You have got an app, now what?
So you have worked hard to design and build your app, now you need to work out your app marketing strategy.
No matter what the reason for the creation of the app, one sure thing is that for it to be a success it needs to be utilised. This requires the need for you to come up with a successful marketing strategy for app. You cannot just depend on word of mouth as the only channel for promoting your app.
Ideally you will need to focus on and understand the mobile marketplace by, using the correct marketing methods to encourage people to use, want and speak about your app. So how do you install better strategies?
Reach your audience
It all begins with owning the practical idea, and knowing who would want to use the app. If your unaware of who the app is intended for and who would benefit most from using the app, then how are those around you meant to know about it? It is vital that you are direct about your audience and aim your marketing efforts towards them. Realise your demographics, their spending habits, their age and hobbies, any details that enable you to understand who you are marketing to. Try not to cast to wide a net, by stating the app is for everyone. An app that is favoured by university students may not automatically attract retirees or successful businesspeople.
Understand your competitors
It is important to ensure you look at what your competitors have been up to, understanding their strengths and weaknesses This will assist you in seeing what has worked and essentially what has not worked for them. Nothing will damage your app marketing strategy more, than being a replica or being behind schedule with something similar.
Equally, if you are planning an app and you observe that one of your competitors has already attempted marketing in a specific way and failed, why would you want to endure the same fate yourself?
Being aware of your target market is not just about knowing the audience, it is also about being wise enough to know what your peers and competitors have been doing, so that you can stay original and relevant.
Market early
Although you can begin your app marketing strategy once the app is available and on the market, it is highly recommended to begin much earlier than that. Providing you feel confident you can begin while the software is in development stage.
This can be achieved by producing video development diaries, engagement with potential customers on social media, coordinating surveys and polls to see what characteristics they would like to see included.
When the release date draws closer, you can ramp up your app marketing endeavours with teasers, such as short video ads and trailers to help raise awareness and curiosity. Undoubtably, the aim here is not to give too much away, but significantly build up interest and knowledge for a more combined marketing effort later.
Prepare your press kit & other materials
Depending on the level of marketing, you will need to ensure you have both physical and electronic press kits accessible for promotion and press groups. Record a list of probable media groups, bloggers and other notable personalities and names significant to your target market. Ensure that your press kit and information, covers all the key points about your app.
It is paramount that you have a system set up to swiftly send these out to members on your list, as well as acknowledging others who ask for PK or EPK in order to escalate your media coverage. The more people who have access to the relevant information, the more work they are carrying out for you.
Optimise your app store page
Optimising your pages on app stores is a crucial, ground zero plan. Over 50% of individuals who find an app on IOS or Google came across them through browsing the store itself. In a similar fashion, your website, is fundamentally the equivalent to a shop front and needs to be used in the same way.
Your app store page is your produce on the shelf attempting to differentiate itself from all the extra competing products. It is vital that you design an efficient store page. Consciously think about the name, modify your description to ensure it is simple and as engaging as possible. Create an attractive simple icon and use screenshots that deliver the selling points and advantages of the app. Try not to rush, spend time on all these elements. This will make the difference between an impulsive purchase and advancing onto the app.
Get app reviews
Although you need to create your app store pages to be as captivating as possible, try not to assume that this is all that is needed to make a sale. Ultimately, once people hear about an app and check it out, they still want to know other people’s opinions on it.
Reviews are an important part of the process. It is not uncommon for consumers to research their purchases, as they will do with any apps they buy. If you have designed an app that you realise people will like or find useful, encourage people to say so.
Advertising to promote the benefits of the product is key and people have already anticipated that you the designer, will promote your own product and sing it’s praises. Nevertheless, a self-reliant third party, such as an unintended user review or even a well-informed professional review from a website, will add more weight than a biased advert from the software founder. Connect with your customers and reviewers to get those worthwhile reviews lined up.
Social media
Although not as thorough as an article or written blog review, social media can still have a huge impact on your popularity and the fortune of your app. A blend of intentional targeted advertising on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook should always be integrated with long established word of mouth techniques, such as reposting and promoting people who use the app.
Once people begin to speak about an app, those people and their followers will start to obtain traction. Achieve enough traction, and your app then gets more visibility, particularly if it is amalgamated with essential social media use, such as hashtags.
Use influencers
Influencers, who are also known as key opinion leaders, are present day and a much more attainable type of conventional celebrity endorsement. Instead of needing to persuade a well-known film star or athlete to use and speak about your product for a 30 second commercial or print ad, you get a noteworthy Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, or other social media platform key leader to promote your brand. The sponsored ad can be in the shape of a video on YouTube, or a blog post.
The thing is someone with thousand’s, sometimes millions of followers is promoting your brand first-hand to their following. The only thing that conveys more influence than word of mouth and a referral from someone a consumer knows, is receiving the same thing from someone who is admired and well known. Agreeing deals with influencers is often less expensive than securing a celebrity endorsement and it can be far more successful when accurately targeted.
Monitor results
When the app is on the market and app marketing has commenced, it does not mean your marketing endeavours are over. One element you should be carrying out as the launch advances is keeping an eye on your key performance indicators (KPIs).
Closely observe how people are using the app, analyse the user feedback, be alert and reactive to the feedback. Deal with any bugs discovered swiftly and document, ensure you remain as dedicated to the app, post launch as you were in the development stage.
An app will gain more stability and scalability if the founders attract the users and build up a positive relationship. Additionally, you should also keep an eye on the analytics coming through from your marketing endeavours. If you observe that certain strategies are bearing more fruit than others, such as blogs then place more effort into those and adjust or cut down the schemes that are less successful.
SEO
Finally, never forget the strength of first-rate search engine optimisation. Individuals will use hashtags and search engines to discover more information about your app. Taking advantage of powerful SEO practices will ensure that when individuals are attempting to find that information, they can obtain it swiftly. This includes the app store and general search engines like Google.
It is also a good idea to apply SEO to your marketing endeavours. Valuable SEO on videos, articles, use of meta-descriptions, tags and other identifiers will assist your app marketing to be more noticeable and easily located.
Summary
So, there you have it, a very brief overview on the types of things you can be doing pre and post launch to successfully market and grow your app userbase.
Please contact us to find out more about our app marketing services and how me can super charge your marketing efforts today.
Call us on 0203 150 0565 or email info@thealtitudeagency.com
