How To Design Social Media Apps? 

Social media platforms have become powerful weapons for businesses to stay on the top of the minds of consumers. Do you know that 4.9 billion people globally use social media? This is expected to increase to 5.85 billion users by 2027. 

Such startling statistics indicate that social media users have been increasing at a faster rate because of the penetration of 5G technology. 

It signifies the increasing popularity and growth of social media platforms. So, if your business vision is to shine and grow your business, no matter how simple or complex your app idea is, this guide is for you. 

In this blog, we’ll learn about the steps involved in social media app development. 

Checklist to create a social media app  

Let’s discuss steps in detail to help you create a stunning social media app-  

1. Define the clear purpose of developing an app  

The first step involved in designing the social media app is knowing the purpose of your app.  

Do you want to create a platform for people to share photos/videos, is it for networking with others or something else? 

A clear app vision guides you through the development process. Once you get an idea of what you want, the next thing is to perform audience and competitor research. 

2. Audience and competitor research  

Figure out who is the target audience for your app. Know the minute details about them such as age, behavior pattern, location, interests and preferences, etc. 

Know which type of people you want to serve such as working professionals or teenagers. Audience analysis is important because serving everyone means serving no one. 

You can gain insights into the audience by conducting one-on-one surveys, performing focus group interviews, etc. You can design the MVP for an app (a beta version) to gain audience feedback, find out their preferences, and identify where they are interacting most. 

But the research process doesn’t end here.  

Doing competitor analysis of the app is super important as you’re not competing alone in the market. Try out competitor apps and see what features you love the most and what they missed. 

Then identify the unique selling proposition of the competitors, what makes them stand out from others and what’re the appealing features of their app.  

3. Determine which type of social media app you want to create 

You need to craft a USP to create a standout app. A USP can be a unique feature that makes the app more enticing or an augmented reality feature that engages with your customers. 

It can be anything that differentiates your app from hundreds of competitors. If your social media app lacks USP, all your marketing efforts will go flat and unnoticed.  

Instagram, a leading and the most successful social media app today was launched with a unique selling proposition that makes it different from other apps-  

• The exciting features it introduces for users such as stories, reels, live video. 
• It was merely a photo-sharing platform to now an e-commerce platform. 
• The user experience is intuitive enabling users to create content, upload it, and share it with their community. 
• It keeps on rolling in new features every then and now depending on the customer. preferences. Its major focus is to provide a better UI/UX to its target audience and provide better customer support when needed.  

Now, the ball is in your court as you need to identify something that gauges your audience’s attention.  

Is it better privacy or a handful of features or best-in-class customer support? What’s that? 

4. Create an engaging UI/UX design 

We’re living in an attention economy and people do mindless scrolling on social media. The only way to glue your audience’s eyes is by designing visually appealing user interfaces that keep them hooked for longer. 

Do you wonder what the best social media apps have in common? Apps like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube have highly addictive and seamless UI that increases audience engagement on the app. 

Also, the color, design, and typography you use in your app should align with your target audience preferences and match your brand identity. 

The app design you create should not be about cluttering the user interface and complicating the user journey. Rather, create a design that is user-friendly, and easy to use, and elements should be logically organized on the app.  

5. Create an MVP 

Once you identify a relevant demand for social media apps in the market. 

Go with the basic version of an app known as the Minimum viable product (MVP) which contains basic features and functionalities to test whether users like your app. What do they expect from you? 

Facebook, the leading social media giant, started with MVP before they designed a fully-fledged digital product. 

The company started an app with a basic college directory website for university students at Harward. Later, they created a full version of the website, made it globally accessible for people, and named it a social media platform.  

So, get your product out in the market and seek feedback from users.  

6. Develop an app 

The next step involved is creating the social media app and finding a reliable mobile app development company to convert your app vision into reality.  

It depends on whether you want to create a social media app for both platforms (Android and iOS) separately. If you want to save your development cost, then it’s better to go with cross-platform app development.  

It all depends on where your target audience is mostly active. It all boils down to market research. 

Here, the development team will design the front-end and back-end side of things.   

7. Conduct a thorough testing of the app  

Leaving the application aside is a one-way process. The Q/A team needs to perform rigorous testing of the app to ensure it is bug-free and works flawlessly across all platforms.  

Testers will conduct functional testing of the app to spot the bugs and errors otherwise it increases the bounce rate. 

8. Maintenance and support 

After you release the social media application, it’s time for you to ensure that your app remains updated all the time if the new updates are rolling out. 

Collaborate with the mobile app development team to provide continuous support and maintenance to keep your app running all the time. 

Wrapping up  

Building a social media app isn’t so tough, but following the above-mentioned steps can help you scale your app idea. No doubt, the social media app development industry has become saturated but there’s always a scope for differentiation.  

Of course, you can’t stop the competition, but you can create a visually appealing and user-friendly application that keeps your user’s sticky. Once you find that people are glued to the app, you monetize the app content and charge them money.