A new mobile app could be a disaster or a huge success—it’s a tricky business. However, one thing is certain: market research can significantly increase your chance of success with your mobile app idea.
Does your app launch strategy benefit greatly from mobile app market research? Yes because a better solution for your customer’s pain points can be found by researching and learning about the market trends.
The next step is to learn how to begin. Now that you know where to begin, let’s tackle the method. Your task here is to conduct a market research study on apps from scratch. It is never a waste of time to clear up the basics. Let’s get started.
What is mobile app market research?
You can define a consumer’s needs and desires through mobile app market research. You can determine if your ideas have any loopholes by speaking with a potential target audience. Besides helping you understand what consumers are following and what they want to see more of, they can also help you understand what the latest trends are. You need to answer a few questions on your way to the success you so desperately want. Make sure you know the following answers before moving forward;
- Does your application meet a market need?
- Are you targeting a specific market, and what are their preferences?
- Who are your competitors and what are your obstacles?
- Have you developed a mobile app that stands out from the rest?
- Have you developed a viable business model for your mobile app?
- Optimising your marketing strategy: how can you do it?
Global smartphone usage is predicted to reach 6,567 million by 2022, according to Statista. In 2027, this figure is expected to be around 7,690 million. It’s no surprise that mobile apps are gaining traction around the world!
You should also learn about app market research now that you have an understanding of how mobile apps can empower you.
Despite being pretty unique, an app idea without market research may fail. Here’s one of the best examples:
We all know the popularity of YouTube, which was launched in 2005, was the ideal time for the platform to be launched. While Vine was popular, it failed to reach YouTube’s level of popularity. Using Vine, users could record and share short 6-second videos.
Accordingly, Vine’s concept gained some popularity but not enough to make a significant difference in the market.
A lack of market research led to the failure of the Thing event. After understanding how important app market research is as well as the repercussions of not conducting it, let us proceed to the critical segment: the best way to conduct mobile app market research.
Is it worth investing time in mobile app market research?
You would only receive one answer from the experts if you asked them this question: “to make your idea profitable, both for you and for your customers”. A company that develops mobile apps must conduct marketing research. Smartphone users are increasing worldwide, and they are always on the lookout for new gadgets. Mobile applications’ success depends only on how well they cater to their consumers’ needs and demands. They listened to feedback and improved the app with each update.
The types of mobile app research
Breaking everything down into categories makes market research much easier. Primary and secondary market research can be segmented for mobile app development.
Each of these stages will be discussed in more detail below.
The primary research
Conducting in-depth market research is essential to reaching your target audience. It is important to determine your target market and to gather as much information about it as possible. To begin, list your general information, habits, preferences, wants, and needs. If possible, narrow the research even further, specifically regarding their behavior regarding mobile applications. Additionally, you should consider how your business model fits into the current market landscape when conducting your primary research.
Market research is an essential part of the mobile app development process, as it guides you through the entire process. If you target certain users, you will be able to determine whether to do so.
Based on this early market research, you can also frame certain components of your mobile app.
Consider the example of creating a real estate app. A prospective home buyer might be the target audience for the initial idea. You may discover that this type of product does not have a market need after conducting your primary research. Your target audience may not have been satisfied with the app’s goal, or the market may be too saturated.
The app creation might still be an option if you know the real estate industry well. Rather than addressing the needs of brokers, you’ll shift your focus to the needs of real estate agents.
Once your new target audience’s needs are identified, the app’s features will reflect that.
Secondary Research
Researching your marketing and sales strategy is the second step.
The point has already been reached where you have validated your idea and decided it’s worthwhile to proceed. Taking your existing research and getting more information about how you are going to reach your target audience is all you need to do.
In order to reach and attract your target market, this information will be used to develop a marketing plan, optimize social media accounts, create advertisement copy, etc.
How do you reach your target audience? Do you know how to market your mobile app in a way that pulls on those strings?
Branding and market positioning within your niche will be influenced by your secondary research.
Take, for instance, developing a B2B smartphone application for other businesses. You can position yourself as a productivity improvement tool rather than just a project management tool, using your secondary research.
Your target audience’s problems would likely align better with this type of positioning.
How can you research the Mobile App Market efficiently?
Let’s look at how you can make market research effective now that you know why you should invest in it. An effective plan is executed with strategies in mind, which is the only difference between a plan and an effective one. Mobile app market research can be improved by devising strategies.
Identify your target audience
Your audience determines how you should conduct your app market research, so knowing them is key to success.
Identifying the people for whom your app is designed will make the rest of the process much easier. Research is necessary to determine who your target audience is.
Firstly, you want to reach people who have similar interests. Rather than getting into minor details, you should focus on their age, location, language they speak, and even their gender in some cases.
In order to determine your target audience’s demographics, data can be a very helpful resource. Here’s how to set up a proper data collection process.
Gather relevant data
Your app can be improved in a whole range of ways with real-time statistics. The data will change every year, so make sure you keep pace with the updated one. Make sure you refer to trustworthy sources when researching apps.
You can use the following sources for reliable statistics and data:
Gartner
Gartner gives you access to a wealth of information about technologies, applications, and companies around the world to explore, witness, and assess.
Statista
If you search for statistics about any sector, whether it is information technology or another, you will never fail to find them. Over 170 industries and 150 countries are covered by Statista’s large-scale database.
Google Trends
It helps you understand the trends and popularity of each specific concept based on the country’s trend using data and graphs from Google Trends. It is a free tool that helps you analyze data based on the demand for specific search terms.
Pew Research
It’s quite common for people to use Pew Research to gather data for their own purposes. Authentic information is published through polling and surveys. You can also find statistics about other topics, including politics, demographics, trends, and social issues. But it focuses mostly on politics, demographics, trends, and social issues.
Gallup
An analytics company based in Washington, Gallup gathers data and publishes articles and podcasts based on it. A substantial amount of data can also be retrieved from this source.
Knoema
Data can be explored, managed, and visualized with Knoema, an open data platform. The website serves not only as a data hub, but also provides articles that can help people find out more about certain topics.
BusinessofApps
There are lots of excellent resources on BusinessofApps including app data, news, podcasts, and industry insights. You can also find guides on monetizing, optimizing, and marketing apps on the site. As you move forward with the development of your app, these tips will definitely come in handy.
It is common to use these seven platforms to obtain legitimate information, but there are many other websites that may be helpful. If you are looking for reliable data, these 7 platforms are definitely a good choice.
Analyze your competitors
The Godfather’s Michael Corleone advised keeping friends close and enemies even closer. Market research is no different.
It helps you understand the trends in your industry, consumer behavior, and things you should avoid if you research and analyze the weaknesses and strengths of your competitors. When you learn from someone else’s mistakes, you’re more likely to avoid making your own.
Do not just analyze the product of the competitor, but also the company as well.
Make a list of your competitors. It won’t be hard for you to find them since they’re already in your niche.
Utilize social media
You can learn a lot about your audience through social media. Real-time communication takes place on social media between them. Mobile applications using social media follow trends as well as create new ones. Using social media is now one of the easiest and fastest ways for businesses to connect with their target audiences. Market research now includes social media analysis. Utilize freedom of speech and curate engaging content. To make your social media plan successful, you must be aware of what’s trending and what your consumers want.
Plan your SWOT analysis
The incubation and innovation phases of this process should be repeated multiple times, starting with mobile app market research. Performing a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) at every stage of app development helps you in many ways. Innovations in your marketing strategies can also be aided by your indirect competitors. Keep an eye out for any changes based on the data collected.
Conclusion
Doing the basics right will ensure the longevity and success of your mobile app. Conducting comprehensive market research is one of the most important things you can do.
Learn about your target customers’ pain points by conducting surveys and listening to social media.
Investigate the trends in your industry by conducting a SWOT analysis of your competitors. Your app should be based on the analysis of your findings.
There is still much to be learned from this research. The process is ongoing.
Changing trends and users lead to changes in trends. Therefore, you must also change.
By providing regular customer support and in-app feedback widgets, you can regularly hear what your users think. Additionally, your app should be flexible enough to adapt to changing market trends.
It will be a breeze to build your app once you have completed your market research.
