How Much Does it Cost To Develop a Social Media App?

 

Are you on your way to create a social media app that helps you attract users? If yes, then you are must be asking yourself how to get started with the social media app like Facebook and how much does it cost you?

According to the Clutch survey, the average cost to develop a mobile app is starting somewhere from $38,000 to $50,000 and can go up to any expensive price. Hold on, don’t be scared! The real-life statistics of app development depend on features, development process, tech stack and more.

So if you are all set to develop a social media app but chasing with the burning questions, then this comprehensive guide will answer all your questions in detail.

Here’s what we have covered in this blog:

• The growing social media app landscape with real market statistics
• Types of Social Media Apps To Consider
• Current Social Media Trends
• Advanced Features to Develop a Great Social Media App and Cost
• Monetizing Models to Make Profit From Social Media App
• Social Media App development cost
• Conclusion

Let’s discuss each point in details:

The Growing Social Media App Landscape With Real Market Statistics

Social media apps are taking the world by storm and keep growing enormously in future as well. While the social media app market is booming and opening doors with plenty of opportunities, therefore, as an entrepreneur, you can’t take a risk to miss the chance to be part of this fast-growing market.

In 2021 and beyond, hundreds of new ideas and opportunities can be shaped into brilliant social media apps. And by integrating the right technology in the app development, you can quickly transform your social media idea into a digital reality.

Don’t take these empty words. Here are the real statistics that can help you understand the growing landscape of social media applications.

• According to the survey reports, 90% of the millennials are social network users and 80% of companies use social networks for marketing.
• With the increasing usage of social media applications globally, it is predicted that worldwide active users of social media will reach over 3 billion by 2021.
• And when it comes to the most popular global social networks in terms of active users in 2019- Facebook and Instagram are the major players in this field with 169 and 121 million monthly users.
• According to the study, 52% of users prefer posting images rather than the other types of content such as videos, quotes, opinions and updates.
• The increasing popularity of images and platforms such as Instagram and Snapchat also give rise to social media influencers and influencer marketing.
• YouTube attracts users of all age as video content can engage more of their senses and leave an impactful impression on them.

In a nutshell: All in all, social media apps are engaging users with their post and holding the power to convert users into a potential lead. And, at the pace of social media active users are increasing every day; undoubtedly businesses can leverage the plethora of opportunities to expand their business to new heights. With all these facts and stats, we assume that you are convinced to hire a mobile app development company and are looking forward to the development process. But before that, you need to decide what type of app clone you need to develop.

So what type of social media app are you planning to develop? Getting the answer to this question will make you win half of the battle as the other app structure and its benefits depend upon the type of social media app you choose to develop. So let’s drill straight into the different types of social media apps available for you:

A type of social media app that allows you to share all kinds of media files right from the photos, videos, GIFs and more.

These type of applications provide you with a potential platform to connect people and build relationships. It can be either professional networking(LinkedIn) and personal networking (Facebook).

With this type of platform, users are able to share feedback or review the product and services. This will help others to make the right purchase decisions.

People love learning something new from experts and discussing different topics. Discussion forums allow finding the experts and discussing different issues and enable users to gather some valuable information. It is possible to start a discussion, ask questions and get the right answers from the experts and knowledgeable users.

Content sharing and bookmarking apps allow users to save and organize links to various websites or online resources. Users can put links in multiple folders according to their interest, upload and download images, create ideas and get inspired.

No matter what type of social media app you choose to develop, all you need to understand how to make it stand apart in the industry that ensures your success. So before you proceed to hire mobile app developer for your next project, it is essential to understand social media trends that help you stay in style.

Market leaders like Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram boasting millions of active users every month. Surpassing or reaching to close to the success of these industry giants is quite tricky. Therefore, it is essential to watch out for social media trends that dominate the future.

So, here are the top social media trends for 2021 that you should know about if you are looking to create an app:

Chatbots and AI

While there are 3.81 billion active social media populations worldwide and every smartphone user use at least one social media app. Right from sharing thoughts, photos to videos on these platforms, both businesses and individuals are adding the unimaginable amount of data which is increasing exponentially with each passing year.

So to ensure that your app will be running smoothly and managing this massive amount of data, it is important to integrate chatbots and AI technology into your app. AI or Artificial Intelligence is contributing massively to organise this sea of human data coming to these platforms.

AR Technology

Are you obsessed with the Snapchat or Instagram face filters? Well, AR technology is the new game that keeps users engaged and interested in your app.

According to the studies, 43.7 million people will use social network AR at least once per month. Create a social media app that really encourages users to apply face filters. Integrating this technology is really hard but by choosing to hire app developer you can easily overcome such obstacles.

Ephemeral Content

Ephemeral content refers to the content that stays on air for 24 hours and after that, it will disappear like Instagram or Facebook stories. Most of the brands leverage this feature to keep their users updated with the latest stuff, engage users through polls, etc. It can be fun, personal and informal content.

Local Targeting

Connecting to target customers through geotagging all your social media posts and stories is the latest trend in the industry. This will help local brands and small businesses to reach out to the targeted customers by simply raising brand awareness at the initial stage.

To boost the attention and manage the user data in the right way, it is important that your social media app is integrated with the right features to stay competitive. However, these are the features that add a competitive edge to your app, but there are some essential features that actually make your app functional.

Once you have decided to create a social media app, you must leave in a dilemma which app clone you should follow. Instead of looking here and there, we have rounded up a few essential features to stand out from other apps.

Here are the few essential features and its development time to create a social media app:

The list of the features doesn’t end here. The choice of the features and functionalities totally depends upon your business needs and budget. The above mentioned features are the most common yet essential features with the estimated development time.

But now the question comes to your mind, how much does it cost you in reality? Before making an investment in the app development, make sure to understand app monetization methodologies and strategies.

Monetizing Models to Make Profit From Social Media App

No matter how brilliant an app you have made and how strategically you have developed an app. The ultimate concern of the enterprise is “how to make money from the social media app?”.

Social media app requires huge efforts and investments, so if you are making an investment in the social media app development, then here is a big way to make money from it:

Advertisement

This is one of the popular yet traditional ways to make money from the application. This is widely used by several industry-leading social media platforms including Instagram and Youtube. However, make sure that you are only listing relevant advertisements to overwhelm the user experience.

Premium Subscriptions

If your content has value, then people will be ready to pay for it. So along with offering the good content for free, your app can have a provision to give exclusive, high quality content as per the user’s interest at the paid subscription.

In-App Purchases

Providing the provision for your community of users to purchase digital products such as e-books or podcasts related to your niche is also a proven monetization strategy.

These are the few most traditional ways to make money through an app, by collaborating with the right app development company, you can unlock the new ways to make money through an app.

Social Media App development cost

When it comes to determining the social media app development cost, even the industry best software development company will provide you with a rough estimation of between $10,000 to $25,000+. Now you must be wondering why there is a huge variation in the development cost. Well, if the truth to be told, then there is no standard cost of app development even with the same app clone that you’re following for social media app development. The cost greatly varies upon the multiple factors as mentioned below:

The approach you choose to create a social media app and the feature you plan to implement, the time it takes to develop, and more. The starting price of the social media application with above-stated app features can be from $10,000 to $12,000+, but again, it varies on the development team.

The cost can also vary on the location of the app development company you choose to hire. Developers in India may cost you $25–50 per hour, whereas in Europe they may cost you $100-$150 and in the USA it can $100+ per hour.

Based on the average hourly price of $50, the cost to develop a social media app for either Android or iOS would come to $50k with the average development time of 1100 hours.

Developing a social media app that attracts the attention of millions of users in 2021 is not going to be easy. But this challenging path is attractive and has its own potential as it holds an abundance of opportunities for the enterprises. All they need is to pick the right path for their app development.

In case you are dreaming of building a social media app like Facebook that leverage millions of active users a month, then take a shot with this guide. The world has already seen success stories of apps that actually beat the titans of the industry. So get set ready for your chance and collaborate with the best mobile app development company that helps you transform your app idea into the perfect solution. By understanding your budget and business need, they enable you to make something original that smartphone users haven’t experienced yet.