This is the sixth article in a seven-part series outlining best-practices and advice for leveraging mobile apps for your business. To read part five, click here.

Whether it’s a purchased or a custom-built app, failure to calculate its potential for engagement from the very start of the process is a sure-fire way to hamstring a mobile-app strategy, says Brent Hieggelke, chief mobile evangelist at Urban Airship. “Businesses must focus on transforming users from interested downloaders to opted-in users. We’ve coined the term ‘APPathy’ to describe how 70 percent of opt-in users abandon or delete an app within 30 days of downloading it.” Other mistakes Hieggelke sees businesses making in this area include trying to replicate websites in app form without optimizing features to be streamlined for smaller screens and on-the-go attention spans, and creating “needy” apps that send too many self-serving notifications.

Perhaps the biggest mistake businesses need to avoid when it comes to mobile app development is succumbing to the siren song of the app store in the absence of a solid business case for being there—either as a downloader or an uploader. While it’s true that almost any business is likely to find mobile apps it can use at the major app stores, the need to be met should be identified before the shopping trip commences. Likewise, “There are millions of mobile applications in the app store, but that doesn’t mean you have to be there, too,” says David Calabrese, president of STRV, which has developed more than 200 mobile apps for clients.

Part 7: What Mobile Apps Can Do For Your Business - CRS Technology Consultants