Every time you build an app, it’s to solve a need. However, the challenge is to ensure that your app reaches out to the right people who are looking for “the” solution! App marketing lives and grows along with your app.
Not many marketers understand that app marketing is something that ought to be paid attention to while building the app. It’s believed to be a strategy that comes into force after an app is launched. Well, it’s a wrong belief! App marketing or at least an idea on how you take your app forward after its built is something you should have an idea on while building your app.
Apps today, have enormous potential in solving purposes directly. A recent report by Forbes showed that on an average, consumers in the US, install about 25 apps per month.
Although people download apps, the truth is that most of them are abandoned or not been used. Therefore, at this point, you need to address more tangible issues.
Marketers ought to realize that their app marketing has a much more significant role to play that what seems to be lingering.
Contemporary app marketers have now realized that adjusting to new strategies don’t really show many results as addressing to existing target groups, establishing a closer bond with loyal customers etc.
Therefore, today, we are going to help you understand how you can modify and enhance your app marketing strategy to make sure you are going on the right track.
App Marketing is empowered by Five Pillars.
App Store Optimization (ASO)
The greatest impact you can bring onto increasing your app reach and its download rate is via App Store Optimization. Although every app marketer understands the importance of ASO, they hardly fail to use it when it comes to execution. Here is a list of what’s extremely important when it comes to optimizing.
Given below are 7 crucial factors of App Store Optimization
- App name – This is precisely where optimizing plays a key role. Using the right keyword for your app name can make all the difference in influencing your app ranking. Choose the best, unique and most crisp words that can best describe your app.
- Keywords – Google Play Store and App Store allows you to identify a “reduced set of keywords” to help the app store in identifying your app. Quite obviously, app marketers understand the importance of keyword analysis to carry this forward. However, the trick is to play this from the shoes of your customer. Try and optimize this field from time to time and experiment with keywords that have high chances of providing a solution to what you customers seek for.
- “Download” metric – A recursive aspect that clearly signifies the more downloads brings in a higher probability of your app to appear on the top.
- Ratings and reviews – Quality is the best form of advertising! The most important features of your apps are always reflected in the reviews. This factor greatly influences the overall ranking in the App Store listings. This means you ought to non-intrusively request your customers to leave a review after taking a look at your app.
- App description – Enumerate the important features of your app, by attaching it with likely keywords.
- App screenshots – A picture speaks a thousand words. Screenshots of your app literally convince a user to download and check it out! Make sure your app screenshots exemplify your app important features.
- App localization – It’s a forthright process of translating all details of your app and adapting it to a localized language and culture of a country to which it is targeted. Usually, companies that localize its existing App in a new country, has witnessed an increase in its download rate.
App Indexing
App discovery doesn’t just happen only in the app store! Your app market is a wide platform and should be deemed “discoverable” from any angle.
There are many ways your targeted user can discover your app (aside from searching it on the play store).
According to Forrester, the popular sources for app discovery are(percentages are recorded for iOS):
- Browsing through the platform’s official store – 63%
- Recommendation from others (word of mouth) – 50%
- Browsing the store’s top Apps – 34%
- Previously installed by the manufacturer on the smartphone – 20%
- Through social networks – 19%
- General Internet browsing – 16%
- Searching via search engines (Google, Bing, etc..) – 14%
- Ads in newspapers or magazines – 7%
- Via Blogs – 7%
- Via Newsletters – 6%
- TV ads – 6%
- Mobile ads – 6%
- Radio ads – 3%
- Other – 7%
This means, as an app marketer if you are sticking to ASO alone, it’s not going to take you anywhere!
How do you carry out app discovery through other domains?
As we can see in the list above, there are several moments where we can directly or indirectly influence the download of the App! While some of these channels require a considerable budget, there are other channels that can have a greater impact sans promotion.Here are 10 forms of implementing app discovery outside
Of the many ideas, we have suggested 5 ways your app could be identified from outside the play store.
Website – Design a website, that exclusively highlights the prominence of your app in the app store along with features like – downloads, screenshots, ratings, and reviews. Optimize the website for SEO and always remember to make a mobile version of your website. (Check Snapchat’s image below!)
Promote on Social Networks – Promote your app through social networks like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, etc. Choose appropriate social networks that caters to your audience group and keep in touch. Invite your friends and target audiences through promotions on these networks.
App banners on your Static Website – If you already have a web application that caters to a group of audience, start using app banners that “shows” these users that you have an app that is available to make things easier!
Influential Bloggers – Introduce your App to bloggers from the similar domain, who can share it on their website or on platforms that they are a part of.
App Review Sites – Advertise your app on app review sites, which not only recommends your app to its visitors but also provides good backlinks which are incredible for your SEO.
App Promotion: How to promote an app?
The days after the launch of your app can be the most unrewarding as you have no clue how your app is going to be received by the masses. Therefore, in order to avoid these, here are a few tips you can make use of to promote your app and be a “smart” app marketer.
Be extraordinary in your promotions
A thousand apps or more, are promoted in different locations every day! However, if you have to stand out with your app promotions, you have to abridge the gap between creating a strong impression and addressing the needs of your customers.
An extraordinary app promotion will stand in the minds of audiences. Identify the most distinctive quality of your app and weave a story, which brings us to the next tip.
Weave a story
Who doesn’t like a good story? Apps are no exception when it comes to signifying their purpose with a convincing story. In fact, developing an emotional, gripping story via ‘video’ and releasing it as a part of your app-promotion brings out an emotional coverage with the audience.
For instance, if you have developed a game? What’s the background story behind it? Here’s an example of how Zynga’s Farmville made use of ‘videos’ to promote their game.
