All the advantages and steps to create a mobile app from scratch

Mobile applications are becoming one of the most effective tools that currently exist to reach and interact with our potential customers, something normal if we consider that the advantages of an app for your business are several. For example: Did you know that 85% of the time your customers are on their smartphone they are using an app and that this market will not stop growing strongly until doubling its value in 2020? If they spend so much time with an application on their phone, don’t you think we should be there too?

Advantages of creating a mobile app for your company

These and many others are some of the main reasons why an application is such a valuable resource:

• An app can strengthen the presence of your brand, because once it’s downloaded, both your current and potential customers will have given it a valuable place in their application drawer next to Whatsapp, Facebook, Gmail, Clash Royale and their other favorite applications. Each time they open their apps collection they will see your icon next to the others. This way they have already made you one of their favorite mobile phone tools.
• Engagement and interaction with your customers will be improved now that they have a new way of contacting you and you with them. Unlike a web site where search engines position us to respond to a specific search, an app looks for recurrence, so it will end up becoming the perfect manual or instrument of what it has been downloaded for. You will promote openness by generating useful content and activating the visit through push notifications that will alert the user that they already have something new to experiment with you.
• You will be able to offer more effective customer service, both for him and your company. Firstly, because an app simplifies any interaction process by being designed to respond to the need it solves in as few clicks as possible. Secondly, because it will always be available and its opening is immediate. Third, because recurrence drives conversion.
• An app is a direct marketing channel for your business. There are no barriers or applications between you and the user. Once the app is downloaded, you will be able to view usage data produced by each user and provide them with exactly what they need. A very intimate way to get to know him and adapt your content to exactly what they need.
• It will help you to stand out and take advantage of your competitors who don’t have an app yet. Because yes, the big brands already have one or several apps. They can afford to hire a dedicated team of developers. However, the apps world is still a field to be exploited by most companies and doing so at this time can be several steps ahead of the competition.

Indeed, many companies have already created their app and are taking advantage of this increasingly common trend. You will see how big brands already have theirs, either to establish a long-term relationship with their customers or to carry out specific actions based on a concrete communication campaign. Meanwhile, many others, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, have not yet joined this trend, either because of the high budgets often offered by companies specializing in application development or because they do not know the advantages of having an app. Whether you’re already an online business owner and carry out marketing actions such as managing a blog, sending a newsletter on a regular basis, posting content on social networks or other actions, or if you still don’t do it and want to make the leap into the digital world, consider using another technique that allows you to complement and improve your relationship with your customers.

How to create a mobile app for Android and iOS step-by-step

1. Why do you need to create an app? Define objectives

Are you sure you’re ready to create a mobile app? Sure you do, but don’t think about developing an application just because everyone else does. An app created without a specific purpose will not give you positive results. Creating a mobile application with the goal of growing your business requires a well-planned process. Therefore, the first step is to be very clear about the purpose of your new project. Think about what advantages an application can have for your business. What features should you include to make your app really useful? What operating systems will it be available on? And most importantly, what kind of solutions or facilities will you bring to the user? For example, if your company provides restaurant and catering services, the objectives should be as follows:

• Inform customers about your menus and delicious dishes and why they should try them: special promotions or new items on the menu?
• Make it easy to get to the restaurant by including a button that guides you directly through Google Maps.
• Offers the option to pay through the app.
• Will they receive any kind of coupon for recommending your restaurant or returning often? They are sure to drive the growth of your business through word of mouth.

2. Sketch the application

You know the purpose of your app. Now you’re going to make it as functional as possible. Start with the user interface. First, you should generate a sketch of how you want the elements in your application to be sorted. To do this, define what would be the main sections of your app and how these would link to the home page. Sketches the home and the first screens that will appear when the user clicks a button on the main screen. After sketching the different screens, you should create a flowchart indicating which button corresponds to each screen after each user interaction. Depending on the importance of your screens, gives them a preponderant position, more visible or accessible in the home page. Expands the flowchart by including and linking each of the screens to its corresponding lower, equivalent or upper level until the entire link is complete. Doing this will allow you to have a superior view of your app and detect possible errors and inconsistencies in terms of app usability.

3. Hire an app developer or make it yourself

Until now, it was common to outsource application development services to a professional who created a custom-made app from scratch, writing the code himself at a price inaccessible to many small and medium-sized businesses. Today there are tools like King of App that allow anyone, without specific programming skills, to create an app for Android or iOS at a much lower price. Whether you choose to hire a mobile application development company (for which we leave here some tips) or you choose to do it yourself with tools like King of App, keep in mind that they are able to offer you the following aspects in your app:

• It should have an easy to use interface.
• It must be perfectly compatible with the mobile platform for which it was developed.
• Must be quick.
• It must be perfectly adapted to your target market.
• It must be beautiful and memorable.
• It must be unique.
• It should reflect your brand image.

If you decide to hire an application developer, make sure you sign a confidentiality agreement to protect your idea. Also, give him all the details of your project so that he will be able to understand everything you need and be able to do it. Keep in mind that once the development is complete, you will have to contact your developer every time you want to make an upgrade or update. These changes will be necessary as you discover the needs of your users, so you will often need to implement improvements and include new features.

4. Test your app before uploading it to the app store

Once the first version of your application is ready, you should check very well that it has no error or failure in its operation. Is the design attractive? Is the user interface exactly as you wanted it? Does the application respond quickly to requests? Do you incorporate all the components of the flowchart you drew earlier? Are the graphics and colors right for your brand? Be sure to test everything related to the app before uploading it to any App Store. Ask opinion in your environment and if possible also to other developers.

5. Start applying mobile marketing techniques

Now that your app is ready and uploaded to the app store, you need to make marketing efforts so that your future users know you. This part of the process of creating an app depends on the budget you have allocated to each of the previous actions. In your case, you may want to become an expert in ASO or App Store Optimization, which covers all the marketing techniques that will help your application gain visibility in app stores. If you still have a budget left, it will be a good idea to contact specialized technology media, request comments from bloggers and create a landing page for your application, which will help you to be found more easily on the web. As we said at the beginning of the post, more and more users are using mobile applications to perform everyday tasks faster and easier. Following in the footsteps of this post and relying on a platform like King of App will allow you to put your mobile application on the market in no time.