Make an App

Let’s talk about what it takes to start a successful app on the app store! I will aim to be as open and honest about the process I took personally in the past to create an App and how I was able to grow our app to the number of users we have today.

The first step, which may go without saying, is to come up with an app idea that solves a problem that a lot of people have. Once you have an idea for an app you should ask some people who you think would be your target customer if it is something they would use. For my app I wanted to create something that could help people focus on achieving positive goals for their life while also teaching them about business and mental health. The problem I aimed to solve was anxiety and depression as well as the inability for people to focus with all the distractions like social media that we have in today’s society. The goal of your app should be pretty clear and easy to use for your customers. Think about how you will market this app and what emotions your ads will evoke in order to build impulse for your customers to download it.

Now that you have an idea for your app it is time to do some market research. You should download any potential competitors’ apps and look at the number of reviews they have to get an idea of the size of your market. Take notes on how your competitors are monetizing their apps and how they are building their interfaces. Also be sure to have multiple ways that your app will improve upon the apps in your niche and build more value to your customers. For example, with my app, we realized there are plenty of task management apps that do similar things. However, we were able to set ourselves apart by focusing on categorizing tasks by different goals and adding a feature that allows our users to reach out to an expert when they get stuck. No matter how you do it, make sure you are not just copying another app and that you are unique in important ways so that you can gain your own user base and even take from competitors that may not be solving the problem as well.

Once you know what problem you will solve with your app and how you will separate yourself from competitors in your niche, you should begin thinking of a name for your app and drawing out pictures of what your app will look like. I would highly suggest using an ASO tool like sensortower.com to find low competition, high volume search terms on the app store that you can use for your app name and description. Don’t get too hung up on the name of your app because you can always change it later but you should give your app the best chance you can to be seen by search. After you have your name set up, you will want to create an app icon and logo for your brand. I like to use designers on Fiverr to get this done for cheap. Look at the styles of other apps in your field and use that to determine a good logo that works for you. After you have figured that out, get to work drawing on paper all the setup pages, paywalls, and main pages of your app so that you have a clear idea of what the interface will look like.

Now that you have your app named and fully drawn out you are ready to focus on designing and coding your app on a computer. If you do not know how to code and your app it can be pretty simple with a no code app making software like base44.com. These websites do not cost very much to use, and they can be used to build almost any app that you can think of. If you choose to go this route, I recommend watching some YouTube video tutorials on how to build an app using this software. You will find plenty of videos that will walk you through the app designing process in detail and once you have the basic understanding you can begin creating the app that you have drawn out already.

If your app is a bit more complex like mine was or you would simply like to focus more on the marketing side of things, then you can always outsource the development of your app to a developer. The two ways that you can set this up are to make an agreement with a dev to split profits up so that you do not have to pay up front, or you can simply pay to get your app created so that you can keep all your profits. I personally like to pay someone up front on fiverr.com or upwork.com so that the business remains fully in my control at all times. If you have the money to put up then this can be the best way to maximize your profits but keep in mind that building an app will cost anywhere between $5,000-$100,000 depending on what you are trying to build. If you go with an American based company, keep in mind that they will charge you a fortune, take a long time and probably outsource your work anyway. For this reason, message a few of the top-rated app developers on Fiverr and negotiate a price with the dev you wish to use based on other quotes. You will be amazed at how quickly these people are willing to work and how good of a job they can do. If a dev has great reviews and has a badge for multiple repeat customers, then it is a safe bet that they will do a great job. Just make sure not to cheap out and just use the cheapest option because you will end up with a product that does not look as premium as it should, and they will probably have to change it a lot in order to get it done right.

Once you have figured out how you will build your app you should make it clear to your developers exactly what it should look like and the functions it should have. If you are doing it yourself then you should also have an exact idea of how your app should function rather than winging it. This is where the drawings of all your pages will play a big part. If you are using a developer, you should send them these drawings with a note to go with each drawing explaining what that page should do. The last thing you want to do is add functions and pages that you forgot to plan out mid-way through the development of an app. If you are doing it yourself then it is not as big of a deal, but if you are using a developer, they will try to get more money out of you and rightfully so.

Keep in mind that your app will probably take at least a couple of months to develop depending on how sophisticated your software is. During this time, you should also be planning out your marketing in detail so that you are prepared for when it launches. You should set up a website and social media pages for your app well before it is completed and start posting about your app as coming soon on these socials. One of the best ways to advertise an app on social media is to flood Tik-Tok and Instagram reels with short videos of your app that evoke emotion from your potential users. I spent time everyday before the release of our app writing down as many video scripts and ideas as I could that I would later make and post to Tik-Tok. I ended up with over 1,000 videos by the time our app was released and I was able to have a huge head start on marketing. Think of as many ideas for ads as you can while your app is in development and begin posting and following people that follow other apps that are competitors. Also, you should create 2 Tik-Tok and Instagram accounts to post videos and reels on early on. One of each social media platform (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tik-Tok) should act as your main account and the others can simply act as a general account for your industry. If you have more money to invest you can also buy some phones and add service to them so you can make even more accounts and expand your reach. Just make sure you do not connect these to your home network and keep wifi completely off so you don’t get accounts restricted. My app is focused on teaching and creating successful habits, so we make content about success in general alongside videos about our app. You should be building value with your videos on these platforms so that people follow you whether that be by being funny or teaching your viewers something they did not know. You should be creating 3 videos every day once you start marketing and posting each of them at strategic times on all your accounts to get the most exposure possible. Nowadays you don’t even have to make the videos yourself always. You can use software like eleven labs to narrate your videos and software like synthesia.io to have ai make another person speak the words on your video. You can also use app.pictory.ai to create videos with background images that are matched to your text. No matter how you do it, this should always be your focus of marketing because it can reach many people every day. Make sure the beginnings of your videos evoke emotion in the viewers and create impulse quickly. You only have a second or so to capture someone’s interest on these platforms. Openings like, “Are you tired of feeling anxious and scrolling on social media all the time?” “I guarantee this app will get you accomplishing your dreams and feeling happier with your life or I will literally…” or “Do you have a dream project that you want to jump into but don’t know where to start?” are all great examples that both evoke emotion from a viewer and create impulse to download. Keep this in mind when creating your ads and stay persistent with your posting!

Once you have found some ads that work well on Tik-Tok and Instagram and you have gained some revenue with your app, you can start using your profits to do paid ads with your successful videos on Facebook, Tik-Tok and Instagram. You can even target potential customers that follow pages related to your app and scale your marketing budget as you see success. The main thing you want to track with your ads is the cost per download of your app and how much money you are making on average for each download. Once you know those numbers it will tell you if you should continue with an ad or if it needs to be adjusted.

Leading up to your app and even after your release, another great way to gain users for your app is to hold giveaways through your social media. You can base your giveaways on a random subscriber that has your app downloaded and follows all your socials. For my app we like to hold giveaways based on who is completing a large percentage of their goal tasks with the number of tasks taken into consideration as well. Another great giveaway you can hold is based on how many people our subscribers are tagging on our socials each week to get the most exposure to new potential customers. Giveaways can be a great tool to advertise because they can give you 1,000s of dollars worth of exposure for a few hundred dollars in giveaway items. You would be amazed at how much effort your followers may be willing to put in in hopes of winning a prize. When holding a giveaway make sure at least one of your three videos you are making each day are focused on your giveaway and be sure to post it to all your accounts like usual.

Another great way to market your app is by collaborating with influencers in your niche. You should be spending some time each week emailing and DMing influencers that are followed by your target customers about promoting or using your app. This will typically cost you some money to achieve but it can be a great way to get your app in front of people that have the problem you wish to solve. You can pay influencers on Instagram or Tik-Tok to show off your app and talk about how it has helped them solve a problem in their life. You can also pay YouTubers to do the same thing in the middle of their videos as an ad. You should create a large list of people that would be great for advertising your app to their followers and you should spend time reaching out to new people every week.

The last piece of advice we will go over on building an app is to listen to your customers and keep updating your app! If people are reviewing your app and giving you suggestions be sure to respond and thank them as well as note when you see a pattern with certain suggestions. It is good to start simple with your app but over time you will want to add features and update your interface to improve your users’ experiences. Make sure you spend some time each week reading your messages and reviews as well as brainstorming ways that you can improve your app. If you do these things and stay consistent with your marketing schedule, you will be sure to see success if you have a quality app on your hands.