Launching your mobile app is definitely a major milestone in your business quest, but that’s just the start of a journey. With more than 3.48 million apps on Google Play and 2.22 million on the App Store, standing out above all will be challenging.
Therefore, simply launching your custom-built app can’t guarantee success! There must be a post-launch plan as a follow-up strategy. Even the best-designed and high-performing apps can struggle to thrive if they are ignored in the long run.
So, let’s not make that mistake for your app, and try to understand why you need a post-launch plan to succeed. Beyond that, this article will also shed light on certain strategies that you can implement as part of your post-launch program.
Importance of A Post-Launch Plan for Your Mobile App
Several studies and surveys have proven that more than 25% of users often abandon apps right after their first use. Not just that, but an average mobile app also loses around 77% of its regular active users within the first 3 days of installation. Such stats give rise to a big concern: “What can be done right to lower these app abandonment rates?”
Well, there can be numerous culprits that might be forcing people to abandon your app, such as poor design, slow loading, layout shifts, lack of required features, complex interface, etc. However, all of these flaws can be fixed when you have a proper post-launch plan in place. With your post-launch strategy, you will be able to implement user feedback, fix potential bugs, introduce new features, and launch necessary updates.
To give you a better insight into the importance of a post-launch plan for your mobile app, here are a few reasons to count on:
1. Analyzing User Behavior
It is one of the most crucial reasons why a post-launch strategy for your app is important. You must have timely insight into how your targeted users are interacting with the app. Are they using it as you planned for them to, or are there unexpected accessibility issues for you to address?
Understanding the way people adapt or interact with your app can help you plan upgrades and grow alongside the changing user behavior. This way, your app will continue to stay relevant for the users.
For instance, Facebook was initially built for connecting college students. However, it later turned out to be a global social network platform because users started to build communities and share moments. Facebook understood the changing user behavior and ensured the app adapted to those evolving needs.
2. Deciding on New Milestones
When you have a strong post-launch app maintenance and support strategy at pace, you can set & achieve new business goals. As the user demands change, you must embark on setting new milestones that align accordingly. It should be continuous practice in order to ensure your app continues to drive success through long-term relevance.
For instance, Slack, an app that was initially launched as just a basic communication tool, is now a full-fledged workplace collaboration hub. The team at Slack analyzed how different user groups interacted with their platform and decided to expand the app features accordingly. They added workflow integration, project management, and other such features.
3. Boost Customer Loyalty and Retention
A post-launch strategy for your app will only succeed if you are listening to user feedback and making associated improvements. When users feel that your app is constantly improving to meet their needs or demands, they will be more loyal towards your brand. Thus, the churn and abandonment rate will reduce!
Apps that act upon user feedback often experience 30% higher retention, which is a winning step towards making your business a success. Not just that, but also by reducing your churn rate by even just 5%, you will be increasing your profits by somewhere between 25%-95%.
For instance, the founders of Airbnb personally met the hosts to understand what could be done to improve the two-way business. By adhering to the feedback, Airbnb implemented changes such as professional photography for the property listings, which resulted in increased customer bookings.
What Strategies Can You Add to Your App’s Post-Launch Plan?
With the app released, you are now required to ensure a sustainable success for the business, which is possible only with ongoing refinement of it. In the post-launch phase, you must analyze the results and implement improvements. Some of the strategies that you can add to your post-launch maintenance and update plan are:
1. User Feedback Analysis
With valuable customer insights, you can easily identify the potential areas of improvement in your app. You must do this analysis periodically to ensure your app continues to meet the user needs in the long run. Consider your app users as your guide to determine the changes you must make to grow with your business.
2. Make Quick Iterations
You must make quick iterations to your app to enhance the overall product quality and keep it relevant for the market. For instance, addressing the early user feedback and making the necessary changes will showcase your responsiveness to the matter, which will eventually boost customer loyalty and retention rates.
3. Detect & Fix Performance Glitches
All the performance glitches, such as slow loading, frequent crashes, or lagging interface, must be fixed instantly. A reliable app experience is very crucial for keeping users engaged with it, and such minor performance issues can adversely affect it. However, timely identification and rectification of these glitches through updates can keep the users satisfied.
4. Track App’s Performance
Over time, as your app continues to grow and evolve, you ought to track its performance in regular intervals. You must adjust your post-launch strategies depending on the key performance metrics such as no. of downloads, retention, revenue, engagement, and others. This way, you will know the exact area to direct the post-launch maintenance strategy at.
Conclusion
The actual growth of your mobile app starts right after you deploy it to the App Store, Google Play Store, or both. When you start to gain users on your app, you must start managing user feedback, responding to market trends, tracking performance, and looking for new opportunities. All of it will be possible only when you have a well-curated post-launch plan in action!
Take the help of professionals offering post-launch maintenance and support solutions as part of their mobile app development services, and execute effective strategies to succeed with your business product.
