Everyone knows how important it is to perform a competitive analysis before developing and launching a product in the marketplace. Nowhere is this more important than in the rapidly changing mobile app marketplace to be able to deliver an app that is distinctly superior to what is being used by the target audience. However, since the process of undertaking the competitive analysis is arduous and time-consuming, it can be easy to make mistakes that can prove to be costly. Some of the most common competitive analysis mistakes made by mobile app developers that you should take care to avoid:
Restricting the Number of Competitors Studied to One or A Few
When asked, many app developers tend to respond that there is no competition for the new app being developed. This misplaced confidence can prove to be very costly, as with millions of apps being developed for both the Android and the iOS markets, there is virtually no application that has been left untapped. The other issue is that when customers are asked to name competitors, most of them mention only the top names that you already know about. To know the competitor landscape in detail, you need to conduct a microanalysis that includes every service covered by text message or iphone apps. For a competitive analysis to be effective, it should include not only all the large players but also as many as possible of the smaller apps that cater to niche requirements. This is because even small companies can decide to suddenly take action to increase their presence and grab a large share of the market with aggressive marketing. Some of the smaller companies may also be attracting a lot of traffic because they have done SEO right, so it is a good idea to check out the search rankings on Google from time to time so that you know what action to take.
Not Keeping Up to Date with Industry Trends and Developments
For an app to effectively retain and increase its market share, it has to remain relevant to the needs and wants of the customers. In a sector that undergoes rapid change, such as smartphone apps, you need to keep yourself updated on what’s happening in the industry about the competition, new technology, shifting customer trends, etc. If you fail to keep abreast, it is easy for you to lose market share rapidly. The sales team will begin to look out of touch with the market developments and your marketing and PR activities will also lose steam. Keeping your eyes focused not only on your industry but also on everything that impacts the behavior of customers is vital. If you do not have the resources to carry out competitor analysis, you can use any of the commercially available competitor analysis services.
Not Monitoring Media Mentions of Your Competitors
It is important not to be taken by surprise when new products are launched by your competitors. You should also follow the media for reports of announcements by them as well as other happenings and events like setting up of a new design facility, hiring of top-level executives, mergers, and acquisitions, funding, and more. The reason you should do this is not only to keep yourself abreast of what is happening in the competitor landscape so that you can counter their moves effectively but also to be able to answer customer queries.
Not Optimizing SEO
Search engines are the most common tool for customers to discover what apps they will buy and use. Customers also look for comparisons, reviews, and customer feedback online before making up their minds. This makes it essential for the app to score high in Google search by optimizing SEO. The process involves fine-tuning the website to ensure that Google can index it quickly and rank it. Your app can be discovered more easily if you take the pain of undertaking keyword research and infuse the most important ones in your content appropriately. The quality of the content you upload on your website, as well as social media, plays a significant role in influencing the search rank. You can conduct hashtag research for use on social media. Using a mix of popular hashtags and specific ones will generally yield the best result. You should not try to guess the keywords or hashtags but rather use one of the many available online tools to conduct proper research into the search volume for your niche. Investigating the SEO practices of your main competitors is a good way of getting an insight into the tactics that are more likely to work. It is important to remember that the search rankings are dynamic because of the changes in the environment and competitor activity. It is the reason why you should continue to monitor your SEO performance and take action as appropriate to counter any drop in the rank.
Not Acknowledging the Performance of Competitors
There is no point in saying that your mobile app does not have competition. Even if you have the perfect product in your hand, you will need to compete with plenty of others that are fighting for market share because with millions of apps existing in the market, there is no chance that you will be a to discover an unoccupied niche. Rather than dismissing competitors as substandard, you need to find out what value they are delivering to customers and why they are being bought and used. Rather than focusing only on the product features or performance, you need to also investigate what else they might be getting right. This could include excellent SEO, having a large number of followers on social media, top-grade PR, interesting, and high-quality original content, or something else that clicks with the target audience. According to Inc, by tracking your competitors, you are better poised to anticipate their moves.
Conclusion
Even though conducting a competitive analysis is a tough task, you cannot rest after doing one round. The market dynamics are constantly changing and you must keep abreast with the developments and trends so that the mobile app too can remain relevant and useful to the target audience. According to experts, you should perform a competitor analysis if you find out you are losing market share, before launching a new marketing campaign or even a new version of the app.
