1. Make it super useful.
For many businesses — Starwood Hotels, Target, and
Bank of America among them — the virtue of their apps is that they
make a user’s life easier. These apps offer simple ways to find
bargains, keep track of accounts, or locate the nearest shop or ATM.
2. Make it interactive.
If people interact with your brand on their phone, they’ll
develop a relationship with it. Nike has an app called NikeWomen Training Club
that does this well. It lets users customize their workouts, access videos, and
invite friends to compete.
3. Make it entertaining.
Amuse people and they tend to feel good about your brand. Coca-Cola’s
Spin the Coke app is a simple spin the bottle in digital form. Swipe your
finger across the screen and the Coke bottle spins. One customer reviewer on
the Apple’s app store says he and his roommate use it every night to
decide who takes out the trash.
4. Make it a mixture.
Kraft's iFood Assistant
Many brands take
this route, combining utility and interactivity. Kraft’s iFood
Assistant, for instance, suggests recipes, lets users upload their own and
share them, and then helps users create a shopping list.
5. Make it free.
For now, you are better off considering the
development costs as marketing expenses. There’s just no way
around it: Charge even $1 for your app, and people will hesitate before trying
it. Go free, so you can go big.
More on BNET:
- Want to Revolutionize Advertising? There's an App for That.
- How to Innovate Like Apple
- The 5 Inviolable Rules of Branding