It is no longer news that only less than 1% of the millions of apps available on the internet are successful despite the amount of hard work that mobile app development companies put into the development of their apps. Employees and executives of different top mobile app development companies were consulted on why many mobile apps fail and here are the reasons they gave.
1. Ignoring competition
About 19% of mobile apps fail because the mobile app development company that created them ignored competition. They focus on only their app. They didn’t consider the features of competitor apps. App development is like a game of chess. You need to plan your moves and also monitor your opponent’s moves. If not, you may just walk into a waiting trap.
Your competitors may be offering a more user friendly app with more features and better loading time. In general terms, you need to understand what your competitors offer to be competitive. So, it is necessary to monitor what other mobile app development companies offer.
2. Bad market research
Many mobile app development companies get so excited about their app ideas and they get to work without trying to find out if the app is really needed. They only get to realize the harsh truth after launching the app. So, once you conceive an app idea, follow it up with a comprehensive market survey.
3. Targeting the wrong audience
Some apps may be suitable for teenagers while they are being pushed to full adults. Some mobile app development companies have made the mistake and they paid dearly for it. Ensure your market research includes finding out the kind of people that will love your proposed mobile app.
4. Poor marketing
Some mobile apps were not marketed adequately. A lot of people were not aware of the apps. This could be because some people hired incompetent marketers or because they didn’t budget adequate amount of money for publicity and marketing.
Most companies actually start to market their mobile apps after launching it. This is not a good idea. Nothing stops you from marketing your mobile app several months before you launch it. You must have come across several “coming soon” adverts. You could do the same for your mobile app. You’d have aroused people’s interest in it even before you launch it. Apple is a master of this game. They begin to market a new iPhone several months before it is launched.
5. Lack of simplicity
In the bid to impress users with a lot of features, the simplicity of some apps was sacrificed. The user interface of the apps becomes overly populated. And this makes it difficult for many users to understand the mobile app. This means that some of the apps were downloaded and installed but they were deleted. Keeping your app simple boosts great user experience. Whenever you’re designing any mobile app, always try to keep it as simple as possible.
6. No retention plan
Some mobile app developers focused on only driving download and installations of their mobile apps. They never considered how to make users retain the apps. So, some of these apps never got beyond only one use before they got deleted. This is why you may come across a mobile app that has been downloaded and installed several millions of times not having up to 500,000 active users.
7. Being too large
Some mobile apps were never downloaded because they were simply too large. App users are always very careful about how they use the memory space on their phones. So, they are hesitant about downloading large apps. You know what that means? It means that the larger your app is, the more it will turn potential users off. Make your app as compact as possible.
