Guide to Successful Mobile App Launch in 2024

Mobile applications are complex software that demands technical experience and skill to be built. They are not built in a day. They take months to get designed, developed, and released. All in all, they are certainly not a cakewalk.   

But that’s not just it. As crucial as the mobile app development part is, so is the marketing phase or mobile app launch strategy. Too much to handle, right?

Don’t worry, we will give you tips for a successful mobile app launch in 2024, making it easier for you to understand and implement mobile app launch dos.    

Why do Businesses Need a Mobile App?  

With the global mobile application market size valued at USD 206.85 billion in 2022 and expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.8% from 2023 to 2030, not having a mobile app to sell your products and services would be foolish, wouldn’t it be?   

Mobile applications help a brand create awareness, diversify operations, market its products more effectively and enhance customer experience. With more than 70% of the global population owning a smartphone, a business could expand its opportunities and potential with mobile app development.  

The mobile app development process is a detailed one that demands a business to take many significant decisions. To know more about mobile app development and make an informed choice, please read our blog which is the ultimate guide to mobile app development.   

Mobile App Launch: Why Does it Matter?   

Today, Spotify has a market value of $18.70 billion. Started in 2006 with an MVP, amidst fear of being rejected in the market as multiple similar startups, Spotify is currently one of the market dominants.   

However, before Spotify was Rdia, which dominated the music streaming world. So, what went wrong for Rdio?   

Rdio undoubtedly was ahead of its time in terms of the UI offered. However, it invested all its time and money to add features and functionalities to the mobile app and ignored marketing altogether.   

As a result, it was replaced by Spotify which entered the market with fresh and aggressive marketing plans and strategies.   

This was a lesson in the importance of catchy and relevant marketing.   

It is not enough to develop a mobile application, but to persuade users to consume it is an important aspect of the post-app development phase.   

An app created for internal organizational purposes does not need much of a push among users, however, for a commercial app to enter the market and create a need among users, is an uphill battle.   

It is difficult to gain traction with download stats and ongoing engagement for a mobile app built for commercial purposes, especially in an already overcrowded app marketplace. It requires efforts to make your mobile app stand out unless it’s offering something relatively unique from your competitors.   

App marketing spreads awareness about your mobile app and highlights its features and functionalities in a catchy manner, giving your audience a reason to choose your mobile app over that of the competitor or create and communicate the utility for them.   

Since marketing or promoting a mobile app is imperative to your product’s success, we provide you with a complete guide on how to launch a mobile app in 2024.   

Mobile App Launch Strategies   

1. Thorough Post-Development Market Research   

Research can help one make decisions that are rational, informed, and effective. As pre-mobile app development phases require in-depth market research, so do the post-development stages.   

Pre-mobile app development phase research involves studying the market to understand what’s lacking in it and bridge the gap between user needs and what the market is currently offering.   

When a first-time startup/company founder develops a product, they are not aware of the power the market holds and hence, involve the market at later stages. This results in the failure of the product as it doesn’t entirely fill the market void or fit the market needs.   

However, the second-time founders (once bitten, twice shy), consult the market very early in the planning and development process. This is done before building an MVP. This helps them to understand the gaps in the product market, and what pain points would their product target.   

Moreover, the dominating products are also discovered in this market research to understand the why and how behind them. This information is then used to enhance the product at hand. During this entire process, the business also tries to sell the product and create the base for its unique or usual needs.   

Similarly, the post-app development stage involves research about how to further convince users that the product you are selling is the product that they need. This is a bit tricky to do as with an overwhelming number of products available in the market, they may be seen as just another product by the user. Creating that need for your product in their minds, is made a bit easy with market research.   

a. Competitive Analysis:   

A business should start with competitive analysis and move to research around user behavior, tastes, and preferences thereafter. Market research is an important step in a successful mobile app launch.   

The former research involves the evaluation of close competitors’ App Store rankings, user experience, sentiment analysis, monetization model (if any), and lastly, user reviews and feedback.   

This is undertaken to get an idea of what kind of marketing ideas are being tested in the market. Further, it is important to study the shortcomings and pitfalls of the competitor’s app launch and marketing strategies to not commit the same mistakes.   

However, this does not mean that a business must follow the strategies implemented by its competitors blindly. What works for some, might not work for others. Therefore, competitive analysis should be undertaken to just give you a gist of what’s happening around you.   

After competitive analysis, create your own unique space in the marketplace to engage your audience in a way that aligns with your brand image and works for your product.  

b. User-based Research  

Then comes understanding the likes, dislikes, characteristics, needs, and irks of your audience/ users. This can be achieved through conducting surveys and user interviews, online or physically.   

This also makes a user feel heard, and valued and their opinion, appreciated. This can also fetch a business a few of its first users.  

After the collection of user data or even before it, a business can create semi-fictional characters that embody their ideal customers, this is called creating user personas. User personas help businesses to better understand user tastes and preferences based on multiple personal, cultural, and geographical factors.   

Key factors that could be understood through a user persona:   

• the issues and pain points of the target audience,  
• their preferred operating systems,  
• the content that appeals to the targeted audience,  
• the relatable tone of voice,  
• Preferred visual patterns,  
• their favorite content creators/influencers,  
• their most engaging paid-ad platforms   

Some of the most sought-after market research tools are Google Trends, Attest, Mention, and Survey Monkey.   

Both these research practices help you to understand the current market dynamics and ultimately, how to market your product.   

This is the first and foremost app launch strategy that should be implemented by businesses, without fail.  

2. Carefully pick features for your MVP  

The next important successful mobile app launch factor is prioritizing the most crucial features of an app.  

A mobile application development process should always be sales driven, for the simple reason that the mobile app developed must be ultimately consumed by users to fulfill the purpose of development. This clarity of objective would help with the achievement of the business goals.   

Thus, the MVP built should include the most crucial and carefully chosen features and functionalities of the final product, that are enough for users to form their opinions and give useful feedback. In simpler terms, it should be a viable product that is capable of generating helpful inputs.   

An MVP should be built keeping in mind the end product sales, virality, and utility for users. It should create an image in the user’s mind that the final product intends to fill the void in the current product market.   

Categorize your MVP features in terms of gain and effort- high/low gain, and high/low effort. Prioritize all the high-gain features and functionalities with low/high efforts. The gains should be based on the market and user needs. They should target the root causes of the problems identified during the pre-development market research and analysis.   

Only pick high efforts features when they are targeting the exact need or issue, or when they are bringing significant sales or virality, only then these features are worth the sweat and tears.   

MVP is sort of a first impression of your final product, and you know what they say, first impressions are always the most important!   

3. Finding the right mobile app development partner  

Finding a suitable mobile application development partner is a must. This partner shares the responsibility of the product with you. The quality of collaboration decides the success of the mobile app to a large extent. That’s why this is the 3^rd most important point in our mobile app launch guide. 

The mobile app development partner should be able to understand the nature of your business, the short-term as well as long-term goals, and the rationale behind the development of the mobile app. Keeping all this and the uniqueness of your business in mind, it should build the app, targeting the user’s needs and intended goals with the most appropriate features and functionalities.   

Not only this, mobile application development, based on its industry experience and multiple project exposure, should be able to help a business with the most suitable, latest, and most effective marketing and sales strategies.   

The right mobile app development company is the one that is active in the pre-app development phase as well as is equally proactive at the post-development stage. It should not just be a technical partner but also a product sales partner.   

4. Social media presence and buzz  

In times driven by digital media, it is imperative for a business to spread awareness about a product, through creative means, on social media platforms. Grabbing a user’s attention there is the easier way to drive product sales.

In fact, as per a Digital Global Overview Report, 2021, around 45% of internet users aged between 16 and 64 years worldwide used social media for brand research.  

Therefore, businesses should start by creating some pre-launch buzz on social media. Tell the viewers how the app is going to add tremendous value to their lives. This would in turn help you in the creation of a strong pool of potential downloads.  

At the time of the mobile app launch and post-launch, businesses can market their product through native video advertising on a preferred channel and create content specific to the purpose of the social media platform.   

For example, LinkedIn seeks more professional content, while Instagram is all about visual pleasure and aesthetics. 

According to an eMarketer report, around 15% of Facebook users are on the platform to look and shop for products.  

Further, around 81 % of users of Instagram use it to research products and services.  

Lastly, invest in influencer/ content creator marketing. Research shows 49% of users on social media state that they downloaded a mobile app because it was recommended by people they trust or follow online.   

Influencers or content creators have their audience base and reach and hence, can help you enormously in selling your product. In case a business has budget constraints, it could reach out to micro-influencers and get the job done.   

Lastly, use hashtags, post meaningful and targeted content, and add your app links in all the creatives and social captions, without fail.

5. App Store and Search Engine Optimization  

In this mobile app launch guide 2024, we would strongly recommend businesses create product websites before their launch. This would allow them to generate early awareness around their product and engage with potential users.   

To make the most out of this website, the business needs to ensure that it is SEO-friendly. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) ensures that you are easily visible with top ranks in Google listings and the content is consumable to users who usually have an attention span of just 8 seconds. SEO ensures that your content is readable, comprehensive, and effective. It enhances the visibility, brand awareness, and user-friendliness of your website.   

App Store Optimization (ASO), is similar to SEO and enhances your discoverability, engagement, and conversions on major App Stores like Google Play Store or Apple App Store, wherever you want to land your app. You should also do proper research on what are the steps or process of publishing your app on the Google Play Store as it can make a great impact.

With more than 2.6 million apps on the Google Play store and over 2 million apps on the App Store, how would your app make it to the top searches? This is possible through ASO.   

Adding a keyword or two to your mobile app’s title can help you rank at least 10% higher. ASO facilitates app visibility based on factors like keyword density, search relevance, and the keyword relevance of the app.   

More than 65% of app downloads are derived from organic search, all the more reason for businesses to undertake ASO.   

Furthermore, adding audio-visual content like high-quality screenshots of the app features and an explainer video, adding app categories and app titles and icons can further boost user engagement. 

Also Read: Guide To A Successful E-Commerce App Development

6. Paid advertising   

The reach of social media is boundless. Furthermore, paid advertising on social media platforms is trending as a mobile app launch strategy nowadays.   

Paid ads are meant for sales pitches and to market or promote your app. Through them, a business could gain more followers and customers, boost brand awareness, and drive up its downloads.  

However, a paid advertisement runs as long as a business is pumping money into it, unlike organic social media posting. Therefore, a business needs to have a big budget, a specific objective that needs to be reached through the running ads, and the content it wants to reach its targeted users.    

These were some of the app launch strategies that could give a good start to a newly launched or yet-to-be-launched mobile app.   

Unhealthy Mobile App Practices Pre, During, and Post-Launch

We would look at some unhealthy and negative practices that could jeopardize the present and future of a mobile app, pre, during, and post its launch:  

1. Do Not Chase Perfection And Rush The Process  

Chasing perfection never brings any good. All it brings is stress and misery. Similarly chasing perfection in a mobile app development process only increases your stress and worries, and you wander aimlessly chasing it, delaying the release further and further with no rationality.   

This means that do not run after all the features and functionalities at the very beginning. Be patient with your goals and your product. Enter the market with a product enough to target your user’s current needs and enhance it as time passes. Prioritize your features while building the MVP and make it viable enough to be analyzed by the users. That’s not a full-fledged dive, it’s just to test the waters and get acclimatized.   

Further, do not rush any step in the pre, during, or post-development phase. Do everything patiently. With the kind of investment, a mobile app development demands, a business can afford to rush processes and end up with a sub-optimal, and sub-standard product.   

The one who said speed kills wasn’t kidding after all!  

2. Embrace The Uniqueness of Your Product And Act Accordingly  

Healthy comparisons aren’t lethal, comparing to an extent that one loses individuality and identity is, however, never recommended. Similarly, comparing your product with that of the already established players’ is a practice that should never be undertaken.   

Every business is unique and so is its product. Copying the features and functionalities of the products dominating the market and working with similar user experiences, and use cases, would not make you stand out. Instead, it would mix you with the crowd.   

Thus, create your own USP, and strengths and work on your weaknesses. Carry out thorough market research and build a product that targets user needs and their pain points, and price it reasonably as a new product takes its time to make its place and gain trust in the market. An overly priced product is never an attraction to users who have a plethora of other available options that are reasonably priced.   

3. Onboarding That isn’t Smooth   

Onboarding which requires users to go through long, tedious, and time-consuming processes, is often skipped. Users want frictionless onboarding processes that do not involve them giving out their payment details and filling out lengthy forms. Similarly, mobile apps that give users the option to opt for the trial versions also make an attractive case.  

Therefore, create an onboarding that is simple and convenient enough for users to go through. This would make your mobile app simply more feasible and attractive.   

Looking for a reliable mobile app development and product launch hacking and growth company? 

BigOhTech is adept at mobile app development, product launch, and growth hacking. With over 8 years of experience, we assist businesses by creating a defined and effective product strategy that helps them get a wonderful start and an even better product journey.   

From creating a product launch checklist to marketing your product across multiple channels, in the most creative and convincing ways, we ensure that your product gets the flight that you hoped for.   

So, what are you waiting for? Leverage the power of social media and other marketing channels so that you achieve your business goals, with us.  

Contact us for a super launch     

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