App success - the reality is the odds are against you.

According to Admiral Media (1), as of 2023 there are 4.3 billion people who have access to smartphones. And Tech Report (2) tells us that in 2023 there were 1.96 million apps available for download on the Apple AppStore and 2.87 million on Google Play, with a total of 275 billion downloaded during this time(Statista (3)).

Sounds huge, and something we all want to be a part of right? But what if I told you that the app failure rate is a whopping 99.5%! I can hear you shouting now, how, why?

From our experience here are our top 5 reasons:

1. Lack of research - assumptions have been made and the time hasn’t been taken to establish if they’re right, there is also a tendency to bloat a product with all the exciting features. Nailing your research will give you so much visibility on the market and your users, it’ll also tell you what is essential for V1. You can read more on the importance of user research here
2. Competition - everyone is vying for the same piece of the pie. How often does something truly unique come out now? If your product or service isn’t unique, what can you do to make it stand out?
3. Poor marketing plan - you’ve spent time and money on the idea, getting it designed and developed in the exact way you envisioned…..so why didn’t you budget enough to market it? Do you know who you are marketing to? How will you effectively spread the word and make sure it appears in front of the right people? Remember, these things won’t sell themselves (not at the start anyway!) - you need to hire the best of the best.
4. Lack of iteration - not having version 2 in mind already! You, your design and development teams don’t stop the work once it’s launched, you need to be planning and researching next steps to keep those users onboard. Iteration is the name of the game
5. Monetisation methods - in order to grow and be able to iterate and develop, you will need to see a good level of ROI (return on investment). Picking the right strategy is essential - we cover more on this in our blogs Navigating the monetisation minefield and Three steps to choosing your app monetisation strategy

Hiring the right team to help you each step of the way is essential. Here at Elixel we have a team who can support you from research to launch and beyond! Get in touch now to bring your mobile app idea to life, and most importantly make it a raging success.

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1. (https://admiral.media/why-consumer-apps-fail-and-how-to-keep-yours-alive/).
2. (https://techreport.com/statistics/mobile-app-download-statistics/#:~:text=should%20know%20today.-,Key%20Mobile%20App%20Statistics%20for%202023,Play%20Store%20is%202.87%20millio)
3. https://www.statista.com/statistics/271644/worldwide-free-and-paid-mobile-app-store-downloads/

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