Is there a special secret to unlock when it comes to mobile app marketing?
Not really. You just need to know how to plan and approach your marketing efforts. Google Play alone saw more than 19 billion apps downloaded in the last quarter of 2018.
You need to have a solid promotional plan in place if you want to stand a chance at getting people to download your app.
Would you like to know the secret sauce to market your mobile app? Keep reading to learn how you can get more downloads of your app.
Planning Your Marketing Campaign
You start marketing your mobile app well before it’s ready to be launched. You need to have an understanding of your app and what the purpose is. Core questions such as who you’re targeting and how will the app help them in their daily lives must be answered.
Without that basic understanding, you’re throwing a ton of money at a wall hoping that something sticks.
For example, if you’ve developed a fitness app with workouts and meal plans for bodybuilders, you’ll need to know certain things about your audience. You want to know where they are online.
Are they on Instagram or Facebook? Are there forums that they use online?
That type of information will make your outreach much easier. You’ll be able to laser-target your audience with promotions before you launch your ad.
How Great is Your App?
You have to be completely honest with yourself when you answer this question. Is your app something that you would download and use yourself? Is it useful? Is it entertaining? Why would someone fall in love with this app?
Your app has to be designed to give users an outstanding experience. Otherwise, they’re just going to download the app, try it out and delete it after a couple of days.
They may leave a bad review of your app, which can damage your app’s reputation before your app has a chance to gain momentum.
To ensure that your app stands the best chance, you have to have a great design and flawless code. Your app can come across as “buggy,” which can cause slowdowns on different devices, leading to a poor user experience.
You can avoid that situation entirely by using an App Creator that takes care of the code for you. You present the idea and the design and the app creator takes care of the rest. No buggy code.
Pre-Launch Outreach
When you’re certain that your app will stand up to rigorous use, start doing outreach to your customer base and let them know that your app is coming.
Get them excited by explaining how your app will be a game changer for them. An app for bodybuilders that gave them workouts and meal plans leading up to a competition would be a game changer for many athletes.
Mobile App Listing
Whether you have your list on the App Store or Google Play, you have to treat them like search engines. Potential users will be searching for apps similar to yours. You want to make sure that your listing has the appropriate keywords in the headline and in the listing text.
Your listing also needs to give users a compelling reason to download it. Explain in one sentence why your app is worth downloading.
Influencer Marketing
Once you get your customers on board with your app, you’ll want to get influential people to use the app and post about it on social media.
For example, you can get a couple of the top bodybuilders and coaches for your fitness app to try it. Have them test it out and give their feedback. If they love the app, then ask them to post about it on their social media accounts.
Some influencers will charge for the promotional post. You’ll need to find a balance between an influencer that doesn’t cost a fortune but still has a big enough following.
When you establish a good working relationship with the influencer, you can use them in other marketing efforts, such as SEO.
Put the App Everywhere in Your Marketing Materials
One easy way to promote your app is to incorporate it into your current marketing efforts. Feature the app on your website, throughout social media posts, and in your email marketing.
You can go as far as to create buzz around the app in your marketing. Make people curious about the app in your social media posts by teasing screenshots of your app.
You can then roll out your launch in phases where you make it exclusive for the first 100 users who sign up to your list. You can then add people over 100 on a waitlist and slowly roll out the app.
Get Great Reviews Right Away
One of the most important things that you can do in mobile app marketing is to get good reviews right out of the gate. One of the ways to do that is to do a soft launch, where you have people in your sphere of influence try the app and leave reviews.
These should be people that you know, such as customers and vendors. Then other people will see the app ratings and be more likely to download it.
Reviews are the most important determining factor in downloads. Reviews and app ratings influence whether or not someone downloads the app. You want to have four or five-star ratings for your app. Even a three-star app won’t cut it for more users.
Mobile App Marketing Tricks
Mobile app marketing isn’t really rocket science. As long as you stick to the core principles of marketing, you’ll have a successful launch.
Of course, having an app that gives users an excellent experience is much more sustainable than a poorly designed app. It will be much easier to get your customer base and influencers excited about it.
You’ll also be able to get positive reviews, which is critical for the long term success of your app.
Want more great marketing tips? Find out what the top digital marketing strategies are in 2019 in this article.