One of the things I hear most when people suggest ideas for digital is an app. Luckily for me I have a pretty good poker face and I hide the anger and try and understand what value the app will bring. More often than not, the person suggestion the app has no idea why I’d bomb their app, so I thought I’d share a few reasons below.
- There’s an app for that … 5+ years in, just about every app has been produced
- Most brands already have apps, so unless your idea can be incorporated into the existing app, move along
- Apps are expensive to make
- Apps take a long time to develop
- You need a high adoption rate if you want to make money due to the low fee’s charged
- If you’re a brand, it’s free, but will require ongoing maintenance, support, revisions
- Most apps will require a launch plan, which usually ends up being a campaign in itself
- For a 3 month campaign, an app is a waste of money
- It’s not a channel to advertise in the traditional sense
- Apps are not websites and should at least offer a different user experience
- The time it takes to get into the app store is significant and no one can guarantee it will be accepted
- An app is not an Ad campaign
I’m not saying there is no use for apps, and never suggest them, but please make sure it’s going to be useful, there’s time, money and resources available to ensure it’s success.