How to guides

How to Make a Social Media App

With the development of social networks appeared many ways that a person can choose to make their own media. Several years ago you had to have some experience in coding to build a fine app. Today there are more and more no-code products that can be used to build it.

How to Make a Social Media App

How to Make a Social Media App

With the development of social networks appeared many ways that a person can choose to make their media apps. Several years ago you had to have some experience in coding to build a fine social media app. Today there are more and more no-code products that can be used to build it.

Social media networks, digital marketing, social apps are words that hardly our society could be imagined without. Billions of people spend more than half of their day scrolling feeds in apps and browsing social networks daily. Though not everyone understands what it is indeed.

Going down through this issue at first letā€™s try to figure out the basics. Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram probably are the first three to appear in your mind when you think of social networks. Whether you use an Android or iOS device, you can install an app that is used to communicate with people. 

A social network is a platform that is built and realized on the Internet. This social media might be represented as a website or a mobile app. It is used to create social connections, based on the same field of interests, study peopleā€™s backgrounds, check profiles of mutual acquaintances.

Initially, social media apps focused on communication. With the development, it turned into an online stage that is used by people to show themselves. After a while business and media also found their way to integrate into your everyday life through apps. So we can say that in the course of time social networks turned into large social media platforms. They’re used as a marketing tool that is almost the best solution for both potential sides of a deal (customers and businesses).

Social media app

Types of social media and their benefits

Online social media has been in our life for more than two decades. At first, it was just simple one-page websites that tended to gather different social groups and developed into sophisticated apps. With time appeared a definite structure of social media that helps to differentiate them. In the table below we listed seven main types of social networks.

Types of Social Networks and Examples

Type of a social networkDescriptionMost popular social media networks and apps
Relationship networksHere are all social networks that help to build and develop personal relations. Users can share their private thoughts, create public posts, send photos, videos, and audio files, etc. It includes personal, career, and match-making services.Facebook
LinkedIn
Tinder
Media-based networksThis media type is about uploading any visual content (videos, photos, pictures, etc.) This content can be highly respected by other users with likes or just receive several views. 
The main feature of this social media is a volume limitation, like a certain video length, or the exact number of symbols that a comment can contain.

Instagram
TikTok
YouTube
Snapchat

Web reviewsThese social media are built as a kind of repositories with usersā€™ reviews on different services and products, from hotels and restaurants to a new shampoo that you decided to try.TripAdvisor
Yelp

Discussion forumsThis type of social media is a parent to the rest. It includes forums and Q&A services. These networks create an environment where users can share their experiences, ask for advice, or find answers to their questions.Quora
Reddit

Online publishing platformsHere you can find blogging and microblogging platforms with author articles and media content, also there are lots of short meme videos and photos.Twitter
Medium
Tumblr

Bookmarking sitesHere any user can observe content collections of other users in their open media libraries, subscribe to them, and watch the update. Especially it is popular for design and visual inspiration.Pinterest
Flipboard

Interest-based networksCommunities are created to find and develop social relations based on shared ideas and favors no matter if you are a music creator or software developer.SoundCloud
Product Hunt

Core features and benefits

Those seven types of social media can differ in their purpose or design, but their websites and apps have several common key features: 

Feed

In every social app, there are two main pages that users are most interested in. One of them is feed. Itā€™s a section that shows the latest updates of usersā€™ profiles, social events, groups, and everything that users subscribed to. In the ā€™90s people were reading newspapers in the morning, today they scroll the feed in social apps to be informed about what is going in the world. 

Profile

The second page that everyone cares about. Your social profile is a kind of digital reflection. It is the very first page that a newbie creates right after registration on any social media. It contains personal details such as name, age, profession, a couple of lines in bio. Also, it keeps all the photos, thoughts, and posts ever shared by a user. 

Stories or moments

It is a relatively new feature that appeared with the development of apps. Users upload time-limited photos and videos that are presented on their accounts just for 24 hours and at the end of this limit, they disappear. It is especially popular on such networking apps as Instagram and Facebook. Stories variation can even be found in the WhatsApp application, the feature is called Status. 

Messaging service

Alongside social media apps are used for content exchange, there are popular message apps that are used for chats. Though it is much easier to share a post with your friend within one social media instead of switching between apps. So networks, that are all about sharing, have a built-in messenger, and every decent social app always works on improving it and adds new features to their project. 

Easy way to show your respect

Social approval is one of the best positive stimulation solutions for the growth of the business within the app. Once youā€™ve published a photo or video, shared the results of your work, you want to be prized by the attention of other users of the app. Getting positive feedback is important. Commentaries are good, as they make users express their opinion and enter discussions. But the real number one of showing your respect is a ā€œLikeā€ button, it can vary from app to app in design, but itā€™s an easy one-click action that society got used to.

Being familiar with all the types of social media, apps, their features and still reading this article you might be one of those lucid minds whoā€™s got an idea of creating your own social app. Though firstly let us introduce you to some benefits of creating your social media app.

Social networks

Direct interaction with the audience of your social media

Rarely does mediation play into the hands of any kind of relationship. This is the case with social media applications. As the owner of the platform, you set the rules and conditions under which all social interactions will take place in your app. Want to be sure that every user will see news and posts in the media feed, no problem. Limit the number of people who can become users of the app and allow only friends of already registered users to join, everything is in your hands. Also, consider push or email notifications to keep users informed about the updates. 

In addition, by managing your social network you have direct access to the appā€™s statistics and analytics, such as the involvement of your audience in a product. 

By creating your page based on someone elseā€™s social network, you are fighting for the attention of users, watching not only your page but also many other businesses and influencers. So to attract attention, you pay for advertising, for the elevation of your page in the userā€™s feed. Consequently, to get more views and social attention you have to pay more, thatā€™s the algorithm that helps owners of networking platforms to continue to make money on it every month.

A safe online media environment results in creative ideas

It doesnā€™t matter if you are an artist, media celebrity, or businessman, connecting with your audience and getting feedback will always stimulate your progress. As a platform owner, you can select the way you want users to interact in your app. 

Nothing can stop a leap of imagination. You donā€™t have to adapt to the rules dictated by others or fit your idea into a 13-second video or 280 characters text. Moreover, you are not limited to inventing new ways and possibilities for communication. This also applies to the appā€™s design, remarkable features, and more. Try always to search for new ideas and self expression, but be thoughtful and take care of the security of your app.

Monetization becomes even easier with your social media

Even though well-known media platforms are used by millions of people, but sales function is rather poorly implemented. No surprise, since monetization was not the original goal of social media apps. Creating your mobile app you have the chance to design such a function into it while the app is being under development. So as soon as the app reaches your clients, it already has all the modern and useful features, that other businessesā€™ apps lack. 

So you do a few tasks at a time. You earn money on your products and allow users and non-registered customers to go through our products and make purchases within one app.

Get rid of distractions

Weā€™ve come across this aspect before. But it should be considered with special attention. When you create your social network you define the niche where you will be presented. You determine the distractions allowed in the app, third-party advertising, or users more interested in memes with kitties than your brand. Make research, feel the ground where you are presented, make necessary notes, and use them for the development of the business strategy. 

Options to create your own social media network

Platforms for creating your own social media app

Well, weā€™ve analyzed all theoretical aspects of social media apps, so now letā€™s talk about possible approaches you have for creation an ideal social app environment. 

With the development of social network applications appeared many models that a person can follow to make their platform. Several years ago you had to have some experience in coding or even a university degree to build an effective app. Nowadays, there are more and more no-code products that can be used to design it. They provide customers with all the required tutorials, technical guidelines and templates you might need to customize a mobile app that users would enjoy. More over customers can choose a solution that would suit their budget as there are fully free plans, and pretty expensive solutions.

CMS with a social network extension

Over the last few years, society has observed the popularity of such CMS platforms as WordPress or Drupal. It can be used to build a social media network with the help of various plugins. You can find free plugins but be ready for a limited choice of alternatives. Weā€™d recommend focusing on paid ones because in comparison with free products, youā€™ll get a product that you can trust for a fair cost. It would cause fewer bugs. No user would like a slow, hardly working app. By the way, you should know that such software is designed to create websites rather than mobile apps.

SaaS Solution for a social network 

SaaS (Software as a Service) platforms are used to build social apps with out-of-the-box features. It can be applied to both websites and mobile apps. A good example of such a platform is Scrile Connect. It helps you not only to create a media network but also can manage the design of entire platform, aesthetics, monetize the content and fully incarnate your ideas. In fact, itā€™s a proper solution, starting the website demands very little extra IT skills, and still it remains open for an ordinary person, who wants to create his or her social network. 

For customersā€™ comfort in case with Scrile Connect software there is a support team that is ready to help users 24/7 to find an answer quickly.

Open-source software

Open-source software is another option that can be used to build a social media application. The major advantage is that technology allows you to download and configure it on your server. In terms of possible features, we can tell you that it is similar to SaaS platforms, but it offers more space for platform control, so if you want to be one and the only admin of your social application, you should try testing this option.

Develop from scratch

App development

In case if your idea is 100% unique and your social media need a high level of skills and integration of high-tech features such as VR, you should consider building it from scratch as an alternative to form a perfect app. Our honest advice, even being an amateur in programming and having experience in building apps, it is better to hire a well-educated team with deep understanding of the business and that already has a well-working social media app in the portfolio. 

Well, youā€™ve made up your mind on the approach that you want to follow to design the platform, but before it is ready to be released there are several steps that should be done if you want to create a successful media app.

Step #1 Define your appā€™s users. 

In 2020 our society is a mix of a big variety of social groups with unique interests, ideas that they stand for, engagement level and preferences in activities. You need to understand which social category your app will target. Each group has its own specific needs in media, and the more appā€™s functionality addresses those needs, the higher your appā€™s recognition in the society, the more people will Google it.

Step #2 Define the features of your network.  

Once you have decided on the platform you use to build your social network, you should define the functionality of your app. It is important to find the golden mean between an app with a user friendly intuitive interface and a thing with unique design that could compete with leaders of the social media business. 

Step #3 Be realistic with the budget for the app  

Creating a high-quality app is not cheap. Moreover, creating and running an app is only half of the way. You should consider spending money on ads, promotion, and support of the app. Once you accept it be ready to plank out several dozens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars for a decent app existence. Advice from our team is to check the cost of all available solutions, if there are any that allow customers to go ahead with a free test plan to rate the technology and to get a clear concept of the future realization of the app build this way, then check it out. 

Step #4 Growth your social media recognition 

Once the development of your app is about to be finished, itā€™s high time to attract users. Think of a proper media where you would place your advertising company and influencers who would promote the app. People would easily become users of a new platform that their favorite blogger recommends, and it will make them download your app, sign up there and probably replace their old social media with your new app, if they are satisfied with the experience they got. Users easily invite their friends and relatives to a brand new platform if it deserves the attention.

Also promoting your platform on Instagram, Facebook, or any other specific sites such as Vimeo and Goodreads, use brand hashtags. Make a profile on Facebook or Instagram, communicate with users of those apps attracting them to your app. Share special promo codes, for users to register and get some kind of benefit from it. 

The development of your project requires you to push the borders of imagination. Try to see yourself as a potential user of the app, try to design such a catchy feature, that would make you to switch the regular app to a new one.

Step #5 Analysis of appā€™s progress 

With an increase in the number of social networks applications, there is also an increase of additional tools that help the management of all the data from the app. You need to check statistics and be sure that your social media app demonstrates positive dynamics. Complex analysis of the data would help you to define the way to the advanced development of an app.

Now letā€™s study a money leverage from the app

Statistics

As soon as your app gains popularity it would become strong enough As soon as your app made a step away from shadows and gained popularity and some loyal users it would become strong enough financial strategy development. Here you can read some tips to elaborate a well-built monetizing practice on social media apps and get some $$$ from your hard work.  

Paid subscriptions

Every time users find a community with interesting content, they would like to subscribe to it. So you can take advantage and offer several types of subscriptions. The minimum access can be for free. While paid subscription options would have different levels of access to the images, courses, webinars, etc. It wonā€™t be available elsewhere, but on your social media application. The pricing depends on the quality and quantity of the content.

Paid subscriptions to your social media

Sponsored content

With a decent number of users, your social app would not only draw attention of new audience but also some other businesses or media. Primary, paid sponsored programs can be a good channel of income, with possibility of affiliate deals, secondary, it would exchange traffic and users between two applications.  

Physical purchases

As it was mentioned earlier, the development of the market in existing social media networks is not that good as the rest of the features. So you can work on it and make the implementation of e-commerce to your app as smooth as possible. Consider customersā€™ time as a valuable resource, make the process of purchasing simple from the very first click to the final delivery location.

In-app purchases

Do you want to release a new course, an e-book under your name, a video lesson, or any other info-products? Be sure that users of your social media would like to buy it. In-app purchases thatā€™s what you should think about.

Keep increasing the audience of your social media

Above we have mentioned almost all the best options for app development, but you have to understand that it would be possible, only if your social network would grow and follow trends. To ensure the development of the app, it is crucial to attract new users regularly. Usually, there is a certain number of people who would sign up for your app naturally, just because theyā€™ve seen their friends using the app or heard relatives talking about it.

But you also have to make certain efforts to keep the app the best on mobile markets. Paid ads in influencersā€™ blogs, built-in virality, media outreach, content marketing, and referral codes would help you build your appā€™s recognition. 

Reading our guide you might have thought that making your social media app is extremely hard, and you would be right. But all the efforts you put into it are definitely worth the result you get. Facebook, Instagram or any other social media that you know today and any app that you use to scroll the feed in the morning has a great group of people who put their passion into it. The millennials and zoomers are open to everything new and strives for new knowledge and content. 

Donā€™t waste your time thinking of all pros and cons, if you have an idea then start making your contribution to the world of social media. Contact us to learn more about Connect and create your own social media service with a full-featured turnkey solution today.

How to Make a Social Media App-FAQ

What features are essential for a social media app?

Every social media app has a feed, personal profile page, message service, and tools to demonstrate your attitude (like, dislike, share, repost, etc).

What are the reasons to create a new social media app?

You get a chance to create a safe online media environment. Youā€™ll have direct interaction with the audience of your app. For creators, it is easier to monetize the content by selling it in your app store.

What are the options for creating a social media network?

There are 4 options: CMS with a social network extension, SaaS Solution for a social network, open-source software, and to make it from scratch

How can I monetize it?

You can post sponsored content, or offer your audience to make physical and in-app purchases.