So, you have taken the step and your app is looking fantastic. It goes live and you wonder why so silent. Then you realise your app is not alone. In fact, there are more than 1 million apps in the App Store. Simply having a good product is not enough to make your app the next ‘iTunes’. A great app calls for a solid marketing and distribution strategy to get your app into the hands of the people who need it most.
In this digital era, mobile ads won’t be enough to drive usage — app marketers will need robust strategies based on customer data and precision targeting to find the right users for their apps. Despite having a wide array of apps downloaded on their devices, consumers are not necessarily using them continually every day, making it clear that only a small percentage of apps get the bulk of attention from users.
This is in no way bad news for businesses looking to promote their apps. On the contrary, it’s a perfect opportunity to capture your audience’s attention. Mobile devices provide increased storage space as well as better functionality, and in general, more updated features that inherently encourage users to discover and download new apps.
As an app marketer, you have to bear in mind that while consumers are downloading apps to increasingly make their lives easier, they are also deleting apps that don’t add value.
Adding value to your customers
Your main aim should be to create an app that plays a meaningful and long-term role in a user’s daily life. So you’ll need to create efficiencies that your users will struggle to find elsewhere in the cluttered app world.
How to spread the word about your app
The mobile app ecosystem has seen explosive growth making it a cut-throat competitive intervention. However, marketing campaigns are far from cost effective and are well known to take the biggest bite out of the budget in most businesses, large or small.
The invention of the app has made it quite possible to market your business without having to sell off the furniture and fittings just to make it happen. Knowing how to fine tune the app to optimise your marketing efforts, is of the utmost importance.
- Develop a landing page
A web presence is critical before you launch your app. The purpose of a typical landing page is to present your app details in a promising manner, incorporating a timer that informs users when it’s going to be available and to integrate social media channels. When you work with tech-savvy innovative developers and designers, like those at our partner company Media Rocket, this can be a quick and affordable exercise.
- Drive people to your app
Creating a landing page is the first step, thereafter traffic needs to be targeted. Ideally, you want to feature your app and the landing page on your main website to divert your audiences from there -creating the desired impact and awareness.
- Go social
Social media, without a doubt, is the most effective and probably the most important channel for promotion for a business today. Increasing traffic flow to your website (or landing page) and building awareness about your app, it assists with the increase of brand recognition and people would much rather interact via social media than via any other means. The feedback is also often invaluable for a business owner.
- Create an app teaser
A high-quality teaser can create that spark between you and your audiences as they eagerly anticipate the launch of your app. The teaser should be linked to your landing page to further reel in interested users looking to explore your app.
Uploading your video to leading video promotional sites including YouTube, Daily Motion and Vimeo is a cost-effective way to spark that interest.
For more helpful tips on video marketing, refer to this post.
- App Store Optimisation
App Store Optimisation (ASO) is a crucial channel to incorporate. It functions slightly differently from conventional SEO. Both major players Google Play and Apple’s App store rank apps in search results, based on multiple factors – application title (which should spell out its purpose), well-written ‘keyword optimised’ description, high-quality screenshots, keywords, ratings, the number of downloads, video and now Google +1s.
These factors must always be considered before publishing your app.
To determine competitive or “in” keywords, you can visit www.searchman.com.
- Submit your app to editors
There are various sites that launch monthly and weekly editions of app listings. Approach them and let them in on your app idea. They will typically ask for:
- Name of app
- App description
- App URLs
- Screen shots
- Promo codes (if paid)
Some sites only prefer paid listings so be sure to ask for their respective success rates before sealing the deal.
Here are some free review sites for Android and iOS apps.
- Harness the power of content marketing
Execute your very own sting operation to find relevant tech bloggers who love writing on app-related topics. One of the best tools for this is Followerwonk.
Hire a skilled writer who possesses sound knowledge of current technological trends like our partners at The Content Agency. Reach out to relevant sites and bloggers, and start contributing relevant, well-written content related to your app.
- Email marketing is not old school
As you’re aware by now, approaching big publications will quadruple traffic and boost the online presence of your app. Don’t leave email marketing out of the loop though; it can be very effective under the right circumstances.
Reach out to journalists, users who visit your landing page, bloggers, entrepreneurs, customers, employees, friends and even your family, to spread the word.
- Build relationships
Relationship building is a key element in marketing. Do some sleuthing and find out about apps developed by small firms; form a relationship with them. Cross promoting each other’s apps can diversify your presence to targeted users.
These pointers are no doubt going to prove useful to businesses that are trying to establish their mark on a limited marketing budget.
Using a holistic app development solution like AppRocket, who provides un-paralleled support through the process, coupled with a good marketing strategy will ensure a successful app that reaches the targets you have set your sights on.
