Planning Your App’s International Expansion

Launching a mobile app in a new market can be a daunting task, but it's also an incredibly rewarding one. With careful planning and execution, you can successfully launch your app in a new market and reach a whole new audience of potential users, and in this article, I’ll give you six steps that will bring your app to new horizons.

Step 1. Conduct Extensive Market Research

The first step is to do your research. You need to understand the market you're targeting, including demographics, competition, as well as local customs and regulations.

Here is a list of the most important questions you need to answer about the local market, focusing on four distinct aspects of your business:

• Users.

  • About the opportunity size. What is the “real” size of opportunity of your potential customers’ demographics? Are there any technology requirements for your product (smartphones, financial cards, etc.)?

  • And about their behaviors and preferences. What's the closest adjacent user behavior to your product? Are the users already comfortable adopting your product or will you need to educate them?

    
    

• Partners.

  • About the partner ecosystem. What is the value chain of the partners you need to work with? Who has the power?

  • About the industry concentration. How concentrated are the partner industries? (Since a more fragmented industry of partners will make launching your product harder, but, in the long run, it may reduce the potential for competition.)

  • About lighthouse partners. Who are the best lighthouse partners to launch with?

  • And about contracts and commercial arrangements. What type of commercial arrangements will you need to make?

    
    

• Competitors. Are there existing competitors in the market? Are there competitors offering adjacent services who may decide to enter your space later?

  
  

• Regulators or non-governmental organizations.

  • Regulations. Are there any local regulations or regulators you need to be aware of? What is their objective and will these objectives create tailwinds or headwinds for your product?
  • Industry bodies. Are there any industry bodies or NGOs that will help or try to restrict your entry?

Step 2. Clear Any Regulatory Requirements (Optional)

Sometimes, digital platforms require a regulatory or legal review to ensure the app is compliant. This may involve engagement with regulators or local industry bodies and, in any case, should involve the local legal council offering an opinion on whether your platform conforms to any applicable regulations. It may also include perspectives on the current objectives of the regulators, which may either boost or hinder your product.

Examples include the EU’s personal data protection law, GDPR, and payment requirements such as Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) under the second Payment Services Directive.

Step 3. Localize Your App

If you're launching your app in a country where a different language is spoken, it's important to localize your app. The biggest goal of localization is to expand the access and reach of your product to as many users in that market as possible, especially if there are nuances in local user behaviors that would otherwise restrict the number of potential users. It also helps you build trust with the users by showing that you've taken time to understand their culture and needs.

What should NOT be a focus is to develop a new app or set of features because it's likely the burden of developing and managing those features will be too costly.

Typical scenarios for localization are:

• Local infrastructure. An example would be local card networks, such as Carte Bancaire in France or Bancomat in Italy.
• User preferences or behaviors. For example, in Germany, your users may have up to 8 different types of payment options.
• Language localization. This way you will provide your international audience with clear content that speaks to them on a cultural level.

For example, you are launching a digital payment wallet in a new country. For this, you need to assess what local payment products should be incorporated into your platform. This will allow you to enable the largest number of users.

Step 4: Partner with Local Businesses

Beyond the need to partner to “make the app work”, leveraging partners’ surfaces (e.g. co-marketing your product in local partners’ channels) during the market launch is a cost-effective way to reach your target user base.

You will need to provide incentives to the partners, but if the incentives are correctly aligned, you can create a local ecosystem of partners to help push your growth. When you partner with local businesses, make sure to offer them something in return, such as a free trial of your app or a commission on sales.

In a digital wallet example, for this step, you could partner up both with global card networks and local card issuers to support co-marketing campaigns.

Step 5: Launch with Success

Prior to the full launch, do a soft launch, with a small set of users, to make sure everything is working properly and there are no unforeseen mistakes caused by you not tailoring for local cultural or user nuances.

When launching, you at least need to make sure your app is discoverable through app stores (Apple, Google) and search engines (SEO).

Finally, several weeks after the launch, when your app platform is confirmed to be stable and if you have the funds, it's important to amplify positive responses through third-party marketing (pay-per-click), social media, and partner marketing (see above).

Step 6: Monitor Your Results

Once you launch your app in a new market, it's important to monitor your results and make adjustments as needed. Track the app's downloads, usage, and revenue, and use this data to improve your marketing campaign and make sure your app is meeting the needs of the local market. It’s essential for the app’s success, as by tracking the data, you can identify what works and what doesn’t.

To conclude, expanding an app to new markets requires careful planning, research, and adaptability to overcome challenges such as cultural differences, local regulations, and competition. So, be sure to follow the steps I’ve outlined in this article: with the right approach and mindset, international expansion will bring you new and exciting opportunities.