5 Best Strategies to Conduct Mobile App Market Research

Entrepreneurs are always on the edge when it’s about mobile app research leading to a potential multi-million dollar app development. 

It’s a surge of motivation to create something that comes with a minimum margin of error and risk because all the mobile app research has been done in advance. 

Of course, such plans halt during some near-future technical phases, but you have to hand it out to entrepreneurs for their enthusiasm concerning mobile app market analysis. 

This post begs to be a two-parter, i.e.:

1. Talk about the potential benefits of conducting market research for apps
2. Is it really necessary, and does it lead to guaranteed success when the mobile application is finally launched?

To maintain the scope of this post, we’ll touch base on the first part, i.e., discuss the overall importance of mobile app market analysis, the types of mobile apps, and whether research is actually needed to guarantee a successful venture.

Why so?

It’s because a lot of different factors allude to entrepreneurs’ success or failure. Conducting research is a good thing, and it’s true that regardless of whether it’s done for the sake of a mobile app development strategy, it does minimize risks. 

However, nothing beats experience and a series of previous failures. 

The latter ensures that previous mistakes aren’t repeated, and any analysis done for the sake of creating an application goes in the right direction without using unnecessary resources. 

Let’s continue reading to see what else is in store for us.

Mobile App Failures—What Studies Estimate & Why Research is Important?

A growing number of studies suggest that the majority of mobile app development projects end in failure.

The primary reasons for this are related to engagement, business models, research, and marketing strategies.

For example, nearly one-third of app engagements have a duration of less than one minute, suggesting that businesses fail to offer sufficiently interesting or rewarding experiences to encourage users to persist longer-term.

Additionally, 72% of new mobile app-based products fail to perform as expected due to a lack of a robust business model and insufficient research about the exact market need that the product should address.

Finally, 35% out of the aforementioned 72% also fail due to ineffective app marketing strategies – capital is misallocated as businesses spend too much on paid advertising instead of investing in word-of-mouth campaigns which could have greater outcomes for the same amount.

The research, therefore, plays an important role in terms of understanding the needs and trends that motivate consumer behavior with regard to mobile applications.

Through careful market research conducted prior to product development, companies can gain valuable insights into what specific elements would drive their customer base towards using their appropriate and ensure that they establish long-term engagement with users.

Mobile App Research for Beginners: Is It Worth Doing It In 2023?

Mobile app market research is the process of gathering data about mobile applications and their users. 

This data can include user demographics, usage patterns, device preferences, content ratings, and more. 

Market research helps app developers to gauge customer demand for their products and services, as well as the competitive landscape of the mobile app industry.

Whether or not mobile app market research is worth it depends on what an organization hopes to achieve with its efforts. 

For example, if a company wants to know how its existing customers prefer to use its apps or which features they find most useful, then conducting market research can provide valuable insights that may help improve the product’s usability and appeal. 

In that order, understanding user attitudes towards particular devices or platforms can inform decisions around marketing strategies or development investments. 

In such cases, investing in mobile app market research may be highly beneficial for a business looking to grow brand loyalty and increase conversions within a niche audience. 

On the other hand, if a developer’s goal is simply to build awareness around their product in general terms without researching specific types of users or platforms – then spending time conducting formal market research could be considered unnecessary expenditure when compared to more direct promotional tactics.  

Mobile App Market Research – Best Strategies Explained

Market research is an essential component of the mobile app development process and plays a vital role in providing insight into the app market to ensure success.

It involves gathering data from different sources such as user opinions, reviews, and sentiment analysis across competitive markets.

The purpose of market research is to understand customer needs, trends, and competitors’ activities which helps businesses to optimize their approach to the ever-changing mobile landscape.

The first step in performing effective market research is defining the goals and objectives for the project.

It is important to identify the main customer base you are trying to target with your app. This determines what kind of information about user behavior, experience, or preferences you need to collect relevant data.

You can also use various available digital tools such as A/B testing, surveys, analytics tools, and heat mapping tools that help track user behavior and engagement metrics.

Additionally, researching other successful apps in your niche will allow you to take note of their features and implement them in improved ways within your own product.

5 Strategies to Perform Market Research for Mobile App

Defining the target audience

Defining the target audience of an app is a crucial step in its successful marketing campaign. Without knowing exactly who the message is being tailored to, it is impossible to craft the ideal solution that attracts and engages prospects.

As such, companies need to thoroughly determine their target users before making any communication effort.

When beginning mobile strategy research on an intended target audience, there are two factors to consider: demographics and psychographics.

Knowing the demographic information surrounding a potential customer includes details such as age, gender, social class, religion, nationality, or ethnicity.

Psychographics are characteristics that depict a person’s attitude and lifestyle choices such as entertainment preferences and habits.

By conducting detailed user research on these two factors, developers can come up with relevant communication strategies for apps that anticipate users’ needs and interests, creating a higher potential for success in the development process.

Conducting competitor analysis

Conducting an in-depth competitor analysis is a crucial step when developing a mobile app. Being able to identify, analyze, and leverage the competitive landscape helps app developers give users an enhanced experience and better interpret the market need.

Going through your competitors’ existing products and services allows you to evaluate their performance and be aware of any potential competition.

Through competitor analysis, you can gain valuable insights into user preferences and quickly adjust your mobile strategy research accordingly.

It provides fresh ideas on features that can make the user experience more engaging while at the same time helping you identify opportunities where your product can stand out from mainstream competitors.

Delving into ongoing market trends also facilitates smarter decision-making so you can maximize profitability and return on investment for your business.

Additionally, understanding what customers value most will help you tailor offerings that stay relevant over time, such as offering new functionality or discounts that deliver value to users while staying ahead of emerging industry standards.

Conducting a SWOT Analysis

Conducting a SWOT analysis is an important tool for understanding an app’s core and reinforcing its potential and capabilities.

A SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis for mobile apps helps you gain insights into the landscape for potential opportunities to capitalize on as well as determine areas of weaknesses that might hinder your app.

Through the SWOT analysis, you can gain useful insights allowing you to define USPs (Unique Selling Points), create revenue models that target challenge areas, discover improvement factors in the design/functionality of the app as well as comprehend current user behavior patterns.

All these elements will allow you to define goals specifically for your mobile app allowing optimization of performance and success.

Defining Pitch

When you’re creating an app, it’s important to define the pitch that will give potential customers a good idea of what the app is all about. A well-crafted pitch should engage the reader and provide them with enough details about your product so they can be intrigued but not overwhelmed.

Your pitch should include the goal of your app, its purpose, and how it works. It should also provide links to a landing page or press kit, so journalists or other media outlets have easy access to extra information if they want it.

Writing a good pitch isn’t easy but it’s important to try and capture as much of the essence of the app in as few words as possible.

You can make use of short columns like headlines and bullet points. Try to keep it concise and focus on pulling people in with catchy phrases focused on how users will benefit from using your product.

People are always looking for solutions that improve their lives; don’t overload them with too many facts or unnecessary technical details—save those for later. Be creative but also honest; an effective column entices you into finding out more without false promises.

Building a Business Plan

Creating a business plan for your mobile app is one of the most important steps to securing financial backing and finding success upon launch. An effective business plan directly addresses the goals of the company and explains in-depth detail how it plans to achieve those objectives.

The business plan should cover aspects like market research, sales, revenue, profits, and budgeting. Market research is particularly valuable when launching a mobile app, as it allows for an assessment of audience size estimation, competitors, pricing structures, and potential ROI (return on investment).

The successful implementation and execution of the business plan require an understanding of each step along the way.

Additionally, it’s crucial to also take into account any other external factors that may affect significantly contribute to or detract from company growth.

By including all essential business elements in the strategy such as financing needs, brand recognition goals, advertising budget requirements, and effective marketing strategies – including social media outreach – you’ll set yourself up for success regardless of your specific industry.

Once these essential ingredients are included in the mobile app’s initial structure you will be more likely to have a successful launch than if they were left out.

Use market research methods

Survey

Surveys are one of the most comprehensive methods used in mobile strategy research. By asking a series of questions to a predefined group of people, companies can gain much-needed insight into the behavior and preferences of potential customers. The key to successful surveys lies in crafting the right questions to ask.

Open-ended questions should be given at first, so as not to sway users away from the desired answers. Through this, you’ll receive useful, unbiased information that is useful for analyzing data trends and making recommendations based on these results.

However, it is important not to make your questions too narrow either as this could create an unknown bias which may lead to skewed results.

It is best practice to focus on giving concise yet enough information during surveys that allow users enough time to validate their answers before submitting them along with other respondents’ responses.

This will inevitably create a reliable general consensus on customer feedback and preferences allowing organizations with meaningful and actionable insights in understanding their target audience better.

Social media listening

Social media has become an integral part of life for most people in the world. Nearly four billion people around the world are on social media, representing almost half the planet’s population.

Through its platform, users continuously generate valuable information by sharing content, leaving comments, and engaging with brands.

It is essential for businesses to take advantage of this wealth of data to obtain customer insights, measure their brand’s performance and uncover new opportunities – such is the role of “social media listening”.

Social media listening involves actively monitoring what happens on social media related to a certain product or brand, whether it is mentioned in conversations or positive/negative sentiment towards it.

This in-depth analysis serves as a useful tool for conducting market research, identifying competitors’ activities, and learning more about consumer behavior patterns.

Companies benefit from social media listening mainly by gaining meaningful feedback from customers that can be used to improve their products or services; identify customer trends and preferences; adjust marketing strategies based on sentiment analysis; measure campaigns performance; and, better understand what motivates customers through deep-dive researches into topics mentioned in conversations surrounding the brand.

Mobile app Analytics

One of the mobile market research method is mobile app analytics.

It is a way to understand user behavior with different mobile applications.

To comprehend user behavior, collection, measurement, and analysis of user data in terms of interactions with the app is required.

Through this, insights into several KPIs can help you better understand the user engagement, retention, and conversion rates. 

One of the reasons why you should go for mobile app analytics when it comes to mobile market research methods is that it provides detailed, real-time data on user behavior.

This data can help you identify patterns and trends in user behavior, helping businesses make data-driven and insightful decisions about app design, feature updates, and marketing strategies. 

Mobile app analytics can track what screens have been visited the most, how much time was spent on each screen as well as the route the users take through the app. 

If you want to segment users based on different factors such as demographics, geographics, and device type, these analytics make it all possible.

Once you have segmented your users, it leads to a more comprehensive and detailed understanding of different user groups and what they are looking for i.e. their preferences. 

In this way, you can identify which features are most popular among a particular demographic or geographic location.

You can also optimize user experience with this. 

Identification of the pain points or areas of improvement help businesses make targeted enhancements to provide users with a better overall experience which in turn results in higher.

Gather relevant data for Mobile App Market Research

Gartner

Gartner is a well-known and respected research and technology firm that helps technology leaders to make informed decisions. Since 1979, Gartner has provided top-level insights into sophisticated and innovative applications of technology.

With its extensive range of services, Gartner assists organizations in evaluating current technologies, selecting new solutions for potential deployment, monitoring industry trends, and more.

In today’s quickly evolving digital landscape it is even more important for companies to stay on top of the latest advancements and business intelligence.

This is where Gartner comes into play – they provide detailed analysis on current trends across various sectors such as cloud, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), 5G networks, crypto assets, Machine Learning (ML) tools, Automation platforms, Virtual Reality (VR) technology and much more.

The vast expertise within Gartner teams provides clients with immense competitive edges by leveraging the most timely understanding available regarding emerging technologies and market shifts.

Furthermore organizing events like Catalyst Conference allows customers from all around the world to effectively collaborate while connecting with Gartner experts to gain valuable intelligence on developing disruptive technologies.

Statista

Statista is an incredibly powerful tool for anyone needing to stay instructed on current trends and facts in a wide array of industries. Through this global online platform, users can access stats gathered from over 170 industries and 150 countries.

This data covers everything from market / consumer surveys to detailed analyses of company financials and rankings, ideal for those needing accurate information quickly.

The resources available at Statista have grown significantly since the website was first launched in 2008, now including comprehensive bar graphs, charts and tables that support their already impressive numbers.

An interesting thing about Statista is that it allows users to buy infographics to run inside their own commercial websites or publications, ensuring these tools are always current and displayed correctly.

All of the data resources made available by Statista are conducted by trusted research institutes around the world, so users can be sure they’re getting reliable information with every statistic viewed.

Google Trends

Google Trends is an invaluable tool for analyzing the popularity of search terms, topics, and products across Google and YouTube. By understanding the trends that are occurring in different countries, businesses can make smart decisions when it comes to marketing and advertising strategies or product development.

The data from Google Trends can be viewed as graphs which show how often particular search terms have been looked up in any available location or within a specified time period. This helps businesses determine what is currently popular and also shed light on emerging trends that might not generally get attention.

Google Trends supports various types of analysis including related searches, breaking news, interests over time, interest by region maps, related topics, ‘Trending Now’ which shows what’s being searched most frequently right now and ‘Rising Searches’ which indicates relatively new trending topics.

All these features combined make it easier for users to unlock insights about their target audience that would have been difficult to uncover earlier.

Overall it offers a comprehensive and comprehensive view of the Internet’s collective attention – enabling companies to stay ahead of the competition by being aware of hot topics before they become big news stories or consumer favorites.

Gallup

Gallup is an analytics organization based in Washington that collects and publishes data from a variety of sources across the world. This data is then used to produce articles and podcasts analyzing the information gathered. About Gallup’s publications, visitors will see everything from daily polling results on contentious topics to long-term trend analyses about nations’ economic health.

Since 1935, Gallup has surveyed adults around the world and their latest research shows these surveys are projected to gain even more ground for providing reliable and comprehensive reporting of data that can equally inform both citizens and policy makers.

The rich trove of knowledge from Gallup provides researchers with an invaluable source of information for understanding trends in public opinion on many matters.

Gallup serves several industries, ranging from government, media, business, education & healthcare to non-profits.

As one of the most respected analytics companies in the world, the organization offers top-tier customer analysis tools which provide helpful insights into customer behaviors as they relate to purchasing decisions within various markets.

With access to this type of real-time information, businesses and organizations have been able to make more informed decision making backed by good data derived from Gallup’s research resources.

Knoema

Knoema is an open data platform that helps its users to explore, manage and visualize data. It caters to the needs of those looking for comprehensive datasets or need help visualizing stats in a meaningful way.

Knoema offers datasets from different sources ranging from government organizations to research studies which make it a unique choice amongst many. Its use of high-end analytics allow its customers to look at facts and figures on population growth, energy, public health and many more topics with ease.

Apart from offering data sets it also publishes informative articles that focus on trending topics in politics, economy and other tech related fields.

It also educates people about how certain developments can affect their lives in the near future by making data more accessible and understandable.

Knoema is considered as one of the most reliable stationary for obtaining genuine facts and figures due to its strict associations with reputed institutions both nationally as well as around the world.

Therefore, many professionals turn towards this convenient platform without hesitation when they’re looking for useful information. 

Different Types of Mobile Apps In Terms of Popularity

Here are some of the different types of mobile apps as per the latest trends and demand in 2023. 

This’ll give you an idea about which apps are worth researching and developing.

Health and Fitness Apps: 

Health and fitness apps have gained significant popularity in recent years, with a growing emphasis on personal health and wellness. 

These apps offer features such as workout plans, fitness tracking, meal planning, meditation, and sleep tracking. 

With an increasing focus on physical and mental well-being, health and fitness apps have become popular among individuals who want to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Social Media Apps: 

Social media apps continue to be highly popular, with billions of users worldwide. 

These apps allow users to connect, share content, and engage with others in a virtual social environment. Social media apps offer a wide range of features, including messaging, photo and video sharing, live streaming, stories, and more. 

They are used for various purposes, such as staying connected with friends and family, networking, promoting businesses, and sharing interests and hobbies.

E-commerce Apps: 

E-commerce apps have seen significant growth in recent years, with more people turning to online shopping for convenience and accessibility. 

These apps allow users to browse and purchase products or services, make payments, and track orders. 

These types of apps may also include features such as personalized recommendations, wish lists, and loyalty programs, to enhance the user experience and encourage repeat purchases.

Streaming Apps: 

Streaming apps for entertainment, including video and music, have become increasingly popular. 

These apps offer on-demand access to a vast library of content, including movies, TV shows, podcasts, and music. 

Streaming apps may also provide features such as personalized recommendations, playlists, and offline downloading for on-the-go viewing or listening.

Gaming Apps: 

Gaming apps continue to be popular among mobile users, with a wide variety of genres and styles available. 

These apps offer engaging and interactive experiences, ranging from casual games to complex multiplayer games. 

Gaming apps may include features such as in-app purchases, social integration, leaderboards, and virtual currency.

Productivity Apps: 

Productivity apps are designed to help users manage tasks, stay organized, and be more efficient in their work or personal life. 

These apps may include features such as calendars, to-do lists, note-taking, document editing, and collaboration tools.

Productivity apps are popular among professionals, students, and individuals who want to optimize their time and streamline their tasks.

It’s important to note that app trends and popularity can change over time and may vary depending on region, demographics, and other factors. 

App developers and marketers should stay updated with the latest trends and preferences of their target audience to develop and market mobile apps that are relevant and appealing to users.

Conclusion

In conclusion, market analysis for mobile apps involves researching and analyzing various aspects of the mobile app market, including competitor analysis, target market analysis, and many other aspects.

However, if you have no prior experience in conducting research, it’s easy to derail and lose time and effort that could’ve been better spent elsewhere.

For that purpose, it’s always better to consult an expert to conduct research and propose a proper strategy for mobile app & website development. Having said that, if you have any questions concerning the process, please feel free to let us know.

FAQs:

What are the benefits of consulting with a software development company, such as Blue Zorro, to conduct mobile app market research?

Consulting with a software development company such as Blue Zorro enables app developers to understand the market dynamics that exist between consumer demand, technology evolution, and ongoing competition. 

Comprehensive market research done by a professional can uncover popular trends, consumer behavior patterns, key influencers, and more. 

Blue Zorro’s mobile application market research services offer insights into user preferences, product pricing structure vs competitors, device compatibility issues, and other related aspects of the industry landscape. 

With 360-degree visibility across all touch points these research reports also help identify opportunities via competitor analysis leading to feature adoption or reduced costs from existing resources.  

The team at Blue Zorro leverages qualitative & quantitative data combining cutting-edge technologies with human insight to generate customized reports which act as a decisive factor in launching successful products & solutions into the marketplace that have an enduring value proposition while meeting customers.

Which is one of the most significant segments in 2023 and beyond for app development?

The global mobile application market has seen an explosive growth in recent years, and gaming is projected to be one of the most significant segments. This segment is expected to grow at a steady rate due to increased availability of smartphone and tables.

The gaming applications are further segmented based on the marketplace into Apple iOS store, Google Play store, and other marketplaces. Moreover, the development of virtual reality technologies and artificial intelligence range the overall market growth for this category.

Apart from gaming, other mobile application categories such as entertainment & music, health & fitness, travel & hospitality, retail & e-commerce, education & learning have also registered a massive growth. It shows that there is increasing demand for technology in integrating these categories into our daily lives.

Moreover, the regional analysis of the market shows that North America accounts for the largest share among other regions such as Europe, Asia-Pacific and LAMEA in terms of revenue generation through mobile applications. Thus all these categorization provide deeper insights into understanding and predicting global mobile application market trends which helps formulating better marketing strategies.

How to market mobile apps?

Wondering how to market mobile apps?

No matter how innovative your app is, it can not be successful until it is marketed well. 

Here’s how to market mobile apps. 

Social Media

Around 4.59 billion individuals were actively using social media in 2022.

This shows how it is a great platform to market your apps. You can market your apps through social and paid channels.

Organic promotion is the simplest form of creating a digital footprint for your app. It includes promotion through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram profiles.

In paid promotion, you need to put in some money to make your app discovered by your target audience. 

Influence Endorsement

While it may not be economical for a budding app to spend a large amount of money on big celebrities, there are still ways to market your mobile app through influencer marketing on a small scale.

Go for influencers who have your target market as their followers. 

Once they promote your app through their platform, there is surely going to be a significant number of leads flowing into your app.

Moreover, look for connections within your network. Is there anyone in the tech industry you can reach out to? Are there any influencers who target a specific market?

It is also important to target prospects who can benefit from your product as it will help retain them in the long run and they won’t churn with time.

Word-of-mouth

No matter how good your marketing strategies are, if your product doesn’t live up to the hype, the word will spread.

This is why it is important to make sure that your product delivers what it promises. 

In a world of raging competition, where a new app is being created every other day, your app needs to provide a solution to a unique customer problem as well as keep evolving with their changing needs.

Also, remember that users come to apps to get a personalized experience, so make sure to not disappoint them.

If you want to know more about how to market your mobile app, some other ways are:

• Conventional advertising
• Search ads
• App store optimization
• Public relations