Tag: mobile app development

Before going into the details of finding a ‘Definitive Guide to mapping out your ideal Buyer’s Journey’, let us first understand what is this map that we’re referring to.

A Customer’s buying journey map is basically a story that tells us everything right from the initial contact, to engaging with the seller, to forging a long lasting relationship. It could either focus on a particular part of the buying journey or give an entire overview of the journey. Keeping all technicalities aside, it would be safe to say that the goal of all customer journey maps is the same – To teach the buyers more about their customers.

When we talk about a guide to mapping their journey or discuss the ‘How to’ part of the process, let’s first identify what we’re trying to do here. This buyer’s journey that we speak of is the “guidebook” of your website that leads customers through their journey right up until the point of purchase. The journey map or guidebook needs to be such that your website should guide customers on what content to consume first, where to go, what to see and ultimately, what to buy. Simply put, the website must be “user friendly.”

While mapping out your customers journey, it’s best to break it down into 3 key phases –

1. Awareness stage: This is the most nascent stage in the journey, where the customer just about identifies that he has a need and that must be satisfied. At this point, the customer doesn’t care about your offerings or your product. He simply has a problem that he needs a solution to and this is the stage at which the website should look to address the pain points of the customer. For this stage, e-books, informative blogs and articles work best.
   
   
2. Consideration stage: This is the point at which the customer now ‘considers’ your product. The customer has done his or her research on the pain points and decided that your company might just have the answer to their problem (It is said that an average customer consumes around 11 pieces of content about a product before purchasing it.) This is the stage where you make your move and impact the minds of your customers. At this point showing them tutorials, customer reviews, testimonials and product videos would work best and help them settle on your product as the solution to their problems.
   
   
3. Decision Stage: This is the last and final stage of the process, where the customer arrives at the conclusion of purchasing your product after considering the various factors in play – customer service, price, delivery time etc. This is where you should be talking about your company the most. Free trials and demos, calls, face-to-face interactions work wonders here in sealing the deal. The meeting or the call is the key and can make or break the deal. For this, an ideal model to follow would be the B.A.N.T. model for your call.

B – Budget of the consumer

A – Authority. Who is really the one in charge and ultimately going to buy the product

N – Need for the product. What kind is it, how urgent is it?

T – Timeline. When do they need it and by when can you deliver?

Now the last step that you need to do is determine the Cost of Inaction. What this means is that you need to figure out what’s worse for the customer – Buying that particular product at slightly unfavourable terms…or not buying the product at all. If the cost of inaction is greater than the cost of buying, then it’s an ideal situation for the seller who can then negotiate with the buyer and ultimately seal a deal.

If you follow this simple framework, and keep a level headed approach to mapping your buyers journey then you realise that it positively affects the sales volume of your product and impacts it positively. Remember to break down the journey and analyse each part!

See, things really aren’t that difficult once you know how to navigate your way through the problems. Handing over a job to experts of course helps you take your dream to the next level. Don’t think that an idea you have is too far-fetched. If you want to get that website rolling, you absolutely must! We’re here to help you out in every step to make sure WE build YOUR dream together.

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A content creators dream is a brief that comes with minimal guidelines as it provides freedom to explore themes and topics. The situation that requires brainstorming can be anything- either the client has some ideas but is not sure how to take it forward, is looking for a fresh perspective or sometimes even wants something completely different from what has been done before. 

However, every coin has two sides and the biggest drawback of this is the amount of variations that will pour in when the ideating begins. 

Check out the tips below on running an amazingly productive brainstorming session! 

1. Include a diverse team

Looking at people who have different skill sets and job roles in your organisation will give variety and freshness to the ideas that come out of the session. Even people who have no idea about the kind of ideating required should be included in this session.

Brief your team, and ensure that they know that no prior experience or expertise is required, but active participation is the most important. Hand out notes or create a pointer system that briefly tells everyone about the client and points that must be included or direction they need. Make sure the outcome of the session is clear to all before you begin.

2. Time it! 

The session begins where you give people sheets of paper, and set the timer to eight minutes. Within this time they have to think of 8 different ideas. The idea can be simple, crazy and need not necessarily make sense. There should also be no discussion at this point of time. 

3. Circle of sharing

Once the time is up, begin to share the ideas. This is not a formal meeting, but more of an informal sharing space. As people start sharing, bucket similar ideas together and ask people to add their opinions on shaping these ideas to be bigger, better and more efficient. It is important to set the norm that no idea is a bad idea, so that people feel comfortable sharing. As a facilitator, it is important to appreciate ideas and boost the morale of the participants. As buckets and themes are formed, stack them together on the wall, to give a more visual representation of the ideas. 

4. Build on ideas

Now that you have a variety of ideas in front of you, ask people to pick one themes or ideas they liked the most, and take about five or ten minutes to think deeper about how these ideas can be magnified. This can be expressed with the team, so that the direction forward is also established. 

5. Don’t forget the gratitude! 

Whether the idea gets accepted or not, people in your team or organisation have given time and creative effort to your session. Not only is it important to communicate to them that you appreciate the effort, but also talk about how these ideas will be used. In case it does get accepted by the client, make sure you share the news with your brainstorming team! This will give them the confidence in their ideas and also let them know that you value their opinions. 

6. Test and re-try

Each and every idea can either take off or be buried despite the quality of the idea itself. It is more dependent on the need of the client and the selling factor. Collate these ideas in a systematic form and present it to the client. Then, depending on the feedback you can either take it forward, or work on the ideas. Sometimes, even trying the whole session again can be fruitful. It helps to have a different set of people, so that the ideas will be different. If you are going ahead with the same set of people, you can change the prompt or give a different question to start the exercise so that the results will be different. 

Most importantly, remember the circle of learning and getting better never ends. No matter what direction your session goes, you and your team will benefit by learning something or the other. All that is required, is the right mindset to identify these learnings and use them in an efficient manner. 

 

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Ever had a unique idea or an app idea that you think could potentially ‘change the world’? If you did, it’s time you did something to keep it safe so that your intellectual property remained yours. In today’s competitive times, life is nothing short of a rat race – a race in which you need to keep up or you’ll be left behind, a race in which a unique idea holds far more value than you would have initially imagined and something that can turn a friend against you, or even a colleague.

If you have an App idea, the first thing you should do is keep it to yourself and not go around town spreading the idea among your friends and family, lowering the risk of someone else stealing it. Did you know that Uber, Facebook, Microsoft, Iphone, are all billion dollar ideas that were stolen? Yes, they aren’t original! Shocking isn’t it? Something that we use so often, that we’re dependent on and apps that are so popular don’t belong to the people that actually went through the trouble of coming up with the idea? Well that’s the 21^st century for you.

But do you know that this isn’t just a phenomenon of this century or this age? Of course it’s become more predominant in today’s times because of the competitive nature and huge demand in the modern day market, but this stealing of intellectual property has been prevalent since ages. Did you know that the Radio was actually Nikola Tesla’s idea, but was stolen and patented by an Italian inventor named Marconi? The world famous board game Monopoly was invented by Lizzie Maggie in 1903, but patented and later marketed by Clarence B. Darrow who saw its true business potential.

The first step is to –

1. Copyright your app – The sad part about this is that you cannot copyright an idea, but only a complete app with a UI. The good part about this is that it is relatively much cheaper than other forms of safeguarding and provides you with a basic safety net against theft.
2. A Non-Disclosure Agreement – This is a must. Now obviously you cannot create the app from thin air and will need to discuss it with potential co-workers such as designers and developers. You should sign an N.D.A. with them so that you can safely discuss the idea with them without the fear of it spreading outside of the closed doors. Get the best attorney for the same, with no possible loop holes in the agreement.
3. Apply for a Patent – Probably the most important step, it makes sure that your idea is recognized as your own. Once you get a patent for your app, you not only protect it from theft of functionalities of the app, but also of people creating a similar app that serves the same purpose. The only drawback is that it doesn’t come cheap, and can sometimes cost as much as the initial investment itself. So only apply for one if you REALLY BELIEVE in your app and its usability.
4. Work with the right kind of people – This goes without saying but we’re listing it because it’s an extremely important step in the process. Do a proper background check on who you’re doing business with, their previous clients, their reputation, their thought process and how ethical they are. At the end of the day, it’s you who decides how much information you want to reveal to them.
5. Document Everything – This is another extremely important step – You need to document everything, right from idea to working to shortlisting of employees, to developments with dates, so that you have hard proof of what you’ve been working on and where the idea was initially incepted! Keep a log of every discussion you have with everyone regarding the app with times and topics to make life easier for you and help you sleep soundly at night.

The bottom-line is that don’t break a sweat over the fear of theft. Do what you can in your power to prevent that, but even if similar apps do come out you’ll always have the upper hand. Another thing you can do is to release a basic version of the app initially and slowly over a period of time release updates and modifications for the same. Good luck, and happy creating!

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One very key aspect of developing a mobile app is also one of the 4 fundamental P’s of Marketing – Pricing! Once you’ve developed an app, how do you price it so that it becomes a rage among your target audience? What kind of pricing should you take – skimming, penetration, cost plus or mark-up? Confused? Well, it is a tough choice and the marketing jargons don’t make life any easier. Fret not, we’re here to simplify the concept of Mobile App pricing for you, so that YOU can then make the right choice for your app.

This method is called going “Freemium” This really is as simple as it sounds – giving the user a taste of the app by providing them with a free lite version with the option to upgrade to a premium version with enhanced functionalities.

Let’s start with the basics. The first dilemma is to figure out how much to charge for an app AFTER considering the cost of developing the app and promoting it and then comparing that cost to how much the average consumer is willing to pay for the app.

The average selling price of apps in today’s market is on a big-time decline, mainly because of the increased competition which gives the consumer more options that are cheaper or even free in some cases. Nowadays you can either make your customer download the app for free and then give them the option of a premium upgrade, rather than charging them to download. Fair enough.

This method is called going “Freemium” This really is as simple as it sounds – giving the user a taste of the app by providing them with a free lite version with the option to upgrade to a premium version with enhanced functionalities. This strategy works on the idea that the user will love the application so much that they don’t mind paying money to continue using it. This works well for gaming apps that start at a basic level and only allow the users to take it to the next level after they upgrade to the premium version. It also works well for music streaming apps such as Spotify that allow offline downloads, ad-free streaming etc. among the added benefits of upgrading to the premium versions.

IAPs – In App Purchases are another very popular way of pricing apps that go well with Freemium. This model has been pretty successful especially in the last 2-3 years when the demand for music, video and dating apps has hit the roof. What you basically offer the consumer here is a virtual currency in the game or extra added features that he can pay for and use in his free app. For example, if you have a gaming app that’s free, you can offer extra guns or unlock special locations at a particular price.

This also works very well for dating apps, with Tinder being the perfect example with functionalities like ‘Tinder Plus’ and ‘Super Likes’ that give people a higher chance of matching with someone through these paid services.

In app advertising is a concept that isn’t alien to any app developer, and it’s definitely an effective way of making revenue, but you need to make sure that it’s the correct model for your business. The good thing about advertising is that from one user, you’ll only get paid once for an app download but you can continue making revenue off In-app advertising – depending on how you use it.

There’s a whole range of opportunities right from small to big banners, pop ups and many others but you need to balance out your ad portfolio so that the user experience isn’t negatively affected and the app doesn’t suffer, but you continue to make money!

The last route that you could take is very basic but has definitely worked for its share of app developers. This is the basic paid app where you charge your customer a fee straight up at the time of download, and offer them a few services in return.

Netflix is a great example of this, although the app is free, the services are paid for online. Another combination that the app developer can do is either release a paid version with no in-app purchases, or a paid version that isn’t too expensive but also has the option of In-app purchases to enhance the user experience.

Still unsure of how to price your app? We’ll guide you along! For all expert help in mobile app development and promotion, please feel free to reach out to us.

To conclude, your app should be priced keeping in mind your goals, your cost of development and promotions and the amount you think your consumer will be willing to pay to utilize the service you have to offer. If it’s a perfect fit with the right balance, you’ll do really well.

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We’ve come a long way since apps were first introduced. In fact technology in itself has changed so much since then! If we take a look at just the evolution of mobile phones and their usage in the last decade, do you see how your dependency has increased to a point where some of us even have our entire careers on them?

Can you remember the last time you woke up without checking your phone first thing in the morning? Or the last time you saw a delicious looking plate of food and actually took a bite before Instagramming it? Yes, that’s how dependent we’ve grown to become on our smartphones.

 Guess what? This is only the beginning.

With further research and developments, and new technologies like AI coming into the scene, mobile apps are soon going to take over the digital space. Let’s take a look at the upcoming trends in App developments in 2019.

1.Developing Cloud Based Apps

Desires are many, features are even more, but storage is limited. To tackle this, present day mobile app development has taken to cloud management. Google Drive is a prime example, and so is Dropbox. Mobile apps are now looking at cloud storage instead of phone storage, so that users can download them without worrying about storage issues on their phone. Another benefit of using the cloud is that you get privacy.  As a guarded cloud, personal information of corporate workers is secured from threats.

2.Blockchain Based Mobile Apps.

Blockchain was initially caught under the radar with crypto trading happening on the down low, but now the BFSI is trying to regulate this stunning innovation with a layer of security to stop the illegal players and regulate transactions. From control and processes and security, this tech is planned for managing the banking industry.

As indicated by a research-based site, the worldwide Blockchain distributed ledger is supposed to develop approximately $5,430 million by 2023 (which isn’t really too far away!)

3.Instant apps

Instant applications are as recent as 2016.

These apps enable users to use an application right through the Google Play store which means there is no need for downloading and installing the full application. This development enables the user to check the application a lot quicker without using any space on the smartphone’s memory! So just browse, use, and you’re done! Although a nearly new idea, we can expect big things to come in this segment, owing to the simplicity of use and hassle-free nature of this trend.

4.Wearables!

Smart watches, wristbands, smart glasses, footwear that tracks your activity, and even clothing! With the fitness revolution in full swing, the demand for wearables has increased greatly in the last 5-7 years. Right from Nike Running to newer and smaller players, devices have been designed to be synchronized with applications operating on mobiles.

For health and fitness applications, it’s obvious to include all of your information within the simple reach which is a smartphone.

This buzzing trend incorporates both the number of devices used to keep up a healthy life, i.e., smartwatches and fitness trackers, and those intended to screen vitals for chronic patients – cholesterol, blood sugar, and pulse meters.

Our projection is that the demand for mobile application development for wearables will go upward in 2019.

5.Artificial Intelligence

This is actually a consolidated trend of both artificial Intelligence and machine learning.

If it were possible, AI would be the 8^th wonder of the world and you know that’s true. To get machines to emulate a human being on any given level is a monumental feat. As indicated by the International Data Corporation, it is assessed that the market for AI is going to be at $40 billion till 2020. Up until now, the manufacturing and medical sectors have taken incredible steps to advance proficiency through AI. This is because of the high precision and capacity to grab real-time events.

A little more human insight is required, but the scope for growth is immense.

6.Advanced Augmented & Virtual Reality

Mobile apps efficiently use the advanced features like insanely clear cameras that blur the lines between the real world and the virtual realms, almost like a portal for crossing over.

Virtual reality and augmented reality have ventured out of the domain of games and are getting to education platforms, design showrooms, eCommerce devices, and meeting spaces too.

How many of you remember the Pokemon Go Revolution? Teens walking all around town pointing their cameras on the road, ‘catching’ Pokémon out in the open? That’s only a glimpse of what this technology is capable of.

With virtual reality, you could shop in a virtual shopping center or people can test-drive a new vehicle, and even a global team can hold a meeting in a virtual space (like the Star Wars conferences!) With augmented reality, a doctor can project the patient’s x-ray directly over their body while doing an operation, so it’s always before their eyes! Both of them use hardware features vigorously, enabling developers to build incredible user experiences.

7.Mobile payment integration

Do you agree that cards are getting to be pointless since the period of mobile payments has come into existence? Our mobiles are steadily transforming into our wallets as well. A lot of us get out without carrying our wallets because we know we can make payments using applications like Paytm and Google Tez. Demonitization in India too had a big role to play in empowering the e-wallets and mobile payment gateways.

Mobile banking administrations are changing the financial business environment. Furthermore, online shopping is getting prominent. An ever-increasing number of buyers are shopping by utilizing their mobiles. It is a quicker, simpler and progressively secure method for spending the cash.

We can safely anticipate welcoming an increasing number of amazing mobile services for payment purposes this year.

With so many developments in the mobile app space, we too are encouraging businesses to develop their own app! Are you a business looking for a business plan and app development strategy? Get in touch with us at 833-FLYNAUT and let’s start building your dream together!

We’ll be back soon with more informative and interesting articles from the world of technology, stay tuned!

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