How to Develop a Social Media App

Is there room in the market for another social media app? As a leading social media app development company, we believe the answer is a resounding yes!

While this question preoccupies startup founders contemplating a new app in the flooded social media landscape, there’s always room for innovative ideas and unique approaches. Threads, Meta’s latest success, answers with an echoing yes, amassing 1 million users within an hour and outpacing other platforms. Threads had a competitive edge with Instagram’s amazing user base – a benefit not every app has.

So, is it still worthwhile to bet on social media app development without a major platform backing you? Absolutely!

Herein, we’ll discover why investing in social media app development is still a lucrative venture. The key questions this blog will answer:

• The unique opportunities that make launching a new social media app worthwhile
• Key steps to make sure your app stands out
• Crucial features to consider for social networking app development

Let’s dive deep and explore the best ways of social media app development to turn your idea into a successful business.

Here’s an overview of the process to create your own successful social media app:

Let’s unleash its potential the right way.

Step 1: Why to Create A Social Media App Profitable?

If you think the social media app market is up to the brink, remember industry mammoth like TikTok. The app was launched in 2016 when all the other social media apps were leading the race with billions of users. Thanks to unique ideas, the social media app successfully survived and thrived as the most valuable unicorn in 2023 with a market capital of $200 billion.

Surprisingly, people globally spend 2 hours and 31 minutes daily on social media. Considering the U.S, the average daily time spent on social media apps is 2 hours and 3 minutes, whereas Philippines takes the lead with an average time of 3 hours 53 minutes spent daily.

Why do we give you all these numbers? Because they are best representing reality. Moreover,  startups should consider developing social media app, here’s why:

Putting all this together, developing a social media app is a great idea as the market is full of potential users.

Step 2: Choose the Social Media Type

Before going into the nitty-gritty of social media app development, it’s important to understand the different kinds of social media apps. Comprehending this knowledge with a trusted social media app development company is crucial for carrying effective market and competitor research, laying the firm foundation for your social media app’s success.

Let’s understand some of the most trend-setting types of social media apps that inspire your next venture:

• Social Networking Apps

These types of apps leverage social networking app development to focus on connecting people and nurturing communities. Herein, users can share content like photos and videos and also engage in groups with shared interests.

Example: Facebook

• Media Sharing Networks:

These types of apps enable users to share some specific niche related content like photos or videos. They mirror social networking apps, but craft a subtle difference by focusing on a specific content format.

Example: YouTube, Instagram

• Audio-Based Social Apps

These types of social media apps facilitate rooms and discussion spaces using audio as a primary channel of communication. These apps allow thousands of users to have conversation in chat rooms or live rooms seamlessly and securely.

Example: Clubhouse

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• Discussion Forum Apps

These apps allow users to post questions, answers and be a part of discussions on endless topics, varying from specific niches to wider subjects.

Example: Quora, Reddit

• Content Sharing Apps

These kinds of social media apps help users discover and save creative ideas by organizing and sharing articles, links or even images within their created community.

Example: Pinterest

• User Review Apps

These types of apps allow users to share reviews of businesses, eateries, products, services and much more. These platforms are curated as trusted B2B platforms to attract new customers.

Example: Clutch, Yelp

• Blogging and Publishing Networks

As the name suggests, these platforms provide users an easy way to create and share blogs without creating a website of their own.

Example: Medium

• Social Dating Apps

Also known as relationship apps, these types of apps aim to connect users or help them find their match based on social interest, locations, religion, etc. A reliable dating app development company underlines the untapped potential this market holds.

Example: Tinder, Badoo

• Business-Community Based Apps

These types of social media apps let people with shared interests, topics, learning, professionalism come together to create communities enveloping specific topics.

These networks bring together people with shared interests, hobbies, or professional occupations, creating communities around specific topics.Example: LinkedIn

Example: LinkedIn

• Anonymous Social Networks

As the name suggests, these types of apps allow users to share content keeping their identity anonymous, yet promoting open and anonymous discussions.

Example: Ask.fm, Whisper

If you are still at square one, here’s a table with examples from each niche, along with mind-boggling numbers and features that define them.

Step 3: Get a Better Perspective With Target Audience Research

It’s crucial for startups and entrepreneurs alike to get feedback from their target audience for their social networking app. This process will allow startups to integrate features considering the real preferences and audience behavior.

So, instead of planning a social media app on mere assumptions, hold one-on-one user interviews. This will allow decision-makers to have a better idea of the unmet market gaps and solutions to address them. Not to forget, the early interaction with existing users helps in building a base of subscribers ready to embrace the app.

Interviews can be augmented with approaches like creating a user persona along with a customer journey map. Primarily, persona creation is an effective strategy where the typical characteristics of the users are brainstormed in an ad-hoc approach. Furthermore, a customer journey proves helpful by identifying the user’s behavior and gathering data for app improvement. An effective journey map includes persona, timeline, actions and expectations.

Step 4: Choose Basic and Advanced Features

Although social media apps target similar demographics, each portraying its Unique Value Proposition and use cases. For example, TikTok attracts users who enjoy funny and short-videos, whereas Instagram thrives among lifestyle influencers.

Regardless of these differences, there are a handful of features that a trusted social media app development company considers to develop an app.

• Sign In & Onboarding Tutorial

Users should be able to easily sign up or register with options like email, mobile number, often followed by an onboarding tutorial to help them seamlessly navigate the app’s features.

•  Profile Creation

Social in its true color, the app should provide tools for users to create personalized profiles that reflect their preferences and how they interact with content.

• Content Feed

Content feed is the focal point of your social media app, catering tailored content for user’s interests, keeping them engaged and coming back for more.

• Search Feature

A dynamic search functionality allows users to easily find relevant content, people or groups on the platform.

• Chat

A little aside from the app’s content feed functionality, chat features allow users to connect through text, voices, photos or videos.

• Content Creation Tools

There’s no doubt, content drives social media. Thus, it’s equally important to provide users easy-to-use tools to craft and share experiences in texts, images or videos.

• Push Notifications

Social media app developers must integrate this feature when creating social media apps to make sure users stay engaged. Plus, it notifies them to messages, reactions and freshly added content that is of their interest.

• 3rd Party Social Integration

Most of the users are active on multiple social media platforms, thus it’s important to integrate with other social media networks allowing easy content sharing and simultaneously widens the reach.

Advanced Users-Loving Features with Innovative Technologies

Enhance your social media app with features that captivate users and set you apart. Consider integrating:

• Augmented Reality and Face Filters:

Users love fun and beauty filters, as seen with Instagram and Snapchat. These engaging features add a playful touch to your app.

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• Artificial Intelligence Chatbots:

Ideal for apps targeting business audiences, AI chatbots can assist with customer interactions and product promotions.

• Live Streaming:

Incorporating live streaming can enrich your app, following the trend of platforms that offer real-time video capabilities.

• Ephemeral Content:

Popularized by Snapchat and Instagram Stories, this feature allows content to disappear after a set time, adding a dynamic element to your app.

• Buyable Button:

Inspired by Pinterest’s buyable pins, integrating a purchase option directly within your app can streamline the shopping experience and drive revenue.

• Short Video Content:

With short videos becoming increasingly popular, especially among Generation Z, this feature caters to users’ preference for brief, engaging content.

These innovative features can make your social media app more engaging and competitive in the market.

Step 5: Select a Profitable Business Model for Your App

The key question isn’t just about how to create a social media app, but how to make it profitable.

Thankfully, even free apps generate behemoth revenue. To help you kickstart, here are some pocketed monetization strategies to consider:

• Freemium Model

As the name suggests, this monetization model offers free access to basic features, whereas premium features are available through paid subscriptions. LinkedIn is an excerpt adhering to this approach by allowing users to access basic features for no-cost while advanced features like job recommendations, inMail, and educational courses through paid plans.

• Ads

Social media trailblazers like Facebook, Instagram and TikTok use their endless user base to make money through advertisement. They gather user data – like gender, age, demographic and interests – to deliver highly targeted ads to the right audience at the right time crafting as the bridge between user and brand.

TikTok is a prime example of how effective this business model can be.

Recommendation: Understand Why TikTok is a Great App Idea? 

• In-app Purchases

Some social media apps generate revenue by providing in-app purchases, like stickers, filters or some other form of enhancements. This allows users to improve their experience while creating a passive revenue stream for the app.

In essence, an experienced social media app development company will help you pick the right business models to turn your once thought idea into a profitable venture.

Step 6: Engage with a User-Friendly and Intuitive Design

This is an inevitable aspect of social media app development services. After all, user experience will determine the success or failure of the app. Thus, startups must have a good understanding of user expectations and craft the app accordingly.

In essence, minimal is the new maximum for social media apps. Social media apps should make sure their app is visually engaging, as well as functional. A clustered and poorly designed interface will not just turn off potential users, rather leave an everlasting impression of ignoring mobile optimization, hidden navigation, slow load times,etc.

Instead, startups like you should collaborate with your social networking app development team to focus on the group to offer value-added features. The objective is to develop a digital ecosystem that pleases every stakeholder engaging with the app. For example, Facebook has cracked the tough nut with its social feed for users but simultaneously offers an extensive array of tools for publishers, content creators and advertisers.

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Step 7: Determine the Best Development Option

To turn your social media app idea into a successful fable, all you need is expert assistance. You have handful of options:

• Freelance Developers

This may seem to be a cost-effective choice, but in reality it’s much more than what’s anticipated. You have to handle project management, communication, and coordination of multiple freelancers – all on your own. Besides, you must have strong management skills to ensure a cohesive team and successful project delivery, with no assurance of outcome.

• Social Media App Development Company

Hiring a professional social media development company proves to be more efficient and reliable. Experts in social app development services can easily manage all aspects of the project, from avoiding delays and ensuring scalability to delivering a polished final product. This option minimizes the need for micromanagement and offers a smoother development process.

Step 8: Choose the Tech Stack

Comprehending the technology behind the successful social media app development is crucial for developing one. The technology stack you’ll need solely depends on the platform you’re developing the apps for.

Here’s a breakdown of the technologies you might need for successful app development.

Step 9: Start the Development Process

In this stage, social media app developers focus on developing the app. You can choose to build apps for one platform like iOS or Android or even choose hybrid app development aiming for both.

Furthermore, quality assurance also plays a crucial role in social media app development, with conducting several tests – unit, integration, functional, and performance – to ensure your app is error-free and performs well under heavy usage.

Step 10: Measure and Analyze Results

Let’s explore some key metrics for mobile apps which are further categorized into two categories: User engagement and Revenue-focused KPIs.

User Engagement Metrics:

• Installations & Uninstalls: Measure how many users download or uninstalled your app to have a better understanding of user behavior and challenges.
• User Activation: Keep track when users become active, like posting or interacting with content.
• Retention & Churn: Retention shows how well your app engages users, while churn highlights when users stop using it.
• Session Duration: Tracks how long users engage with the app, portraying overall app appeal.

Revenue Metrics:

• Cost Per Install (CPI): Measures the cost of acquiring each app install.
• Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Analyzes the total cost of acquiring a new user, including ads and marketing.
• Burn Rate: Tracks how fast money is spent monthly on operations, crucial for startups.
• Average Revenue Per User (ARPU): This metric shows the average revenue generated per user, helping assess the app’s revenue model.

Step 11: Maintenance and Upgrades

The analytics collected during app analysis will help in identifying and understanding areas for improvement and guide future development. Social media app development is an ongoing journey with endless opportunities for growth and enhancement.

Finally…

Being all ears to the hype is not enough. Creating your social media app with a trusted social media app development company like Apptunix assists you in curating your own niche with an advantageous edge, given the industry’s vast popularity and revenue potential.

If you still feel baffled or want to develop a platform that attracts millions of users worldwide, contact our social media developers team. We’ll guide you through every step of the development process.