Once you have your app ready, the next step is spreading the word about your new app to your potential customers. So, how do you do that? How do you get people excited about your app, willing to download it and use it more than once?
One thing we all agree on is that it is never enough to develop an awesome mobile app (or any other product or service for that matter); you must also find a way to let your customers know about it. And what better way to learn about app marketing than picking the brains of developers who have successfully marketed their product?
So, in this article, we will provide you with the basics of app marketing, hoping it will inspire you in promoting the app to your potential users.
Pre-launch app marketing steps:
An effective app marketing plan requires both pre and post-launch plans. So, before ever submitting the app to the app store, here are some factors to consider:
Conduct market research: conducting market research will arm you with the information you need to develop a marketing strategy. We always recommend starting by checking out other apps in the same niche as the one you intend launching your app.
Study the reviews on these apps, take note particularly of what users are raving about – these are the must-haves on your app; then, check out the complains – these reviews will give you an idea of the pain point and enables you to figure out how to position your app.
As part of the market research, also dig in to uncover the keywords and phrases used by users and your competitors in ranking their apps – you would need them when optimizing your solution.
Brand your app: successful app developers set out from the beginning to differentiate their solution from the pack – this they accomplished through the following:
- Creating a striking app icon: On the app store, there are dozens of apps are vying for the users’ attention, so an eye-catching app icon should attract their attention while also communicating what the app is about.
- Naming your app: Your branding efforts wouldn’t be completed without selecting an appropriate name for the app. The rule of thumb is picking a name that is 2–6 words and less than 30 characters. However, as a general guideline, use your app name followed by a hyphen, then one to three keywords that describe what the app is about.
- Create a video intro to your app. Videos are an easy way for you to showcase everything your beautiful and well-built app has to offer.
- Create an Online Presence for the app: Creating dedicated profiles on social media for your app helps get the initial word out while also building up buzz for the launch. Consider also to develop a splash page for the app; use the splash page to showcase the progress of app development, engage with your audience and even feature a teaser for your app – all these are aimed at heightening anticipation for your app’s launch.
Post-launch Marketing Steps:
After the launch of your app, it is time to work to increase the awareness for your app tirelessly; so, here’re some marketing strategies you can adopt:
- Run paid marketing campaign to get the first batch of downloads and reviews that are critical to the success of the app.
Before starting the paid campaigns, install app store analytics so you can efficiently track the performance of your app. The analytics also gives you a clear idea of which of your marketing channels are performing better and the ones that need more optimization. - Ensure that social sharing is accessible from the app. Enabling this feature makes it super easy for the word to spread about your app. Use bobile’s App promotion feature to promote your app on social media and send email invitations to your customers
- Encourage users to rate and review your app.
- Use QR codes – QR codes are the best way to advertise. You can add them to your website, business card, brochures, mailings, receipts, or storefront window.
In conclusion, marketing your app is an on-going activity, and if however, you feel overwhelmed, you can also hire an agency to handle that aspect for you.
bobile’s app maker includes a variety of easy-to-use app marketing tools to help you with the promotion of your newly built app. Visit our website to learn more about our tools.