There has been a massive surge of people using their mobile devices in the last few years. According to the Pew Research Centre, more than 97% of Americans own a cell phone at the beginning of 2021, so it has more than likely increased drastically since then, which has moved up by 2% from 2019, which was 95%. eMarketer also acknowledged that the average American would spend 2 hours and 55 minutes on their phone each day, and 90% of that time was spent using apps.
Having an online presence is important for mobile users, and therefore it is critical for companies to highlight how they can use this drastic increase to their advantage.
5 years prior, in 2018, saw 194 billion worldwide app downloads, and consumers spent $101 billion in the Worldwide App store, and it has more than likely increase too in 2023, so the app store is a brilliant potential for making a profit for your business. Many companies are grabbing hold of this opportunity and capitalizing on their apps to build a bigger budget. Take into consideration the kind of traffic you will receive from your app since more people are likely to download a free app than one that they have to purchase. It depends on how reliable the app is, and variables including speed and quality will factor into this.
Planning on launching or revamping an app for 2023? Here is the best advice you can follow from the best-branded apps to ensure your business app will reach a new success alongside your competitors:
1. Target: Simple and Intuitive Interface
The business Target revamped its app which created an easier experience for the user by making the app easier to navigate and allowing their customers to find products faster. Mr Baeb said, “We believe [slide panel navigation] is intuitive for guests and allows us to provide easier access to more tools and functionality,” and from this, we can learn that something as simplistic as a sliding panel allows users to access products or map functions a lot faster, and therefore enabled their in-store experience better too.
Millions of apps are available on the app store, so, therefore, you need to ensure that your app will stand out from the crowd and keep the user experience in mind too. Keep the app simplistic and uncluttered so it is clear for the user how to navigate your app without needing further assistance.
2. Airbnb: Adapting to Customer Wants and Needs
Airbnb began as an alternative and cheaper form of accommodation for travelers on a budget. However, views have changed towards traveling in recent years, and values have placed an emphasis on living like a local during their trips. To respond to this, the app was changed to allow users to personalize their recommendations for other users’ travel preferences, therefore allowing the users to search for unique accommodations (for all price tags) as well as being able to search for activities hosted by local guides to get a better experience of the place they visit. This helped to shape how the Airbnb app worked, based on market trends, and led to great success for both the business and the consumers. By adapting to your target audience, you are more likely to add value to the app and will encourage repeat usage over time.
3. Sephora: App Performance
The Sephora app was created as a one-stop shop for discovering new products, making purchases, accessing the Beauty Insiders loyalty program, and gaining access to the hottest beauty trends. What didn’t work was when the company launched the app in Southeast Asia, and on the market, the app performed incredibly slowly due to connection issues within the area. Sephora, therefore, decided to boost the performance of the app within the region and saw immediate results where 70% of lost connections were restored and the app ran twice as fast across 3G, LTE, and Wi-Fi networks and therefore allowing for better user experience. In 2023, these are the basic essentials needed for a good working app, and with the introduction of 5G, users are demanding speedier and more reliable services to aid their experience.
No one likes an app that performs slowly and since the user attention span has been drastically shortened in the last few years, loading times are critical for your app’s success to increase performance for all regions for maximum user engagement.
4. Starbucks: Effective Marketing
Starbucks ran a campaign that encouraged customers to share posts of their products on social media services like Instagram for a chance to be featured on their page. Getting more shares on social media will promote more people to visit the website and view similar posts. Customers that get rewarded for downloading the app for Starbucks Rewards (their loyalty program) enabled a greater generation of user-friendly content and increased their app downloads.
What you can learn from this is that companies need to cover all angles for their app to perform across multiple platforms, and therefore encourage users to promote your brand easier and quicker too. Ensure that you include subtle CTAs (Calls to Action) to add more value to your users, pique their interest, and coax them to install the app.
The best-performing apps of 2022 included:
- PackPoint – organize your packing effectively, and quickly navigation of what users did and didn’t need in their list of essentials.
- Google Docs / Microsoft Word – merging products and documents across multiple media institutions is becoming more prevalent, and Google Docs allows users to collaborate better across the world through Cloud storage.
- Trello – organization is key, and Trello allows you to break down your business into a series of boards, and each board can be allocated to include a numbering and coloring system for due dates, group invites, and a wide range of tasks for business communication.
- Expensify – this app allows users to manage expenses made during business trips, by logging, capturing, and managing expenditures.
- Glitch Lab – a photo editor with quick and easy ways of making digital glitch effects that is customizable so that you can make your pictures glitchy or retro and is widely accessible for Android users. Numerous factors including speed, high-quality image resolution, social media integration, security, and user feedback helped this app to get as popular as it has now become.
Don’t Get Your App Lost in the Vacuum
Creating a unique app is not easy, and extensive planning, research, and dedicated resources in order for it to stand out more from the rest. A lot can be learned from the notable brands and will therefore create inspiration and a great starting point for companies as you home in on what works best for your branding, as well as an app that is tailored for all involved. Don’t get left behind in 2023; use home learning courses to stay ahead of the game and soon enough you will be up there with the big dogs!
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