Tod Shuttleworth

How to Build A Mobile App

by Tod on 25/03/10 at 7:15 am

I recently had the pleasure to listen to Rana Sobhany speak at the 2010 Tools of Change Conference in New York. There are approximatley 4.6 billion mobile devices. The most important mobile platforms a publisher needs to consider when making an app:

1. iPhone
2. Android
3. Windows Mobile
4. Symbian (Largest – outside US)

Ms. Sobhany suggests these are the critical components to building a successful mobile app:

Consumer Research – Know thy brand and who is the target audience for the app. What mobile platform do they use? What app stores do they visit?

Honest Intentions – Choose an app and platform that you feel like you can do well and set realistic expectations.

Plan – Have a 12-month plan for building, but more importantly, marketing the app. Make sure you have a solid build plan.

Budget - Clearly define app functionality and get multiple bids. Make sure you are spending enough to do it right. Consumers sense cheap.

Quality Control – There will be bugs. Make sure you do sufficient debugging prior to launch.

App Store Selection – Choose the app store that best fits your client based on your consumer research. Make sure you are in an app store that they shop.

Pricing - Make sure the pricing is appropriate for the consumer and platform. $4.99 is a sweet spot for many platforms; $2.99 for Blackberry.

Launch – This is one of the biggest mistakes most app publishers make. Make sure you have a holistic marketing/go-to-market plan. Successful apps have spent a lot of time working this out. Speak to the press two weeks prior to launch. Provide plenty of screens shots and a clear value proposition.

Innovation – Be innovative, but not too innovative. To many features and videos kill a good app.

Brand Building- Apps are a critical component to building your brand. Make sure you have a consisient look to your app library. You shoud have a style guide.

Measure- Everything is measurable. Make sure metrics are defined in advance and someone is held resposnible. Note correlation between marketing initiatives and sales spikes. (or lack there of)

If you fail, fail quickly and adjust. And, you will fail at least partially. It is important to adjust quickly.

How well are we following these steps at Thomas Nelson?