19 Dec Top 10 Application Marketing Strategies
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Top 10 Application Marketing Strategies
Application marketing is a combination of numerous techniques geared towards making your app visible to users and ranking it higher in the app store. These strategies are the most effective way to keep in touch with your users from the point they learn about you to the time in which they become loyal customers.
Every business appreciates the need to have an application. Gone are the days when an app was developed for the sake of developing. Today, this tool does far much more than just earning you a space in the digital world. As you recognise its relevance, there is also the need to re-evaluate the manner in which we market our apps.
For a long time, companies were used to marketing their apps through traditional marketing channels. This changed with the onset of the smartphone trend. Rather, organisations that proudly controlled the most successful apps were the ones who were willing to invest more in their marketing.
Considering that you are already facing stiff competition to make a name for yourself on the Internet, you must devise more proactive and modern app marketing strategies.
The following are the top application marketing strategies to consider. These can be used separately, or several of them could be combined for explosive results:
1). Begin promoting the app before its launch date
For a bigger percentage of product releases, the marketing department often activates the promotion once the product reaches the market. The essence of this approach is that they need to have something to give to customers for testing purposes. However, this approach does not apply to mobile apps. You are supposed to launch the application marketing long before the app is released to the app store.
As your business prepares to release an application, you must be in a position to let the target audience know about it. It is true that awareness campaigns cost significant amounts of money. So does product promotion. The last thing that you want is to get it all wrong.
Thus, getting started early allows you to get feedback for every essential element like app design and how the audience feels about the advertisement shown. Where possible, a soft test on the mobile application even gives a chance to identify problems that might arise on the launch day.
The essence of beginning a promotion early for an app is not just to identify any underlying problems but to also create hype as you approach the launch date. Vigor and strength are usually key to a successful launch. Early marketing ensures this happens.
2). Allocate sufficient resources
When it comes to application marketing, sometimes you might find yourself holding back on the resources allocated. This might be because the app itself was developed as a marketing tool. Therefore, you do not see the need for its marketing to eat into your available funds. The truth of the matter is that you have to be prepared to spend money and allocate the necessary resources to achieve your goals.
At a time when almost everyone accesses information and services via a mobile application, apps are an essential marketing tool. Therefore, it is important to dedicate the required marketing resources necessary for them to pay off. Numerous studies indicate that an average of 80% of consumers would prefer to get alerts on their phones.
This means that investing in a marketing feature such as push notifications makes sense. A study by Mobile Marketing Association recommended that organisations should set aside 7-9% of their budget for mobile marketing.
3). Focus on specific directions
Every given field tends to be vast with numerous sub-sections. As such, you might easily get lost in your marketing approach as you’re trying to do everything at once. The truth of the matter is that you cannot be everywhere at the same time. Even if you could be, there are areas you might not be as good at as others. In fact, trying to accomplish everything at once might see you lose out on great opportunities.
To keep you on the right track, have a clear roadmap regarding your mobile app marketing and stick to it. This roadmap must vividly showcase your current position and projections. It should also list the kinds of resources that would be used for the achievement of these targets.
For organisations with multiple departments, you must also put into consideration the strategies being adopted by separate departments. The last thing you want is a situation where each has their own take on mobile app marketing.
4). pay attention to the experience rather than the app
There was a time when not so many companies had a mobile application. The focus of mobile application marketing was more on having an app rather than what the app was capable of. Companies were in a hurry to portray themselves as being tech-savvy. But that time is long gone.
“Apps are a great way of attracting and retaining new customers, so long as you nail the marketing.”
Today, there are so many firms with mobile applications, some even having more than one. This means that a different type of marketing must be adopted.
If you want to stay ahead of the competition, you must market the experience instead of the app. The modern-day consumer is interested in what you have to offer as opposed to you simply having an app. Remember that they are overwhelmed with options. Thus, if they know that they can get something good from you, they will not hesitate to choose your app first.
5). Minimise the use of billboards to market your app
Even if you are the leader in your industry, using traditional tactics such as billboards, website banners, in-store signage, and email newsletters are not sufficient to cut it. This is because the process is just too involving and clunky. It means that the customer has to see your brand within the app for them to pull out their phones and search for it.
The ideal approach is for the app being available at the tap of a finger. Whereas your app could be searchable through stores like App Store and Google Play, its visibility is not guaranteed.
Make sure that you put your application where the consumers are. Simply put, you use smartphones to push your mobile app. A key way to do so is via mobile advertising networks. The more you invest in these networks, the better the payoff.
6). Engage a mobile marketing expert
One of the biggest mistakes that most companies make is to market their apps solely through their usual marketing department. No matter how talented they may be, they lack some basic skills required to market the app to the right people. Some of the challenges that your team might come across include optimising your efforts for desired ranks, target media buying, app usage analytics, and much more.
Therefore, you should consult people with knowledge and understanding to take your marketing to the next level. Even though this marketing expert will incur additional costs, the benefits make it worthwhile. Once you begin ranking higher in app stores, the returns will be exactly what you have been looking for all along.
7). Research your competitors
You must set aside a considerable amount of time to understand your competitors. You cannot afford to ignore what they have attempted and what has worked, and what hasn’t. There is nothing that can derail your efforts more than a deliberate decision to operate oblivious of competitors. These give you clues as to how best to customise your marketing so that it delivers the intended results.
As you do things in a certain way and realise that your competitors had taken a similar approach before and failed, you should take this as a warning sign. It makes no sense to act in the same way and expect different results.
Competitor research should be conducted independently. If possible, create groups within your marketing department, each tasked with researching the same competitor and then compare results.
8). Increase the app’s visibility in the app store
Whatever it is that you do, the end goal is to get the app to the target audience. The best way to do so is by increasing its visibility in both App Store and Google Play. Stronger app visibility means that more people will be able to find you easily. The higher you rank, the more times your app will be downloaded.
A couple of factors affect an app’s ranking in an app store. These are:
- Title – Choose a readable title that easily gives an idea of what your mobile application is about. It should be one that creates instant recognition.
- Icon – Research shows that most mobile users approve the authenticity of an app based on its icon. Thus, choose an icon that is unique and reflects the app’s essence.
- Description – The description ought to point out the problems solved by the app and how it should be used. This is the perfect place to throw in essential keywords.
- Screenshots – Visuals are a powerful way of gaining greater rankings. Indicate key features and functions of the application.
9). Include some viral video content
Videos have proven to be a powerful form of marketing, given that humans are more visual than textual. You can put up a viral video on major platforms like Facebook and YouTube, showcasing the app as something fun to have. For best results, you could incorporate famous faces in the video too.
A good promo video is short and straight to the point. It highlights the best features of your application and has a strong call to action. Before publishing the video, watch it while muted. If it still makes sense, then you have done it the right way.
10). Set up a landing page that pays
Set up a mobile app landing page which is sure to creatively inform your readers and update them on any future releases. The landing page must harbor key elements like the app’s name, its promo video, features, and a strong call to action.
Conclusion
It can be a bit challenging to run a successful application marketing strategy. This is particularly true when you are doing it for the first time. Contact edirect today for help with marketing your mobile app.