Having a mobile app helps you distinguish your brand from the rest. Not only does it help you look more legitimate and professional, but an app also serves as an additional pipeline that brings in sales and revenue for the business. But managing a solid mobile app can also add more weight on your responsibilities. Making sure the user interface functions without any issues and that there are no security loopholes that would expose your customers’ private data are ongoing and technically demanding. Here’s an easy guide to managing your mobile app while keeping labor and capital costs low:
Pick a Platform
It’s the grand battle between iOS and Android. Businesses, being a for-profit venture, usually fare better on an iOS platform that runs on every iPhone and iPad out there. However, when it comes to brand exposure and overall audience reach, Android is getting more ground over the competition, with their current market share at 53 percent while iOS tails them from behind at only 36 percent. Making your app cross-platform compatible is also an option, but doing so can lead to performance and UX issues that you’ll need to deal with.
Use Simple Design Practices
A simple mobile app interface is easier to manage both from a developer’s and user’s standpoint. Simple design practices including using a single page application pattern and limiting the number of hyperlinks and buttons improve user navigation and average reload times. Complicating your app’s user interface won’t add any value to the user’s experience, but will drive uptime and labor costs.
Integrate Social Sharing Feature
Your mobile app should have an easy way for users to share content about your business, the app, or their experience while using either. Adding a share button for every social media platform on your mobile app is an easy way to encourage more user engagement. Another method is to place pop-up windows that ask the user if they want to share something with friends and family after finishing a game or accomplishing an achievement, a feature common in most mobile games.
Use a CMS
Content management systems simplify managing your mobile app’s version updates. One instance where a CMS simplifies the work cut out for you is when you try to add content to your existing app that’s on both Google Play and the App Store. Having your mobile app on both digital marketplaces means you’ll need to manually update your scripts and databases twice. More workload means more hours paid to your developers. An effective CMS for mobile app reduces that cost significantly and also reduces your app’s downtime whenever you need to perform maintenance.
Use Key Metrics to Gauge Performance
Key metrics, such as frequency of app usage, which pages your visitors go to, daily active users, churn and retention rates, and cost per acquisition, tell you exactly how your mobile app is doing and what users think of it. While these metrics define and measure different aspects of a business, they all shed light on something that affects the company’s bottomline.
Use MBaaS
Mobile backend as a service involves outsourcing your backend services to a third-party. This includes all the technical aspects of keeping the app running smoothly. MbaaS were created specifically to cater to mobile app developers who lack the resources to build their own in-house solutions. It gives businesses and developers access to tools and a complete infrastructure to support their growing mobile app needs without the high costs.
Get a Developer
Having an in-house developer makes sense as your mobile app outgrows your physical store in terms of sales and influence. The bigger your app gets, the more issues you’ll face, such as more complex testing of your app under different networks, cleaning and maintaining larger data sets, etc. If you need routine checkups or occasional fixes, hiring an independent contractor will suffice. This tends to be a lower-cost solution than building a team in-house since you don’t have to worry about adding people on your payroll, which entails paying them a salary and benefits.
Running a mobile app for your business can only be profitable if you put the necessary attention and resources into it. Manually maintaining your app may work in the short-term, but you’ll want to streamline it using the available tools and manpower.
