Are you the proud single parent of an excellent mobile app, and still you are not a millionaire? Then it is high time for you to face a bitter truth right away- you might have a brilliant idea behind developing the app, but it is not enough by itself. And the most painful part of the entire thing is- great apps also fail sometimes.
But why?
It happens because the target audience doesn’t even know that the app exists. After all, your app can’t go to people and sell itself. You’ll be needing this step-by-step guide on mobile app marketing to make your app a success. Dive into it right now, and thank us later!
What is mobile app marketing in simple words?
It is a strategy that aims to attract and engage users to a mobile app. The main goal is to retain the users from the moment they know about the app to become regular users.
App marketing, in a nutshell, is turning an app visitor into a loyal customer. Highly strategic and personalized marketing content is key to sound and effective mobile app marketing.
How to do App marketing right?
The main question is: when should we start it? Should you start it when the app is ready to be launched? Or, should you begin assembling your app marketing strategies in advance?
You might be surprised by knowing that app marketing strategies should start to be developed right when you decide. Getting the customers an idea about the app will make them anticipate the launching of your application. They will be your loyal and active users, for sure!
App marketing involves several activities such as recognizing your target customers, reaching them through social media networks, and developing effective communication. This complex procedure entails a lot of steps. It also covers many angles that you need to generate the demand for your app.
Mobile App Marketing Strategy
- Figure out what purpose the app will serve?
- Do your market research before start app marketing
- Sketch out your revenue model
- Do SEO like a pro
- Schedule a release date for your mobile app
- Do App Store Optimization to Get More Downloads
- Pick a catchy name for you app
- Create a sleek and stunning app icon
- Create a landing page for your mobile app
- Outreach initiatives
- Use Social media platforms
- Develop a robust content marketing strategy
Let’s get familiarized with the basic setup to market a mobile app. Read on!
1. Figure out what purpose the app will serve?
Congratulation! There is a plan to build and market an amazing app in your mastermind. Now, you need to decide what requirements your app will satisfy. You need to define who your audience will be. What value does your app bring to their lives?
It should be the very first step in your mobile app marketing. Before investing in marketing and design, you need to answer all the questions mentioned above. Then only you can come up with an excellent elevator pitch that explains clearly why the target audience should download it.
2. Do market research
Do you know where most of the companies go wrong? They don’t do proper mobile app marketing research before they jump into creating an app. And it is the reason why several apps keep gathering dust in the app stores.
So, you need to understand your customers first. Figure out what are their pain points. Make sure that your app successfully addresses your target customers’ pain points. You must add some features to your app that your competitors are not providing you with.
Coming up with something extra that others are not doing is the best way to solidify your presence in your field. So, make sure that you understand your customers very well. You must know what they want from your app before developing it.
3. Sketch out your revenue model
So, you are done with establishing what kind of app you need to create and who are going to download it. The next step is finding out a way to monetize your app. Building and promoting a mobile app comes at a cost. So, the primary goal should be getting the money back. And, obviously, you need to find a way to profit from it.
Lets’ check out the top revenue model options that you must consider as your app marketing strategies.
- Up-front fee+ in-app purchase– You can ask users to pay to use an app. If they like the basic version, then you can ask them to pay for the premium features.
- One-time, up-front fee– It is an easy model where you can ask the users to buy your application upfront for a single payment. But, it gives you only a limited income per install.
- Free+ in-app subscription– This pattern is also known as the microtransaction model. This is one of the most profitable mobile app marketing strategies. Many successful apps in the market implement this revenue model.
- Free+ paid version– There are some free applications that promote the apps with a powerful paid option. This is a very common but useful strategy of app marketing. You can demonstrate the value of the premium app that you offer in a limited way.
- Free+ advertising– Well, you guessed it right. Users are not huge fans of ads. But, ad-supporting apps are still a common option. Those app marketing strategies include the option to avoid the ads. The users just have to pay a specific amount of fee for that. You can even combine the revenue model with a microtransaction option to make the strategy potent.
- Subscription: Now it’s time to take a look at the revenue option that is incredibly popular. It lets you develop a recurring revenue stream that works great for further growth. The subscription model mainly promotes the value of the application and why it is beneficial to be subscribed.
4. Do SEO like a pro
Okay, we understand it’s not possible to develop a rock-hard SEO strategy for the native apps. But, you have got a cutting-edge website already. Right? Do the SEO at its best on the website that you have designed for your mobile app marketing.
Remember, it always starts with zeroing in on the effective keywords. You need to understand first which keywords matter most for the group of people you have targeted as your potential users. The app space can help you in this. You can find out the terms that your target audience uses often. These will work great as the ideal keywords for your website.
5. Schedule a release date
First things first. We should start with determining a day when you will launch the app. Do good homework about the rules and regulations of the play store. It will help you to work accordingly.
It would help if you planned for releasing the app at the very beginning. Then you can stay prepared for the problems that might occur in the middle of launching.
6. Do App Store Optimization to Get More Downloads
You can work on many app store ranking factors, and app store optimization is one of those things. App store optimization works as the fundamental brick for app marketing strategies. You can begin with a short but comprehensive app description. Using the ideal keywords is also very much necessary. Start off your app store optimization by choosing the right category for your product.
Having a deep understanding of your typical app users is the key to a successful ASO strategy. Along with that, you need to maximize the keywords. You also need to include screenshots and videos. The screenshots in the Google Play and App store play a vital role. The images should be self-explanatory, stunning, and with attractive captions.
7. Pick a catchy name
The famous author William Shakespeare once said that name doesn’t matter. No matter what you call a rose by, it will always smell beautiful. But, it is not valid in the field of mobile app marketing. A short and sweet name will work great here.
What kind of mobile app have you developed? Based on your app’s genre, the proper name matters a lot. Let me give two examples.
7.1 Utility apps
A utility app needs a name that is descriptive and functional. A mobile utility app aims to make a user’s life easier. Let’s take the example of FM Radio and Android Flashlight. They are excellent apps with straightforward names. So, it would help if you went for a clear and intuitive name for your utility app.
7.2 Game and social apps
When creating a social or gaming app, you should go for a quirky name. If your app belongs to the over-populated category, make sure you give it an easily memorable name. The title should help your app to stand out.
Related:- Top 10 mobile app development trends
8. Create a sleek and stunning app icon
As they say, the first impression is the last. That’s why you must pay extra attention to your app’s icon. It plays a vital role in your mobile app marketing strategies.
The icon promotes an app in the app store. It also represents your app on the home screens of the users’ smartphones. Most of the time, people download apps from Google Play and Apple’s App store directly.
So, the app must represent your brand appropriately on Google Play Libraries and the App Store grid. Here are three valuable tips for applying:
8.1 Make the design bold yet simple.
Work on a basic idea and make the best out of it. Try to avoid complex icons as these make the apps unnoticeable on the app store grid.
8.2 Take good care of the text.
Avoid unnecessary details in your app. Over-using of texts distract the users. Even some app designers prefer creating an app with no text at all. I am not telling you to go that far. It would be best for mobile app marketing to make the text fonts large and part of the design.
8.3 Maintain image quality.
A blurry and nondescript icon never attracts users. Resize each element of the image properly. It will ensure that you maintain appropriate contrast and definition between the components.
9. Create a landing page
Many app marketing strategies help you acknowledge your customers about the existence of your app. You can use your website to let people know about your app. But, this will not be enough.
We need an exotic way to get the customers excited. The motto of mobile app marketing is getting them to talk to each other about the mobile app. And, here, a good landing page comes as your lifesaver.
There are many ways to create a landing page to announce the launching of your app and address its features. Launching a teaser video is also a good idea. Along with that, You can post the promotional video as an ad on popular social media platforms for business.
10. Outreach initiatives
Another great way of mobile app marketing is to promote the app by collaborating with famous bloggers and Instagram influencers working in your niche. They can send backlinks to you. It would help if you also took honest feedback about your app. It can increase the visibility of your app faster than you expect.
11. Use Social media platforms
The basic concept of app marketing is exploring every possible channel. These involve Youtube, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn, TikTok, but you shouldn’t limit your marketing within those channels only. Find out which platform engages most of your target audience and focus more on that channel.
12. Develop a robust content marketing strategy
Blogging is the surest way for mobile app marketing that reaches your target audience. Start creating an effective content marketing strategy even before you develop the app.
Get your blog ready with relevant and relatable content for your users. Write about the awesome features of your app in these blogs. Mention the mindblowing rewards that your app is offering the customers. Add the videos and screenshots that tell people how fantastic your app is.
Final words
The weird part is: strategies of mobile app marketing are not like the typical algebra formula that you learned in standard Seven and successfully applied to thousands of the same kind of sums. Every app has its way of marketing. You need to find out which bunch of formulas will represent your app most engagingly and make them exciting.
However, the typical steps we have mentioned for the best mobile app marketing strategies will increase all kinds of apps’ visibility. So, there will be the target audience ready who will search for the app and download it. So, why wait? Start your mobile app marketing campaign right away. All the best!