Building a mobile application and putting it in app stores is not enough. There are many challenges an app owner must face to thrive in the current market scenario. An app must effectively engage with customers, and it must be scalable and robust.
With new apps entering the market daily but tight budgets on their hands – how can start-ups or budding apps compete with the market top players via traditional approaches?
To fast track your app development, it is essential to initiate growth hacking so you can take your business to the next level. Growth hacking is simply the process of implementing technical creativity, analytical thinking, and marketing skill to optimize each possible step in the app journey to pivot and get ahead of the competition quickly.
Growth hacking’s success also rely on applying creative tactics in any part of the product development process and consumer journey; often the choice way for start-ups to succeed in larger audiences within a shorter timeframe at a lower cost. It’s a collaborative effort where marketers, engineers, developers, and product owners contribute together to play a part in the user engagement and growth.
Considering this, Huawei is offering start-to-end support for its app partners from technical resources to marketing channels to assist them in achieving growth quickly and effectively. The on-going AppsUP 2021 – Huawei HMS App Innovation Contest is the tech company’s latest initiative to drive growth hacking. The contest aims to inspire developers to create innovative apps utilizing HMS Core open capabilities, has also provided a stepping stone for app owners to enter the global market to reach Huawei devices users in more than 170 regions and countries.
Growth hacking tips from industry experts
To shed more light on mobile app growth hacking solutions, AppsUP 2021’s judges are being invited to uncover new ways that could assist app developers/owners to improve their app visibilities and drive downloads.
“Growth hacking is an iterative and continuous process. Learnings, observations, and outcomes are feedback into flywheel and will provide insights into product development. I believe it starts with being customer centric – having a clear vision of your intended user and you are serving their needs,” said Ryan Chan, Head, Global Business Development, Global Growth Acceleration, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC).
Being customer centric, entrepreneurs need to have a plan in place to use analytics from day one to help understand user behavior, personas, and events and to use this analytics data to figure out what works best on your app.
“As with any product, no matter how brilliant an app is, if not marketed well, it’s akin to launching your app into a void. Nobody will ever know about it if it’s not visible and targeted. Coming from a games background, my suggestions aren’t new per se, but could be helpful for traditional/new app developers.” said Gwen Guo, Chairperson, Singapore Games Association (SGGA), who also mentioned that the first thing to do is to explore data-driven decisions, study the target audience’s purchases and engagement habits, and craft the app’s marketing plan based on that information.
There is also a need to explore how social media and its trends can help with an app’s marketing plan for the target audience. Another factor to consider is community management that can help in building a nurturing community that not just helps drum up hype for the app but also follows up with responsive support for customers, helping with customer retention and eventually ratings.
Establishing relationships with launch platforms such as HUAWEI AppGallery and understanding what features these platforms have to boost visibility whether it’s a featured page, new apps list or seasonal collections are equally important as well.
“Since its global launch in 2018 April, AppGallery now has over 550 million active users around the globe. Although AppGallery is growing rapidly within just three years, it is still a comparatively new player in the market. Becoming an early entrant in this less saturated market, means easier discovery for any app products listed in the platform, which help app owners to gain quick visibility and downloads.” said Shane Shan, Director of APAC Huawei Consumer Cloud Service.
As for the current market trend, consumers have high expectations and are extremely demanding. To attract, engage, and retain a user, app developers must move beyond functionality and combine various disciplines to do so. Consumers demand and expect a frictionless end-to-end customer experience, delightful UI and UX, anchored by strong security and privacy controls.
“I think creativity and entrepreneurship are important to growth hacking. It also means being close to your customer. So, continuous communication with your customers is a must. Don’t guess but use actual data to determine your next move. Continuously pivot and iterate depending on your customer feedback. I’d like to see solutions with creative approaches in solving real problems. As well, large addressable market sizes. Finally, how (app developers) will tackle user acquisition and engagement,” shares Jojo Flores, Co-Founder, Plug and Play Tech Center.
Eligibility and Application
AppsUP 2021 welcomes all mobile app developers and app owners, whether students, professionals, startups, or businesses to participate. To be eligible for the contest, developers residing in the APAC region must have their apps integrated with at least one HMS Core kit and published on AppGallery.
This year’s APAC edition will feature various award categories – Best App, Best Game, Best Social Impact Award, Honorable App Award, and Most Popular App Award.
Newly introduced categories include AppGallery Rising Star Award, Best Fintech Innovation Award, Best HMS Core Innovation Award, Excellent Student Award, and Tech Women’s Award. Twenty outstanding apps will be selected to win from a prize pool of US$200,000, based on their social value, business value, user experience, and innovativeness.
To register for AppsUP 2021, or to learn more information about the evaluation criteria and panel of judges, please visit the official website http://bit.ly/appsupapacpc.