A New Hat for Indie Mobile App Developers
Perhaps you have just finished an exhaustive training course in developing premium mobile apps or mobile-based VR apps, skilling up in: Advanced Java / ObjectiveC & Swift, a plethora of new libraries, UI/UX and Material Design, automated build tools, versioning, publishing and so on.
Or perhaps you have been an active mobile developer for a while, both in the indie and enterprise spaces.
While studying the app store trends, even a cursory glance at basic high-level statistics, shows a steady increase in the number of apps in the various apps stores .
The demand for mobile developers continues to increase as mobile applications positively disrupt various daily operations both on the business and personal fronts. In response, the mobile developer pool has also been increasing steadily as online education disrupts the way we learn while also reducing a student’s cost of investment. The year 2016 saw nearly 58 million students registered in at least one online course despite access to content lying largely behind a paywall.
As more app offerings vie for space on user devices in an increasingly competitive market space, how does a developer [especially an indie developer] remain relevant and competitive?
While a great vision, a great set of app features, and a seamless user-experience continue to form the backbone of an app,
the longevity and financial success of a good app, now more than ever before, lies in getting the word out.
Indie developers especially are in dire need of building up and executing an arsenal of strategies across the entire digital marketing landscape to stay relevant and competitive in this app space. Understanding the digital market, and building a large user base are key to surviving the harsh reality of only about 0.01 percent of applications becoming a runaway success.
A program such as the Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree is designed to impart a broad-based understanding of the whole digital marketing ecosystem. Coupled with some great free courses such as: App Marketing by Google and App Monetization by Google from the Tech Entrepreneur offerings, this course stands poised to equip developers with an understanding of the market they are about to enter and knowledge on how they would optimise digital marketing of their products across the Publishing, Sharing, Messaging, Discussing, Collaborating, and Networking spheres. The following are some of the key features that appealed to me:
1. Access to Premium Digital Content
Content sourced from world-class instructors in collaboration with giants in the industry along with various hiring partners builds confidence in the efficacy of the program.
In my opinion, going by prior experience, the content is designed to pique a student’s curiosity that is essential to effective learning, while ensuring the transference of the understanding of key concepts.
The right aid at crucial points during learning helps in making the learning experience more manageable, especially when learning across a flexible schedule.
These include:
- Project Reviews & Feedback
- Classroom Mentors
- Access to Coaches via 1:1 Appointments
- Access to Student Forums / Forum Mentors
- Additional Career Guidance Projects on building a Resume, GitHub Profile , LinkedIn Profile.
2. Graduating with a Workable Portfolio
Projects are designed to be individually attempted by students and iteratively-reviewed by vetted experts with the aim to: certify that a submission meets a set of requirements or to guide the student with personal feedback to help in achieving the required results.
This approach helps a student along the way, contributing to the building up of a basic Digital Marketing Portfolio.
Being both a student and a mentor for various programmes at Udacity, this is one of the most important pieces of value delivered by the Nanodegree.
3. Core Concepts Covered
- Organisation and planning of a marketing approach in B2B, B2C contexts.
- Identifying Target Audiences, Content Marketing Strategy and Impact Assessment.
- Social Media Platforms and how to structure content for each platform.
- Targeted Advertising on a social medial platform
- Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
- Email Marketing
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM) with Adwords
- Measuring & Optimising results with Google Adwords
I have recently signed up for this program and await commencement on the the 22nd of March. Check out Udacity Digital Marketing Nanodegree for more information on the courses, and projects that are covered as part of this program. I hope to see you on the forums!
*******************************************************************Photo Credit: txmx 2 via photopin(license)
