Businesses all over the world have been able to recognize the importance of mobile apps in their operations. A mobile can go a long way in improving productivity, raising the level of customer engagement and also,mitigating risk.

Unfortunately, the truth of the matter is that not every mobile app is a good app; however, there are principles that if put into proper use will go long ways in helping a business get the most out of their mobile app.

Here are 6 key ideas that you should consider to help you build a successful mobile app:

Don’t let mobile be an afterthought

Do not view your mobile application as just another screen or else you will not be able to make any waves with it. If you see it as just another screen, the impression you manage to produce probably will not be one you are looking for.

When it comes to mobile strategy, you will have to think big. View it as a golden chance to improve on the profitability of your business. Think of it as an opportunity to engage your customers or to solve a problem. It should be viewed as much more than just another screen.

You will also want to view your mobile application in the long term. This way you will be able to see the value it can add to your businesses and how mobile app success is a journey, not a one-time deal. Most businesses strive over time to refine their mobile apps and improve them to better meet the needs of their customers and business.

Have a specific problem in mind before you start to build the mobile app

It is true that mobile apps’ success is being felt across all corners of the world. Businesses are consequently working to get their share of the pie. However, this has not worked out well for some businesses in the sense that many companies have resorted to coming up with apps simply because others are doing it. This ends up usually meaning that there is not a sense of purpose to their app and the needs of their consumers are not met.

These kind of blind imitations generally prove to be expensive. The businesses building them have ended up spending money but then fail to achieve the desired results. It is wise that you have a clear vision with regards to what you intend to achieve with your application, otherwise you may just end up being another company that tries to rebuild their website as a mobile app.

The bottom line here is that if the app does not have any specific use or purpose, it will just end up being irrelevant and unused by the target audience. The app will only be relevant if it is able to engage its users.

To achieve this objective, it is wise that you assess your business and its customers and get to know if your business has any issues which a mobile app could resolve or improve. It is from this point that you will get to have a clear idea as to what your mobile app should be designed for.

Keep it simple

When it comes to mobile apps, the old adage about less is more certainly comes into play. If you feel the need to pack your app with unnecessary features, you are likely to not experience success. Generally the outcome of this type of project will be an app that is not easy for users to use with many ignored features. In the end, this means that many of the consumers who try it will abandon it.

The user experience plays a very crucial role when it comes to the success of your app. Research has come to show that the easier an app is in terms of use, the more consumers will like it and hence improve its level of success. The moment you decide to pack your app with many features, you will be also choosing to delay its launch date and possibly over-strain the budget.

To begin with, you only need to release a minimal viable product. You will then have your first release on the market and then you can get to know the users’ reactions and feedback. It is from here that you will be able to release an improved second version of the app, possibly with more features. The key here is that you can use the customers’ feedback to add only the new features that are actually important to users.

Before opting to add an extra feature on your app, it is important to ask yourselves questions such as whether or not the feature will be used, whether the use of this feature is going to make the app become more useful or just needlessly more complex and also whether it will be easy to measure the effect of the feature.

Set formal metrics to measure the impact on the overall business

It is only through the use of the right formal metrics that you will be able to gauge the performance of the app in the market. Research has come to show that many companies never put in place such kind of measures. Without such, it is difficult to access the success of your mobile app and the higher leadership of the organization may just end ignoring it the next time they are allocating the budget. Lacking resources for your mobile app could end up hurting how you position yourself with your competitors and your ability to satisfy the mobile needs of your customers.

Have an app marketing strategy

Mobile is set to be a key concern to businesses in the near future. However, it is unfortunate that manybusinesses do not pay attention to this very important aspect of the mobile app development process.It is highly advised that you think about marketing strategies beforehand while your app is in development.

Think about it, pretty much every successful business has a comprehensive marketing plan before launching a new endeavor. This plan generally details ways to get new customers. However, with mobile apps, businesses often forget this key ingredient to success. You need to have a plan to market your app just like any other part of your business.

Marketing your app requires planning and a familiarity with an assortment of marketing mediums and techniques. These can range from PR to marketing it via your existing ads to sponsored messages on social media platforms to pay-per-click marketing and beyond.

Plan your ongoing engagement

Once your mobile app is available on app stores you need to have a plan for engagement with users. Mobile apps provide businesses fantastic opportunities to engage users but they only work if you use them and you use them well. Businesses that are successful in the mobile medium generally have well thought out plans how to engage users.

Consider how you will use push notifications or in-app messaging build engagement with users. Key to this is making your messaging programs relevant to users. In the mobile age, customers expect businesses to understand their preferences. We are used to apps and websites carefully targeting ads and content. If you proceed without a plan for engagement you will most likely see users drifting away after downloading your app.

Remember to leverage the power of context within your program. The geo-location tools on mobile devices allow you to make messaging relevant to users based on their location, further magnifying the power of mobile.