The most important part in considering a development strategy for your Social Media or Messaging Application is to think about the features you wish to include. A common thinking that a lot of “Appreneurs” have is to load up the application with unlimited features right at the first launch. They do it assuming that this will help the application go viral. It won’t and here’s why.
While this seems to be a wise approach on the surface, including a list of unlimited features such as secret chat, single chat, group chat, liking, sharing, commenting, ephemeral image messaging, video sharing, social e-commerce etc. in one app since its first launch, this actually confuses new users and causes them to abandon the application. There is only one explanation for this behaviour, the primary function of the application doesn’t shine out quickly and clearly amidst the jillion features. We now live in an age of instant gratification – users typically interact with an average of only 7 applications per month. If your users can’t instantly figure out why your app is useful or fun, they will uninstall it.
A more sensible strategy :
1. Select a feature or model – make sure this selection is driven by a market research and reliable data.
2. Build and test it perfectly.
3. Establish a loyal user base
4. Add new features (if necessary)
In other words, a MVP or Minimum Viable Product is what you need to go to the market and test the waters. This helps you figure out the right approach and get back to the drawing board quickly before the whole ship goes down.
Once your user base is established, releasing new features at defined intervals will not only help you engage with your community, but also reflect your brand’s efforts at bringing something new to the table frequently.
For Social Media & Messaging Apps, choosing a primary communication model is imperative to define your strategy. There are a variety of models that can inspire you:
The Initial Snapchat Model: Ephemeral Image & Video Messaging
Snapchat lets users directly share content (photos, videos, messages) with another user on a one-on-one basis. The model is aimed at communicating content to a closed set of people for a fragment of time that the sender can decide.
The Initial Instagram Model: Chronological Content
Instagram lets users share content through a chronological news feed which is curated by the users themselves. Users can follow other users and each time someone posts an image or video, all the users following him/her see it on their news feed. For each of these posts users can like and comment.
The WhatsApp Model: Pure Messaging Model
The WhastApp Model is essentially a substitute for the conventional sms, with a lot of additional functionalities. User can send text, image, video, audio, location to a single user, broadcast them to multiple users at the same time, or form a group of users to share the content with. Users can be added to your WhatsApp contact list as soon as you add them to your mobile contact list, provided they are on WhatsApp as well.
Snapchat, Instagram, and WhatsApp have come a long way since their inception, with voice call, video call, business profiles, advertising, Giphy, doodle board, and what not, but they all started out with one core functionality, a MVP, that made them shine out. And they kept innovating at regular intervals keeping the users and the investors interested in their applications at all times.
Conclusion
Social media and messaging applications are taking the world by storm and so are the mobile applications using social media elements in their applications to target the community and earn big dollars.
If you too wish to make a Mobile Application like Instagram, WhatsApp, or a multivendor social e-commerce like Fancy, feel free to reach out to us at [email protected] or visit our website app products and check our cool applications to find the right mobile app script for your business.
