App Annie, a mobile insights company, estimates that Android users will download 170 billion apps in 2018 alone, spending over $50 billion. Statista, another statistics and market research company, estimates that in the UK alone there will be about 53.96 million individual users with an active monthly subscription for mobile apps, by 2022. These statistics reflect the fact that app user growth is huge, and it has the power to generate a lot of revenue for you.
That said, not all apps are created the same, and this also explains the disparity in income generated by each app. Take for example, a study that compared the revenue of the top 15 action game apps.
If you notice, the revenue earned by the most popular game (in terms of revenue) is 75 times higher than the revenue earned by the 15th most popular game. This difference is not just in action games but can be seen across every possible mobile app sector.
Does this mean that the 10th best app well-developed and engaging? What makes a few apps so much more popular than the others? In today’s world of a billion apps, being competitive and engaging users is key to keeping them interested in your app.
So, here are the four most important things that every mobile app needs to be addictive.
Loyalty Rewards/Point System Within The App
Everyone likes to get rewards for doing something. In fact, it is an innate human behavior to do something only when you get something out of it. So, your users will come to you and not to your competitor when you offer them rewards for choosing you, or in other words when you offer an attractive royalty program.
As a business, offering a point system and rewards for the maximum points not only encourages people to stick to your app, but it also makes revenue generation a more streamlined and inexpensive process for you, Borrowing from Pareto’s principle, 80% of your revenue is generated from 20% of your customers. So, you want this 20% to keep coming back to you.
Be innovative while designing your loyalty programs and make sure it is something to do with your line of business. A case in point is OJO’s rewarding mobile app that comes with a top-notch and innovative loyalty rewards program. In many ways, this loyalty program is similar to successful online casinos that allow users to play repeatedly and to their heart’s fill.
Another example of a successful and unique loyalty program is Starbucks. This loyalty program rewards in the form of in-app points and you qualify for a free drink if you earn a certain number of points.
Compelling App Design
An addictive app design is important to keep your users hooked. Take the case of Instagram. It sends you push notifications ranging from someone’s firsts story to a live video, by default. When you get such notifications, you’re bound to open the notification and in the process, spend a few minutes on the app.
Twitter and Facebook have a different design, but nevertheless a compelling one. When you swipe your finger, you’ll see a spinning wheel that indicates more content is being loaded. You don’t know what the content is, and this makes you curious. In the process, you end up spending more time than planned on the app.
If you take the casino apps, you’ll notice that they have bright colors, enjoyable game graphics and user-friendly menus that are sure to make it a pleasure for users to play these games.
These examples clearly show why a compelling design is essential for an app to be addictive to users.
Create User FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)
In today’s connected world, many of our actions happen due to peer pressure. More importantly, we don’t want to feel left out of action and want to be the first to know everything. This psychological tool is called FOMO, which stands for fear of missing out. As an app developer, it is absolutely essential you cash in on this emotional appeal.
Take the case of Duolingo, a language learning app. You have to set your goal, and the app tracks the measures you’re taking to achieve that goal. So, you have a deep-seated fear of missing out when you don’t spend enough time on this app learning new lessons every day.
There are other apps that tap into this FOMO phenomenon. Users of these apps fear missing out on a daily jackpot or offer, so they stay connected with the app all the time.
Innovate And Excite Users
One way to stand out in this crowded world of apps is to be innovative. Create a niche for yourself and have a unique aspect to excite your users. Take a look at any successful app, and it will be one thing that distinguishes them from others, and it is this unique aspect that keeps users addictive to it.
In all, create apps to keep users addictive and engaged, to greatly boost your chances of sustained revenue. Take cues from successful apps before you start creating your own app. As the saying goes, “if you can’t beat them, buy them.”
If you are interested in even more app-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels then we have a lot to choose from.
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