These towering numbers illustrate why companies looking to innovate are eying the mobile app world:
- Amazon Appstore, Windows Phone Store and BlackBerry World offer nearly 1 million apps between them
- Apple App Store consists of about 1.5 million apps
- Google Play includes about 1.6 million apps
With competition like this, it's easy to understand why many apps flounder – by some accounts, as many as 60 percent within a year. Still, some of the most prevalent reasons why apps don't succeed are not attributed to competition. To conquer the app world, keep these 5 things in mind:
- Hone your knowledge about your customers and your relevance in their lives. Do customers rely on your app to solve a problem? Answer a question? Provide information? Or do they turn to it for entertainment value? Augment this crucial information with regular surveys and an “open-door policy” about complaints. They will help you improve your app. If you know and understand your target audience like the back of your hand, your customers should keep your app in the palm of theirs.
- Remain vigilant about customer service. In addition to adding value to your customer's lives, your app should be a portal for questions, problems and suggestions. Test a FAQ page or and if this proves too cumbersome develop an in-app chat element. The mere act of demonstrating concern for consistently positive customer experiences is half the battle in achieving them.
- Continue to refine your app for ease and speed. Most people open, use and close an app all within one minute. They don't tolerate delays, long loads or confusing features or instructions. Think of your app as a prizefighter in a ring filled with heavyweights; it should be lean and mean. Satisfied customers will become devoted fans and spread the word of their positive experience.
- Ensure it's fun, simple and worth it for customers to share your app with others. Incentives – clever but meaningful ones, such as free gifts and loyalty rewards – can be a great way to motivate your customers to expand the mobile community which can invigorate your business.
- Be judicious about notifications. It's one thing to keep your customers apprised of updates and improvements to your app; it's another to overdo it. Making notifications optional not only shows you understand less is more; it cedes control to an appreciative customer who is bound to feel overwhelmed at times by incoming messages from multiple sources.
Make sure not to take your customers for granted. After they have used your service, there's no guarantee they will come back, which is what you need to sustain your app and business. By following these tips, it's more likely your customers will return and you will reap the benefit
