“We have to develop an iPad App” and “how much does an iPad app cost” are two things I have heard frequently over the last few months and every time I hear it I am struck with the same feeling; is it possible that “the I gotta have the newest thing” pressures are pushing you toward developing an app without thinking through the most basic of questions that must be asked before we do any marketing communications project? Before I can answer the latter question I need to ask some ‘who’ and ‘what’ questions related to the former statement.

Assuming that you want to reach your customers wherever they are, and provide them with useful content and tools start by asking these 8 questions:

• Who is your target audience?
• Does research support that they’re actually using an iPad?
• What is the project goal? By creating the app what are you looking to achieve?
• What truly is the function of the app and what kind of problem does it solve for the user
• Is the app an industry must-have?
• Will the app be browser based or native to a specific platform (iPhone, Blackberry, etc)?
• Is an app the best solution or can better results can be achieved by creating a mobile-optimized website?
• What’s your strategy to measure the success of your app?

This is just the tip of the iceberg but should help to at least get the conversation started. By establishing  a project scope it’s much easier to offer an educated estimate that will be realistic for the creator and buyer. Be weary of the shops that offer a price before they even know what it is you’re looking to achieve. Many times you spend more just trying to fix what the other firm promised.