Here’s how you can make your mobile app a hit

How successful are your mobile applictaions? While many app companies evaluate the success of their apps by the number of downloads, they forget the fact that usability should be the key to measuring its success. As we know, downloads really don’t generate money; it’s the usage that influences revenue generation. App developers and publishers must realise these and devise strategies to improve the usability of their apps.

The shocking reality
Have you ever wondered what happens to the app a user has downloaded? A recent study from Localytics reveals that one in five apps is used only once! Another study by a start-up adviser Andrew Chen states that only one in 10 consumer will use an average mobile app 30 days after it is downloaded. According to Chen, it is “quite normal” for an app to lose eight in ten users. In this context, it is important that mobile app developers measure the success of their apps not by the download figure but the retention rate that reveals how well the apps are received by the customers.

Tip of the iceberg
Imagine a scenario where a user has to choose from over 1.5 million apps and most of them are free. The probability of hitting your app from these millions is very less. Once you manage to get users to download your app, the next challenge is to retain them. While the number of downloads denotes the acceptability of your app among others, it may not help you earn income. In order to turn it into a revenue-generating application, you need to invest a lot of time and effort to deliver its functionality to users at the right time.

So, how to retain customers?
Yes, customer retention is the real challenge. We at New Call Telecom have been watching the mobile app ecosystem for many years now. As a key player in mobile app industry, we have been studying user demands at various levels and delivering apps that suits their evolving needs. These efforts really pay! For example, one of our latest mobile applications, ‘Holaa!’, has achieved a 30-day retention rate of more than 25%. This caller ID app has found great acceptance among smartphone users as it helps them block spam calls and maintain privacy while at home or work. Reports suggest that one in four users use it on any specific day a month later. Thanks to the powerful capabilities, Holaa! has been included among the top 100 apps for retention on the whole of the Android store! The message is clear: If you want to succeed, you need to understand the requirements of the customers.

What to look for?
With user demands changing every day, it’s difficult for an app provider to catch the right target at the right time. However, you can tap the vast potential available in the mobile apps space by investing your resources in understanding the evolving market requirements. The first step of this, I would say, is to “put on the glasses of your consumer and see the world as they see it.”
This would help you identify the problems they face and develop apps that can address them. In industry lingo, we call such apps as “utility app.” A utility app may not be highly engaging, but is designed to perform one important function, which the user finds useful often – for example, weather updates or traffic information.

As an app developer, you need to interact with customers to know them, get insights on their habits and understand their requirements. If you have identified a specific problem, you need to think how they want to solve them. In short, you should learn to offer what the customers want; and NOT necessarily what you have in mind..

It’s interesting to see that demographics and geography matters lot in app development. For example, the app that works in Western countries may not run in India. Big tech giants often fail to understand this truth and struggle in their ambitions to be No.1. We have seen many such flops in the industry, especially in developing countries like India, Indonesia and Myanmar. Let me explain a sample case of Holaa!. We created the app focusing specific markets like India where spam calls are on rise. While we are optimistic about its future in India, we know it may not work well in countries like Sweden where such nuisance calls are minimal.

To conclude, those investing in mobile applications should focus on strategies that will not only popularise the app but also help retain customers. They should understand the pulse of the market as well as the changing user habits. It is advised that app developers partner with experienced players in the industry to get insight on the latest requirements of the industry. This will certainly help them retain customers.

(The author of this article is Nigel Eastwood, CEO, New Call Telecom Ltd)

(Image: Thinkstock)