As summer winds down, things are only picking up here at Prizm. Here are some of the things going on around our office!
Last month we started a new tradition around our office that has quickly become a staff favorite. The “Prizm Potluck” saw everyone in the office bring a different food item for us to share and enjoy as part of a family feast. It was great being able to try many different foods and bond over our different tastes and cooking styles.
Our CEO Zeeshan continues his involvement in the tech world by participating in Acetech’s CEO Roundtable on September 9th, the “0 to 100: Accelerate Your Tech Business” event on September 25th, and the Interface Summit on September 29th and 30th. Events like these not only give us an opportunity to stay up to date on all of the latest happenings in the tech world, but allow the Prizm team to network with our peers and lend our own experiences, successes, and challenges to the conversation.
Find us in HME News
Finally, you can once again check out a sample of Zeeshan’s experience as part of the HME News “Smart Talk” column here. This month, he discusses the importance of implementing a scalable strategy when it comes to developing a marketing plan for your business. Definitely worth a read!
Mobile Engagement: How To Make Your App A Winner
It seems like it has never been easier to develop a mobile app. University students, stay-at-home moms, even teenagers are breaking into this flourishing space. One of Apple’s brightest developers, Jordan Casey has a remarkable track record that has quickly made him an industry expert within the app space. Did I forget to mention that he’s just thirteen years old?
With that said, there are still a few basics to be aware of when it comes to turning your app into a crowd favorite.
Pre-Launch Preparedness
While it seems obvious, a well-organized pre-launch is the biggest indicator of an app’s success. Making smart investments early – market research, quality testing and feedback, and ensuring optimum functionality (security, battery usage, etc.) are all things to take your time within the pre-launch stage.
From a marketing standpoint, one of the biggest mistakes app developers can make is not having a dedicated launch date around which your marketing is focused and ramping up to. Your app’s launch will benefit nobody if they do not know it is happening, so set a date and stick to it. Based on your app’s purpose, plan a marketing plan that will engage your target consumers in the weeks and months leading up to the launch, tease the key features and functionalities of the app, and ensure that they know when launch day will be. Chances are if you have marketed your app right – they will be checking it out when it comes time for its release.
(Check out this great article from Kissmetrics for more pre-launch disasters to avoid)
Build Your Community
Success in this area of managing an app simply comes from understanding your brand. Ask yourself some of the basics: who is this app meant for, who is already using it, and who are the next people I want to hear about it? Your answers to these questions will probably inform which steps you should take when it comes to growing your app’s user base.
While the first step may be to convert your existing offline customers into app users, you also need to consider how they can then convert their own friends and family to become adopters of your service. Does your app have sharing functionality that users can embrace to highlight their accomplishments, favorites comments, or just things they find entertaining? Integrating sharing and “invitation” capability is a key part in keeping that community growing.
Listen and Learn
Finally, and most importantly, the number one thing you can do to make your mobile app a real winner is to listen to your audience. Think about Facebook and each of the many iterations it has gone through – implementing and removing a host of different features, functionalities, and aesthetics. Those changes come directly from their attempts to listen and respond to user feedback, and your app should be no different.
It’s not enough to simply scour the comments on the app store from disgruntled users or already loyal brand enthusiasts. Actively seeking out feedback from your users in a genuine and personal way will both make your online community feel heard, and allow you to gather more authentic, useful feedback from the people who are actually engaging with your software day in and day out.
The mobile app world is exciting, dynamic, and full of possibility. The most important thing you can remember is that at the other end of the Internet, there is a real human being using that app and they should be treated that way. Appreciate, cultivate, and listen to your audience and I can guarantee you will have a thriving community in no time at all.