of people interested in your type of product. Through networking, your name and product are going to reach many more potential customers delivering more profits.
The word-of-mouth and having a few quality applications already in your portfolio are going to be the keys to your success as an application developer. If you do not already have a solid network of supporters, now is the time to start establishing one.
Choosing the Right Crowd Funding Platform for Your App
Explore the following crowd funding platforms to discover the one that will work best for you and your app. Each one offers different aspects so that you can choose the one that will make you the most successful.
AppStori
AppStori is a funding platform for app idea that is only open to US residents. This is app-specific, and these apps are made for the iPhone App Store and Google Play. You get to set your goal for funding, and you decide what rewards to offer in exchange for funding. If you do not reach your funding goal, you do not get any money. You also cannot get more money than what you have asked for.
The qualified experts from AppStori will take a look at your project and give you an honest opinion on whether or not it will be successful. This is what they call the pre-qualification process. After they have given you the go ahead, you will start to create the advertising for your app. AppStori takes a 7% cut of your earnings, and Amazon takes 2-3% for the credit card processing.
In your AppStori blog, you can post developments and read comments related to your app so that you can make changes that your customers want to see. This is a newer and smaller platform so you have a better chance of your idea being seen if you choose AppStori for your app crowdfunding.
With Indiegogo’s non-app specific platform, you get to choose your funding type. Flexible funding allows you to keep your funding raised by a specified date regardless if you have reached your goal or not. Fixed funding is one that returns funds to supporters if you do not reach your goal.
When you use Indiegogo’s platform, you keep your app in your hands for 100%. Using different rewards, you’ll gradually gain the attention and hopefully the contribution from potential funders. There are many tips and tricks that Indiegogo shares with you along the way to make your crowdfunding attempt successful. Make sure that you make your app stand out from the crowd, and you’ll get the funding you are looking for.
Build Your Own Dedicated Team
AppBackr
AppBackr is app-specific and only used for iPhone’s App Store and Google Play. This platform allows you to get funding for applications already developed and available to customers. It can also be used for the development of a new app.
To get funding from AppBackr, first explain what your app is about, what marketplace is it for, and why they should fund your app. You get to set a goal that corresponds with how much money you need to raise for your app to start the process. When this goal is met, your Backrs will then start to earn money.
When you reach the goal through the purchase of copies by your Backrs, you will get the requested funding delivered to your PayPal. You can then get to work in developing and promoting your product right away. When you start making money, you can pay your Backers. If you don’t reach your goal, no money is ever exchanged.
The idea behind AppBackr is that your funders get to make money off of your product. When you start to make money, you pay them back more than what they had initially invested in your idea. After your Backers are paid back their initial investment plus the amount of profit they have been promised, you’ll start getting all the funds that come in.
As of November 2022, the number of launched projects worldwide on the American crowdfunding platform Kickstarter amounted to 574,262. The success rate among these projects amounted to 40.13 percent. The total dollars pledged was 6.94 billion U.S. dollars, out of which 6.33 billion were succesful dollars.
In 2022, 75,436,079 total pledges have been placed with the average backer pledging to 3-4 campaigns.
This is only open for campaign creation in the United States. It allows you to take a creative approach to turn your app into something successful. Kickstarter is perfect for earning a crowdfunding app development.
In the Kickstarter platform, you set a goal for how much money you need to get in order to adequately fund your app. When the goal is reached, Kickstarter takes 5%, Amazon takes 3-5% for credit card processing, and then you get the money.
When crowd funders give you money on the Kickstarter platform, they do not get ownership of your product, and you do not have to give them any of your earnings. Through the rewards you offer these individuals decide on whether or not they want to invest in your product. You get to decide which rewards you want to offer in exchange for funding. You should make sure that whatever you decide on is something that is interesting, exciting, and accessible.
Kickstarter’s main goal is your success. You can review their training page to gain useful ideas on how to describe your app as well as what rewards funders respond to and how to promote your product. Because Kickstarter is not app-specific, you have to apply for more prospective funders to see your development. However, with so many apps posted out there, yours can get lost in the shuffle.
AppsFunder is app-specific, and it is only used for the iPhone App Store and Google Play. During the setup process, you get to set two different milestones, and you have the ability to set later. You will define what the money given to you by crowd funders will be used for. This will give the Funders an idea of what they are investing in, and it gives you the ability to keep progressing with your app as funds come in. Funders will have immediate access to your app for free when they give the set amount you have put in place (between $1 and $5). You also get to decide what Funders will get back in relation to the revenue that has been given to you.
You set your goals and your timeframes. If the money you need has not been raised by the deadline, all Funders get their money back. When you have reached your goal in the specified time, you get 80% of your funds delivered to your PayPal account. The rest of the money will come in when your app goes live on the mobile app store. AppsFunder takes an 8% cut for the use of their platform.
One beneficial feature is the ability to have your app reviewed by one of the app experts. Their approval can give you an advantage when potential funders are looking at apps to support. You can also post updates on your project, and customers can leave feedback so that you can give customers what they want and put more money in your pocket.
It is already well-known that trends in app development are forever changing. However, it is up to you to explore how they are changing if you are truly interested in app development. There are plenty of trends that can be found by reading through the information published in the State of the Developer Nation report from the research firm VisionMobile.
With all that can be discovered there, as an app developer or even as a user of apps, you should pay special attention to these four popular trends in app development. These were reported for the first quarter of the year 2015.
Number One: Using Swift
As an app developer or user, you know that even the newest and hottest trends can take a while to catch on. Very rarely will consumers bite onto a new idea just because it is there to be used. A rise in Apple’s Swift language is one that should be noted.
The researchers from VisionMobile surveyed 8,000 different top mobile game developers as part of their investigation. One out of five of these developers were using the Swift program after it being on the market for only four short months.
Objective-C had a jump on Swift in relation to iOS devices, and it only has a 39% usage among developers. This type of use is considered to be extraordinary as far as app development trends go.
As many as 25% of Swift developers are considered to be new to the iOS platform. This is considered to be a substantial amount. Even with this large amount of users, VisionMobile states that Objective-C is not going away.
It is predicted that most developers will have both tools available for their program. Experts say that in order to be the most successful on the iOS platform it will be necessary to understand how to properly use both tools in app development.
Number Two: The Growing Popularity of Cross-Platform Tools
It was discovered in the evaluation of app development trends that the use of third-party tools is at the highest rate ever. Among mobile app developers, 83% of those that responded to the investigation are using at least one third-party tool. These tools can be used for a plethora of developments including analytics, crash reporting, and other testing.
One of the biggest jumps of the use of cross-platform tools has occurred within the last six months. During this time, the usage went from 23% all the way up to 30%. The question for app developers is always how to choose the right tools for the successful creation of their app.
The best answer given by those that have accomplished their goals is finding a provider that is well-known and stable. This gives the confidence that they are going to be around to benefit from for a long time to come.
Number Three: Increasing Profits with Enterprise Apps versus Consumer Apps
No matter how popular smartphones and tablets are, there is never any guarantee that any one application is going to make money. Just because users are downloading apps faster than they are being created does not mean that just because one is available that it is going to be purchased by those looking to add to their app collection.
Trends of the first quarter of 2015 show that apps that make moneymuch better are enterprise apps compared to consumer apps. The difference between consumer apps and enterprise apps is not even close.
Research shows that 43% of the app developers that are working on enterprise apps reach or go beyond the $10,000 profit mark each month. Those that are making consumer apps are only in the 19% range when it comes to this type of revenue.
Most individual smartphone and tablet users would rather get their consumer applications for free instead of paying even a small amount for them. However, businesses are willing to spend a little bit of money to make money. That is why they will spend a few dollars on the enterprise application that is going to help them be more productive and profitable.
Number Four: The Popularity of the Internet of Things and its Slow but Sure Payoff
Many developers are now investing their time and resources into the Internet of Things (IoT). This is something that does not have the quick payoff that many people are usually looking for. Over half of the developers that took part in this research project have reported that they are using the IoT on some level in their developments.
One interesting factor is that many are doing so on a side project or hobby level rather than on their actual project. The areas that have created the largest interest include the mobile platforms iOS and Android. This comes as no surprise because the popularity and sure return that these are going to bring. Areas like smart building and wearable computing markets are among the areas being used.
Even though IoT is still in the early stages, experts from VisionMobile say that there are huge advantages of the IoT for the developers that are utilizing it. The products that are considered to be in the highest demand have the best software. Through the process of creation, the developers involved are going to be creating more competitive products over time.
After reviewing this information, taking into account what you already know about app development, and doing a complete evaluation, it is easy to see how the mobile development market is going to continue to change and grow at a rapid rate for a long time to come.
Also see infographic on this topic: Trends in mobile industry 2015.
Infographic
The development is going to occur in all different areas including the tools available to developers, the languages, the various device platforms offered, and finally the economics related to the applications. It is essential as a developer to stay up-to-date on all the changes in developments.
Even though this can be almost as time-consuming and difficult as doing your real job, it is a must. That is why the mobile market continues to be an exciting one to be a part of.
“How much does it cost to make an app?” is the first question the development team gets from startups and established businesses willing to build mobile projects. Knowing the cost of app development is essential for estimating an adequate budget and planning to spend.
Mobile application development costs may vary from $30,000 to $500,000, depending on the business functionality. But functionality is not the only price-forming factor.
This article will explain what mobile app development costs consist of and how you can impact your app costs. We’ll also explain the difference between Managed Services, Dedicated and Extended Team, and the concept of project management triangle, which is essential to understand what lies behind the estimation of mobile app development costs.
Some people think that mobile app development costs equal the number of hours one developer spends on coding. Such an approach is far from reality.
Apart from code, mobile app development project requires the following specialists:
Business analysts and project managers create the project backlog with tasks
Solution architect designs the overall architecture of the project’s back end components
Quality assurance managers make the checklists for the project functionality to ensure the functionality works without error
Designers work on the project layout, prototype, and complete design
All of the described roles require qualified specialists who charge a reasonable price for their work. Moreover, your project might require more than one developer. Therefore, work hours constitute a big part of your mobile app cost.
One example is in developing a logistics mobile app with several integrations, such as a warehouse database, online payment gateway, and booking functionality. Let’s imagine your development team has two months to complete a working project’s functionality.
To meet your deadlines, the project manager will dedicate a team of three back-end developers and two front-end developers to your project under a managed service model, which will increase the cost of your project. Thus, the cooperation model is another factor that impacts the final project app costs.
Let’s look at the three cooperation models we use at The APP Solutions and try to find out which of them will suit your project and bode well for future app costs.
What Affects Mobile Application Costs: The Cooperation Model
The cooperation model in software development defines the client and the team’s responsibilities. At The APP Solutions, we cooperate with the client under the following models:
Extended Team
An extended team means we provide you with professionals while you manage all processes. This will suit when you need to augment your existing team with our professionals. This working model works best for projects with established management and app development process.
The extended team will inherit the existing structure and report directly to you or your responsible manager.
Dedicated Team
A dedicated team business model includes shared responsibilities between the client and the development team. It works best for outsourcing business functions such as Development and Quality Assurance.
The dedicated team includes a Project Manager who is taking care of the Systems development life cycle (SDLC) Methodology and process, facilitating the dedicated team’s integration with your in-house development teams.
Under this model, The APP Solutions team manages all product development processes while giving you the freedom to develop your business. We are responsible for hiring extra specialists for creating complex projects and providing technical support after the product launch.
Apart from a Development and QA specialist, your project may require a Product Manager, UI/UX designers, Business Analytics, and System Analytics.
But how do cooperation models impact app development costs?
The more responsibilities you give to your developers and the more extensive the project scope you need to implement, the more developers will work on your project. Thus, the higher the app cost to create your app.
The app development cost also depends on three constraints that form a project management triangle. Let’s see what those constraints are.
If you need to finish a job in a shorter time you can throw more people at the problem, which will raise the project’s cost, unless by doing this task quicker, we will reduce costs elsewhere in the project by an equal amount.
Developers can complete a project faster if you increase the app development budget or cut scope. Similarly, if you increase the scope, the development team will require equivalent increases in funding and schedule.
In this way, if you cut the budget without adjusting the schedule or scope it will lead to lower quality, illustrating the proverb “Good, fast, cheap. Choose two.”
But if you need to launch a project within tight deadlines and minimal
app development
budget, consider building its MVP, which means Minimum Viable Project. The project’s MVP comes with minimum functionality to validate your business idea without ballooning app development costs.
To receive a precise cost estimate for your mobile project, you need to follow these steps:
Step 1. Ask a mobile app development team for a quote
Get in touch with the mobile app development team, describe the app idea, its functionality, and your business goal.
Step 2. Select the number of mobile platforms
Choose the mobile platform you want to target. Remember that developing a separate app for iOS and Android will double the app development cost. Thus, target one platform for MVP.
Step 3. Create the list with app functionality
Build up a list of your mobile app’s functionality that would be enough to validate your business idea.
Step 4. Prioritize mobile app features to implement in MVP
Send the list to your development team, so a business analyst can add other features if needed and prioritize functions for the first project scope.
Step 5. Ask the mobile app development team to estimate your main app features
Ask mobile app developers to evaluate the list with must-have features they will implement first, and get a precise mobile app development estimated cost.
But how much time do developers need to implement core functionality for the app’s MVP?
What Affects Mobile Application Costs: Core Features
A table with mobile app essential features, tech stack, and estimated number of hours will give you an idea about the time and money required to develop a fully-fledged mobile application:
User login
Most mobile apps provide users with registration via email or phone number to identify the user. But the most convenient way to access an app automatically creates a user profile and collects all public data about a person is through sign-in social media accounts, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Tech stack
Number of hours
Facebook SDK
Log In with Twitter
Instagram Basic Display API
4+ hours for UI/UX design
8+ hours to develop the app back-end using NodeJS
8+ hours for feature integration per each platform (iOS, Android)
Push notification
Mobile apps use push notifications to inform users about the real-time updates in the app, such as changes in order status, new content, new messages received, etc.
Tech stack
Number of hours
Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) for Android mobile apps
Apple Push Notification Service (APNS) for iOS
24+ hours for iOS
24+ hours for Android
Navigation bar
In order to allow the user to flow through your app features and content, you will need a navigation bar. This feature also defines how the user switches from one screen to another, returns to the main menu, closes an app, takes actions, etc. Thus, your app must include swiping and scrolling features, icons, buttons, arrows, and other UI architecture.
Tech stack
Number of hours
Human Interface Guidelines
24+ hours for the app back-end
16+ hours for Android or iOS development
Media content sharing
If you develop a social media app like Tik-Tok, or messaging app like WhatsApp, you need to allow users to share media files such as images, short videos, or audio files. You may also need to empower your app with editing capabilities, including adding emoticons, filters, effects, or even animated masks.
Tech stack
Number of hours
Android NDK Native APIs for Android apps
Core Audio Kit for audio exchange, PhotoKit for photo editing, and AVKit for media playback on iOS devices
8+ hours for the design
16+ hours for the front-end
40+ hours for the back-end
40+ to develop this function on each mobile platform
What Affects Mobile Application Costs: App Complexity
To show you how mobile app features and app development costs vary regarding app complexity, we split mobile apps into the following categories and added the estimated time in hours to evaluate the cost to make a solution.
Type
Simple apps
Moderate apps
Complex apps
Description
No API integration
No back-end
Basic UI components
Simple features (email subscription, social login, calendar, etc.)
Custom UI/UX features
Build-in payment gateway
API integration
Back-end server
Multi-language support
3rd-party integrations
Custom animations
Complicated back-end
Custom UI/UX design
Real-time features via database integration
Time
400+ hours
500-800+ hours
800-1500+ hours
What is not included in app development services?
A development team with a solid approach for product development does not mean your application will be famous among users. But what can you give such guarantees?
A good marketing plan, financial models, and a pitch deck:
Marketing plan. A marketing plan is the foundation of a well-written marketing plan to achieve your business goals.
Financial model. Financial modeling is the process of creating a summary of a company’s expenses and earnings in the form of a spreadsheet that you can use to calculate the impact of a future event or decision.
Pitch deck. A pitch deck is a brief presentation you can use to provide your investors or potential partners with a quick overview of your business plan.
While the team develops your project’s MVP, you need to spend two or three months on marketing activities, such as app store optimization, with your app marketing team.
After the team launches your mobile app, it is vital to continue your cooperation because the app’s code can perform unstable in a live environment with real users. Such conditions may cause downtime and errors, which developers must fix as soon as possible. To make this possible, at The APP Solutions we provide IT support services for recently launched projects.
While the tech support team will fix errors, the development team creates and implements new business functionality to your app to make a fully-fledged product.
In this way, for the first two months after the app’s release, the development team will be busy with your mobile app development.
How Much Does It Cost to Create an App: Total Cost
So, how much does it cost to make an app? When hiring a team for mobile app development you do not pay for features implemented, nor for technologies used. Your app development budget cover project development services the app development company provides and responsibilities you share with the team of developers:
When working under a managed service model, you receive the freedom to develop your business and get in touch with the team to see the team’s progress.
A dedicated team costs less than a Managed service model, but you’ll need to face more responsibilities for a project’s success.
An extended team will suit you only if you have established management and processes and need to augment your in-house development team with developers to build an app.
The app development cost also depends on the number of functions, the app’s overall complexity, and the team composition your project requires. Don’t forget about the Project Management Triangle and its contrast – time, cost, and scope.
