How to do market research for your app?

You have a brilliant app idea, but you're not sure if people will pay you for it. So, what do you do? How do you figure out if there's anyone willing to pay for the app that you plan to build?

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Conduct market research!

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Now, where is this market and how do you really find the data you need?

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That's exactly what we'll answer in this post. We'll be sharing a solid action plan that'll help you measure the success potential of your app idea. So, take notes as you read through!

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Practically speaking, there are several stages of market research for an app. You'll find yourself hunting for data that validates your efforts every 10 minutes of progress. You would want a surety that you're working on the right thing.

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Yep, that happens. And that's what drives most startup founders crazy. 😅

So, just beware, and don't let it get to your head. As long as you're following the steps given below, know that you ARE doing the right thing.

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Now, allow us to organize the process for you.

There are two major stages of research when creating an app. These include:

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Stage of Research

Purpose

Primary

• Confirms if there's a market for your app idea

• Helps measure saturation in the industry

• Helps determine how much investment you would require & what profits you can expect

Secondary

• Bridges the gap between you and your ideal customer

• Uncovers marketing & sales opportunities

• Outsmarts competitors

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Primary Research

This stage of research comes before you start the work. Here's how to go about it:

Step 1: Validate your App Idea

Validating your app idea is necessary so as to ensure a definite return on investment.

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We recommend beginning the process by creating a draft document. Pick a planner tool, like Google Docs, Microsoft Word, Notion, Excel, or even a pen & paper. Whatever works best for you!

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Next, answer the following questions:

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• What is the problem your app solves?
• Why is the problem important?
• Are there any alternate solutions existing already? And if so, what modifications or enhancements are you offering in your app?

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Example

App Idea: Babysitter App 👶

• What is the problem the app solves: Helps parents find reliable and trustworthy babysitters for their children.
• Why is the problem important: The safety & well-being of children is at risk while parents are away.
• Are there any existing solutions: UrbanSitter, Care.com, etc.
• What modifications does the app offer: Super urgent bookings.

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Once done, create a questionnaire for your potential users and conduct surveys.

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How to do that?

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1. Figure out where your potential users are hanging out. This could be online platforms (like Twitter, Instagram, and specific forums) or physical places (like parks and shopping malls).

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2. Create a set of survey questions and get answers from your potential app users. It could be as simple as posting a question in a relevant Facebook group or as elaborate as conducting an event. Here are some different ways to survey your potential market.

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3. Analyze results. At this point, you are only aiming for 50% approval. If 50 out of 100 people find your solution promising and agree that they'd pay for it, it's time to move forward!

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⚡ Recreate Tip: Difficulty in locating potential users indicates a smaller market size, which means a higher marketing difficulty. You will have to spend more on marketing to scale your business in the future.

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Note that there's no such thing as zero need or no need - unless you plan to introduce something like No Phone. :)

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It's possible to create a need for your product, but that demands additional time and budget. Sometimes the budget required for 'creating the need for your product' could be 2x your product development budget. It's clearly a bad deal.

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Step 2: Figure Out the User's Persona

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By now you have an idea about the profile of potential app users. It's time to get to know them better - so you can develop an app they are eager to use.

Gather data about the people who answered your questions in the last step. Figure out the following details about these people:

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• Name
• Occupation
• Age
• Gender
• Salary
• Personality Traits
• Education Level
• Pain Points
• Race or Ethnicity
• Professional Goals
• Personal Goals
• Experience with Technology
• Prefered Social Media Platforms
• Professional Obstacles
• Potential Objections

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If you send out another survey to potential users asking for all these details, and they send back a completely honestly answered survey - you're in luck. You can hop onto the 4th step.

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But practically speaking, data collection is hardly ever that smooth. Read the next step to learn how you can collect these details to create a user persona.

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Note that a user persona is a semi-fictional representation of a typical user of your app. Meaning, you create a persona that does not originally exist in the form of an actual person. But its details are inspired by real data, analytics, and user testing.  The purpose of creating a user persona is to determine the end user's behavior and how they interact with your app.

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Step 3: Pick the Right Research Method

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There are three ways to research your market and find data about your potential users:

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• Social media listening
• Using online data tools
• Phone or in-person interviews

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Social media listening basically refers to spending time on platforms where your target audience is and observing their behavior. You can follow discussions going on about your relevant niche or check out posts of thought-leaders in that niche. The comments and engagement on such posts are valuable indicators of market size, pain points, interests, etc.

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Online tools, on the other hand, include tools like Google Trends, Statista, Business of Apps, and Data.ai. Use these to investigate and understand industry trends. We recommend searching for the following:

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• The alternate solution used by your target audience currently (a.k.a your competitors)
• Most common queries of your target audience with respect to your app’s niche
• The geographical area that holds the highest amount of your target audience
• Economical trends, lifestyle, and cultural preferences of this geographical area

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You can search for other things you consider relevant. But these four will provide you with foundational information to build a close-to-real user persona and estimate the demand for your app idea as accurately as possible.

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As far as phone and in-person interviews are concerned, these data sources are gold. But also, rare. There’s a very low chance that strangers who belong to your target market will agree to a phone call or in-person interview unless you’re incredibly persuasive. So, if you get a chance to do this, draft a set of well-researched questions and acquire live input from them. Note that your friends, family, and co-workers do not qualify for this data collection method.

Step 4: Conduct a Competitor Analysis

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Technically, the competitor analysis has been a part of your research since the first step. When you were validating your app idea, you considered the ‘alternate solutions’ that your target audience is currently using. And these alternate solutions are basically your competitors.

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Now, it’s time to analyze these competitors in deeper detail. The purpose of conducting a competitor analysis is to figure out the ‘gap’ in the market. If you know the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors, you can identify the areas where competitors are failing to satisfy the audience. Use this information to build onto your USP (i.e., unique selling point).

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For example, let’s say you’re building an Uber clone app. If you study Uber’s consumer base, you’d uncover lots of negative reviews regarding cab drivers' behavior. You can address this issue by monitoring cab drivers during rides. In this way, you’d be offering increased safety to potential users for the same rates. This increases business opportunities for you.

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But how to conduct competitor analysis for an app?

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Here’s how:

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1. Locate your top 3-5 competitors. You can find them via a Google search or market research tools like Ubersuggest, Spyfu, Buzzsumo, etc. If you’re searching via Google, simply type the following and hit enter: Best Apps for X. Replace X with the problem you solve. For example: Best Apps for Searching Recipes. If you have a location-specific app idea, search for competitors in your local vicinity (Best Apps for X in Y). Replace Y with your target area.

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2. Once you have located these competitors, investigate and find the following about them:

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1. Size of current customer base
2. Market share and annual/monthly revenue
3. Team size and top talent
4. Unique selling proposition
5. Selling prices
6. Web presence & search share
7. Rating & reviews
8. Weak points/flawed areas

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Note that you can find this data via LinkedIn, Google, and market research tools. Make sure you draft it all in the document you created initially.

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When you have this data, you will have a sound idea about the potential of your app idea, its viability, and the marketing challenges that await you.

Step 5: Settle for a Business Model

The last step of your primary research is to settle for a business model, i.e., how are you going to make money with the app plan to create?

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Generally, there are six business models for apps. These include:

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• Freemium
• In-app purchases
• Advertising & Sponsorships
• Paid Apps
• In-app affiliate marketing
• In-app lead generation.

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Study these app business models in depth and settle for one that guarantees profitability for you.

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At Recreate, we've suggested monetization strategies for almost every app-building lesson on the platform. So, if you're learning via Recreate, get your lead about the most suitable monetization strategy for your app right from the lesson page.

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Once you're through with your primary research and have all the data mentioned above, it's time to start working on your app.

Secondary Research

This stage of the research should be conducted once the app is in the making process. In fact, it should be revised regularly even after you've launched your app in the app store.

Step 1: Conduct a SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This analysis further helps explore the market and uncover selling opportunities.

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Here are the steps to conduct a SWOT analysis:

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1. Identify strengths: Identify the unique features and benefits of your app that set it apart from competitors. This could include things like ease of use, innovative features, or a loyal user base.

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2. Identify weaknesses: Identify areas where your app may be lacking compared to competitors. This could include things like limited functionality, a complicated user interface, or a lack of marketing.

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3. Identify opportunities: Identify potential opportunities in the market that your app can take advantage of. This could include things like changes in consumer behavior, emerging technologies, or new markets.

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4. Prioritize findings: Prioritize the findings of your SWOT analysis based on their potential impact on your app's success in the market. Focus on addressing weaknesses and threats while maximizing strengths and opportunities.

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5. Develop a strategy: Develop a strategy to address the findings of your SWOT analysis. This could include things like improving app functionality, increasing marketing efforts, or expanding into new markets.

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Step 2: Social Listening

Previously, you conducted social listening to get an idea. Now, you've to conduct social listening to get your hands on valuable numbers and constructive feedback from existing customers.

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We recommend conducting social listening when you launch the MVP of your product, as well as when the app is properly launched. Here's how to do it:

• Identify relevant keywords: Identify keywords related to your app and industry. These could include your app's name, your competitors' names, industry keywords, and related hashtags.

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• Monitor social media platforms: Use social media monitoring tools like Hootsuite, Sprout Social, or Brandwatch to monitor social media platforms for mentions of your keywords. This will enable you to track conversations related to your app and industry, identify trends, and gain insights into customer behavior and preferences.

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• Monitor app store reviews: Monitor app store reviews for feedback from your users. This will enable you to identify pain points, bugs, and areas for improvement in your app.

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• Monitor forums and blogs: Monitor forums and blogs related to your industry to identify trends, gather feedback, and engage with potential customers.

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• Analyze data: Analyze the data gathered from social listening to identify patterns and insights into customer behavior and preferences. Use these insights to inform product development, marketing, and customer engagement strategies.

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If your app is fully launched, you might want to incorporate 'responding to customer feedback' as well. Whether you receive positive feedback or negative feedback, respond promptly. This will help you to build a relationship with your customers and improve their experience with your app.

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Step 3: Tweak the App

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As you collect data using the above two methods, you will develop deeper understanding of your target market. You will be able to identify newer problems and offer effective solutions.

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So, make sure you continue to upgrade and improve your app as per the collected data. It will enhance user experience and provide a deeper penetration into the target market.

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Transform Your App Idea into Reality with Recreate

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Market research could take time. But app development won't - we promise.

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How so? Well, gone are the days when app development required months of effort and tens of thousands of dollars. Today, we have no-code and with this, you can turn your app idea into a fully functional product in less than three hours – and it won't cost you a cent in development fees!

…..not as much as traditional development fees at least.

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With Recreate, you can get started with no code right away. Our no code platform teaches how to create the app you've been dreaming of, without needing to hire a team of developers or learn how to code yourself. And the only fees you'll ever have to pay are our incredibly low platform fees.

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So, sign up for Recreate today and start bringing your app vision to life – quickly, easily, and without breaking the bank!

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