Large enterprises and startups alike struggle to get traction in the overloaded mobile app market. The truth is, most apps collapse under the competition. Here are the facts:
Why do a majority of apps miss the mark?
Drafting and executing a comprehensive go-to-market strategy will help guide a successful product launch. This post will outline the key components of a go-to-market strategy for a profitable mobile app release.
To avoid the common pitfalls that cause many apps to fail and build an exceptional go-to-market strategy, it’s important to give thoughtful consideration to the following areas:
First of all, what is a go-to-market strategy? A thorough strategy will answer these questions:
All the major elements that guide your business strategy (sales, pricing, marketing, branding, competitive research, consumer profiling, and distribution) form the foundation for a go-to-market action plan. This plan will define the most effective way to reach a target audience and establish a competitive edge in the marketplace.
Crafting a go-to-market strategy has a number of advantages.
Product discovery doesn’t guarantee app success, but it does lay the foundation for an impactful market presence. It tackles essential questions including the why, the what, the how, and the when. Piecing together the parts of a go-to-market strategy is an iterative process incorporating several interrelated and dynamic areas of focus.
Is there an opportunity in the market? Are you addressing a pain point for a set of potential users? If there is no need or desire, there is no market opportunity.
Why are you building the product? What is the purpose/goal of your app? What problems are you trying to fix? What is the value you are adding? What are your short and long term goals?
Who are you building the product for? Products are built for users; therefore, product direction should be driven by understanding their needs and motivations.
Who are your competitors? What have they done right? What are their weaknesses? How will your solution add value beyond what is available in the market?
The approach to monetization/business strategy varies on the type of app and whether it is meant to be the main source of revenue generation or meant to support or facilitate another service or product. You also need to design business goals according to the cost of developing the app.
The most common models include:
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If the product is meant to support another product or facilitate a service rather than generate revenue, your approach will be vastly different. You are going to focus on aligning your app with business objectives rather than monetization of the app itself. Namely, how does the application fit within your larger business plan or organizational objectives? The purpose is not to directly generate revenue, but rather to support key revenue generation activities.
Much like your monetization/business plan, your user acquisition strategy is going to differ based on the nature of your application, your target market, and many other factors. When creating a marketing and user acquisition strategy include:
Once you have all the pieces in place, you will need to focus on going to market in a way that will best set up your product for success. This means making decisions about launching with an MVP or more mature product and choosing a hard or soft launch strategy.
Launching an MVP with a core set of features allows you to test and validate key concepts early so you can improve your product with each iteration, while also reducing time to launch and development costs.
The product discovery phase should include your prioritized product roadmap, which will allow you to determine what is needed for your MVP. What an MVP entails will differ from company to company based on business needs, industry, the nature of the solution, and what the competition is doing.
A soft launch is when you release your product to a restricted audience or market prior to launching it fully. Soft launches are often limited to a particular area or a small segment of ideal users and customers. Advantages include:
A hard launch is when you release your product fully to the market, with the corresponding marketing push to match. Hard launches are more expensive and typically used by larger companies with the necessary budgets or more mature products. Advantages include:
Preparing a go-to-market app strategy may not guarantee that your app will be successful, but it does significantly increase the chances. At the very least, it helps you to avoid common pitfalls that result in apps failing. Finally, thinking about the right launch strategy and how to execute it will ensure that you are using the best method based on the nature of your product, how mature your product is, and your current position in the marketplace.