The soaring number of smart phone and tablet subscribers—who are increasingly relying on their handheld devices to shop, consume media and network—are making mobile apps the killer tool in a seller’s arsenal. Apps are coveted for being versatile enough to facilitate m-commerce as well as to run branding campaigns. Munesh Thusoo, brand manager for WagonR, a Maruti Suzuki model, concurs that mobiles are a potent medium that cannot be ignored—especially in urban areas. “But sending SMSs en masse is passé. Users expect businesses to engage with them more personally in novel, interesting ways.” That’s precisely where apps play a role.
Maruti Suzuki’s WagonR re-launch promotion plan hinged on a car racing game app that brought out the features of the new model—colours, control and mileage—to potential clients in airport lounges, malls and other commercial establishments. Users entering these premises were invited to turn on their bluetooth to receive free entertainment, a brochure, an EMI calculator, and a test drive offer to boot. The WagonR app had that killer quality! It generated over 4,000 leads for the company. Even though creating a killer app is no rocket science, it involves including a few essential features. Follow these guidelines to make your own and whip up a storm where it’s all happening.

Get Killer Features

Utility: Utility is a defining quality of a killer app. In that, aim for sustained value. Narasimha Suresh, founder andCEO, TELiBrahma, a company specialising in mobile interactions, explains why,“If a consumer makes the effort of downloading an app, the enterprise must reward him by maximising the value.”
Of course, apps vary in the kind of utility they satisfy. “Apps at the lower end of the value chain fulfil a basic need,” says Prashant Singh, senior manager, Alliances, Spice Labs. A case in point is a to-do list or a calendar app. Since there is little to choose between such apps from different providers, they are usually bundled with the device. “Killer apps top the value chain and iconic apps mostly create and satisfy a new need—quite like the way micro blogging app Twitter has revolutionised communication strategies,” he adds. For example, runaway successes such as the Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja apps are new-age entertainment. Usability: Usability denotes ease-of-use, that is, effortless processes. Singh says, “Killer apps are simple and hence, sticky. Users inadvertently get hooked on to them.” Stickiness as an “attraction”, Singh believes, kicks in when the app reaches the first 10,000 users—because by then, meaningful feedback can be gleaned and an iterative process of actioning user suggestions can commence. More and more, developers also conduct extensive usability tests prior to launching an app. Suggestions received at this stage could include requests to simplify the text on some screens or to adjust the colour shades in the user interface to enhance readability.

The “go viral” quality: “The ability to go viral is the holy grail of killer apps,” opines Singh. To go viral, an app must catch on with users. This happens best when user engagement is built into the app design. Understanding people psychology, and why they would share or talk about the app is key to getting this right. WagonR’s Munesh says their app went viral because users were given the option to upload their game scores to social media. “It created the right noise for the app,” he says.

Maximise App Spends

Make the concept clear: “The success of a mobile app depends on its concept and design,” says Suresh. Each killer app starts with a great idea which is then built upon. As a rule of thumb, games provide a rich user experience and hence deepen brand recall. This explains the huge demand for conceptual games.
While developing apps that facilitate serious business, it’s necessary to list out the utility that customers most need—like Indiabulls’ state-of-the-art Mobile Power (MPIB), a trading app developed to help their customers access their portfolio. Divyesh Shah, CEO, Indiabulls Securities, says, “We identified our target audience and conceptualised this app to their needs.” The MPIB’s proposed functions include allowing customers to access portfolio updates, get real-time values of their investments while on-the-go, access ongoing market events, get live stock quotes, and trade on the NSE and BSE, in cash and derivatives. Indiabulls negotiated through that by devising a two-step authentication check involving a transaction password and RSA token.

Identify the right developer: It makes sense to build apps in-house if the existing IT department has the relevant core competencies. Else, the process should be outsourced. Thusoo favours working with external specialists since the mobile platform is an evolving medium and in-house specialist mobile programers are a rarity. Besides, you can’t get into everything,” he says.
Be it the challenges of programing for multiple phone models, network related issues, distribution or user experience issues; experienced developers can bring valuable inputs to the table. “IT departments are usually not geared up to take on a product development role. They are best suited to keeping the wheel moving, not to inventing the wheel,” adds Singh. Also, in-house programers may not be able to think beyond existing processes—in terms of optimising systems and adopting best practices. A “not invented here” outlook can limit the scope of the app, and reduce maximising the returns. Often, apps developed in-house are prone to getting stuck because of insufficient budgets or because the internal product champion is re-allocated, and moved to fight other fires.

Fix targets: While apps are a great way to drive sales, the IT strategy (and spend) should best be tied with business results by establishing the returns expected from the investment in terms of measureable indicators—such as leads or sales. Conveying these targets to the developer in advance allows appropriate reports to be generated as the app is put to use.Telibrahma provided Maruti Suzuki detailed activity metrics to support the creative spend on the WagonR re-launch campaign. “We received the number of downloads acation,” says Thusoo.
At IndiaBulls, the success of the enriched mobile trading platform is being measured in terms of spiralling trading volumes and the increasing number of clients who are migrating from the web-based application to MPIB.

Back up the App

The digital age is making a compelling case for businesses to lean on apps to reach out to customers and grow sales. The formula for the runaway success of an app extends beyond its features. Apps facilitating sales may necessitate the enterprise to strengthen back-end processes. That’s precisely what IndiaBulls did when launching MPIB—to make sure that customers receive world class services.
From a technical point of view, Shah of IndiaBulls says the Risk Management System and Order Routing Engine were rigorously tested to certify their robustness and platform independent features. Also, collaborations were entered into with mobile application download portals to enlist MPIB as a download option. Service provisions included staff training big-time. “Customer sales and support teams as well as back-office operations staff were trained on MPIB and provided with extensive product information to ensure a smooth launch and superior customer services.”
Beyond doubt, killer apps can amp up your business. Backing up the app with that personal touch, however, can help it fire with the right intensity.

Get more ideas

Apps can help spread awareness about a product or push sales. Get the lowdown on two more such killer apps:

Product awareness app: Annapurna Zinda Dil (AZD) app is a Telibrahma creation to help spread awareness about Annapurna, Unilever’s low sodium salt brand among target consumers—women in the 24 to 35 age group in major metros. The app includes a nifty Heart Age Calculator tool to evaluate the health quotient of users’ lifestyles. It also delivers health tips and runs contests to drum up user engagement. Consumers can refer the app to their friends and share their feedback on social media as well. AZD was integrated with Unilever’s print ad campaign—readers were prompted to capture the code from the ad to receive the app on their mobiles. Over 50,000 AR engagements and more than 3 lakh downloads via BluFi happened across a period of two months.

Sales promotion app: Tesco Finder, a free Tesco store and product-finding iPhone application, is a creation of the in-house mobile development team of retail giant Tesco. Tesco Finder notched downloads in excess of one million in no time after it was launched in 2010. It allows users (in UK) to look-up the nearest Tesco store and create shopping lists. Once inside a store, the app guides shoppers to the alleys which stock items on their shopping list, or the discounts that the particular store is running. http://www.techfortesco.com/tescofinder/Welcome_to_Tesco_Finder.html

User-generated videos
While killer apps are a “cool” way to bring in more revenue, user-generated videos are also putting technology at the core of business promotion strategies. Amateur videos shot by product users are redefining the meaning of ‘user testimonial’ and ‘word-of-mouth advertising’. Such online videos garner many eyeballs and generate considerable interest in a product. If the content goes viral, the outcome can be runaway sales. Indeed, satisfied users are the best evangelists, as US-based NYX Cosmetics is experiencing. NYX Cosmetics avidly makes use of social media to communicate with clients. Plus, it is one of the most visible beauty brands on YouTube with over 4,00,000 user-generated video uploads. Amateur product usage videos could work wonders in India, which ranks second globally in terms of YouTube video uploads.