Mobile app development strategy is now a priority for most businesses. That’s because of the rapid uptake of mobile apps that has transformed the mobile app landscape.

However, for most businesses, small and large, successfully bringing an app to the market demands substantial research and strategic planning. So, there are several questions to consider when you begin the mobile app development journey.

Understanding these ten questions will help you identify the best mobile app development strategy for your enterprise.

1. Is a mobile website sound enough?

Your business objectives will guide your decision to design a mobile app or a mobile website. For instance, if your objective is to offer mobile-friendly content to a wide range of people, a mobile website can be an ideal choice.

Mobile websites present a great way to put valuable content in the hands of your target audience. Unfortunately, mobile website users have exceedingly high expectations of functionality and quality that sometimes these websites cannot deliver.

2. How feasible is my idea?

Most small and medium-sized enterprises struggle with this question. They wonder about the feasibility of their app idea, often struggling to understand whether they should put huge budgets on app development and maintenance.

Well, the best way to know whether your idea is feasible is to test it. You have to design a prototype, take it to your target market, and see whether there’s something valuable in it.

There’s no way to know whether your app idea will succeed if you haven’t taken it to the field of real prospects or at least seen how apps of similar nature have performed before.

3. Who is my target audience?

Most businesses and individuals fail to know who exactly is their target audience when developing an app. Always know your app’s end users before kick starting the app development process.

To know your target audience, conduct a comprehensive study of your app’s user demographics. Focus the research on identifying the users’ buying habits, age, challenges, and locality. In addition, research on how much time they spend on devices, their preferences, and interests.

4. What’s my mobile app category?

Knowing your mobile app category will significantly help you cut your mobile app development costs. While knowing your app’s category is a no-brainer, your app should be designed in such a way that it can fit into any categories available in both Apple Store and Play Store.

Knowing your app category will reduce your competitive research time. In addition, knowing the primary and secondary categories will help you narrow down the most appropriate or potential clients for your app.

5. How can I validate my app idea?

This is a question that’s asked by most mobile app developers. Individuals and businesses that want to integrate mobile apps into their digital strategy wonder how they can actualize their dreams and validate their ideas.

The answer to this simple question is: you can validate your idea by using a prototype, a Proof of Concept, or a minimum viable product. Alongside validating your idea, a Minimum Viable Product allows for client and stakeholder participation, eliciting new ideas and revealing new areas of improvement.

The prototype or minimum viable product ensures that the entire team contributes to the project through the product life cycle stages. So, if you want to increase the chances of your app’s launch and eventual success, using a proof of concept POC or a minimum viable product may help you attain that goal.

6. How will my app make money?

This is a question most individuals struggle to answer. So, making money with your app depends wholly on your app monetization strategy. Selecting the right monetization strategy or a combination of strategies will help optimize your app’s performance and usage.

As you seek to monetize your app, look for a model that will generate income without compromising on your app’s overall performance and functionality. For example, the subscription monetization model works based on music and video subscriptions, while the in-app purchase model is perfect for products and free-to-play games.

Carefully consider how you monetize based on your market research, user base, and product. Doing this will not only guarantee profitability but will substantially increase your success.

The most common app monetization strategies include:

• Subscription
• Freemium
• In-App purchases
• Pay per download
• Advertising base

It’s important to note that regardless of your app’s monetization strategy, it’s not an afterthought. Your initial plans must capture your app’s idea and its monetization strategy.

The last thing any individual or business wants is to invest in a product that has no long-term returns on investment. So, carefully define your app’s monetization strategy straight from the beginning.

7. Hybrid, native, or web?

Selecting web, native, or hybrid can make or break your app’s mobile strategy. In addition, deciding to build your app as either a native, hybrid or web involves many factors for consideration.

Benefits of Native Apps

• Deliver the best performance
• They’re interactive, intuitive, and smooth
• Allows developers to access the full feature set
• A superior user experience
• Approved by its operating system, ensuring compatibility, quality, and security.

Advantages of Web Apps

• Web apps are relatively easy to maintain
• They’re less expensive upfront
• Do not have to follow standard OS protocols
• Web apps can survive in all operating systems and platforms
• Updates are not done from a centralized store – web apps update themselves automatically when the app loads

Advantages of Hybrid Apps

• Only one codebase is needed for hybrid apps
• Hybrid apps have access to a device’s internal API
• Hybrid apps don’t need a web browser

The initial cost of a native app may be higher. However, you’ll save money and time in the long run.

8. Should I outsource my mobile app development?

Many companies have many items to consider when starting with mobile app development. One of these questions is who’s going to build the product.

Outsourcing mobile app development comes with flexibility, experience, and expertise, alongside an in-depth knowledge of new trends in technology.

9. Are there similar apps in the industry?

Competition holds a special place, not just in developing a new mobile app; but also in determining or predicting the future of that specific app. The first step in the competitive analysis is to know whether there are any competitor apps in the market.

Obtaining this information will not only help you know what elements or items your app must have, but will give you insights on what you should consider in the future to remain sustainable.

10. How do I protect my app idea?

One of the most commonly asked app development questions is how to protect your app idea. Well, the truth is that you have control of your app until it’s launched in the market. However, once launched, competitors will copy whatever attributes they see fit. And some competitors may duplicate the entire app idea.

So, while you’re at the ideation towards conceptualization stage, you can protect your app idea by signing a non-disclosure agreement NDA with the app development companies you’re involved with.

At the end of the day, the best way to protect your app idea is to work on it before your competitors do. And working on it means constantly adding new features and looking for new ways to improve the app’s overall functionality.

NS804 – Masters in App Design, Development and Deployment!

NS804 is a leading and trusted provider of mobile app development. With vast experience in app design, development, and deployment, NS804 has helped thousands of clients meet their app development goals.

NS804 offers expertise from inception to completion, helping you transcend the app development journey.

Contact NS804 for timely mobile app design, development, and deployment.