Think that your hard work is now over that you’ve finally finished developing your app? Think again. If you want your app to perform well you are going to have to spend some time actively promoting it. Because your sole revenue relies on the subscriber base you have.
With number of apps deployed in the app market it is a real challenge to grab the attention of the target audience in an effective manner. Although there are number of poignant platforms available to publish your app, the story you are going to tell your targeted audience and a correct marketing strategy are what would give you exponential revenue. It is not because your idea was not original or the app had oodles of bugs. But rather the false expectation of immediately reaping rewards after uploading their app on appstore.
Here are some tried-and-true methods that really worked out for app developers to market their app just right. If you are a developer/entrepreneur who has created an app and looking for ways to market it this article is for you.
Customers (subscribers) are your backbone.
Start the process before you finish creating your App!!
Before you are half way through creating your app you can get hold of groups of possible subscribers and let them know about your app idea and ask them if it’s something they would want to subscribe to? What they would really like to see in it? What issues are they facing that needs addressing? How can you make the app more savvy and beneficial for them? Remember your subscribers have their own groups of people they talk to and if you are able to convince them, you’ll be able to have a wider reach resulting in a wider subscriber base.
Get creative, Think out of the box
You should first have a clear idea about the type of market your app is addressing. Who is it targeted at? Who would most likely subscribe to your service? And what is the most effective way you can communicate with them? What mediums should you choose to reach them? And most importantly what is the story that would convince them?
Think out of the box, think locally Build your story to cater to your potential subscriber base! What the app has to offer to them? What issue were you trying to solve with this? How is your app going to change the whole landscape of the problem? How will one benefit from the app if he subscribes to it?
What would make him want to pay money for subscribing for it? Having a compelling story covering these points is really important to get more subscribers attraction. Plus, let’s not forget whatever said and done word of mouth is still the easiest way of marketing your app and an effective story will go a long way!
Moving on, the keyword you use on your app is one other important factor concerned where the reach of your app is concerned. It is really important for the keyword used to register your app to be catchy and easy to remember. That way the necessary call to action will travel along with your story through word of mouth.
Think Smart
Some of the apps you create might have a wide subscriber base consisting of magazine readers, newspaper readers And even ones that surf the web all the time.
You first have to have a clear idea about the audience you are targeting to market your app. Their likes and dislikes etc. you have to segment your target subscriber base according to their behavior. And set different strategies to reach each of these groups. Each group has different preferences and methods of communication which are specific to them.
For an example an English teaching app can have several different potential subscriber groups. You can target school students, University undergraduates and even general public who would like to get notified on English words daily. How can you target all these three audiences to subscribe to your app?
First of all we’ll see how you can target students. For them you can give printed marketing material with minimum expenses on your side. Maybe a small printed card with the clear message of the keyword and the relevant number, or else a flyer or even a sticker. Plus you can even do a bit of advertising on the magazines, students will be interested in reading. It may be a college newsletter or a weekly magazine with exciting content. Try posting a small advertisement on these magazines and newspapers. When you are targeting University undergraduates or even professionals who are following professional qualification courses you can distribute printed cards with the message on it at a time when they come out of lectures. This approach will trigger them to subscribe to your app service.
There’s also a community of people who are flocked around social media and the web in this digital age! Target this audience through resources available on Social Media and the web!
Following are some other examples for choosing an effective marketing approach to market your app.
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- Daily dieting tips: Advertising on a women’s magazines
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- Daily tech news: advertising on a science magazines
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- Automobile tips: Classifieds fields of a newspapers
You can think even smarter! You can even promote one app in a messages sent to subscribers through another app! Think you have an app which is a word game! Your English teaching app would be the best app to market the word game app by appending the promoting text to the English teaching message your app sends out to its subscribers! Talk to your operators and see if they would allow this feature!
Get your operators help
If your operator has a way of marketing your app don’t be hesitant to get on board with that. Your service provider / telco operator will most likely have a service through which you’ll be able to spread the word around about your app and how to subscribe to it.
Use Social Media and the Web!
Create a page dedicated for your app on Facebook, and in twitter. Get your friends to like the page and spread the word. Include screenshots and the content you have posted there. Get the best out of the free promotional platforms on web. With time you can monitor the effectiveness of your page and decide whether it is okay to start a Facebook ad campaign. With just a small amount you can create an ad to gain more likes to your page. And if you have member groups where you usually interact frequently, sharing a post with an eye-catching picture will be as much effective as word of mouth. So don’t be hesitant to try that.
If you think that your reach is widening through an effective ad campaign, you can also try doing some google ads. This will not cist you much but will get you a considerable amount of reach and subscriptions. If your initial campaign seems to be running good, start a new campaign to run for some more time with a higher budget.
Refrain from spamming
Whatever the advertising and promotions you do, make sure you don’t spam your potential subscribers by anyway. Using bulk messaging, spamming them with emails will only push your customers away and you will lose their interest before you even start impressing them with your service.
Create a demo video
If you have the skills and money to do a demo video of your app it is going to get you more number of subscribers. Everybody likes to watch a small video and see what it is about rather than reading a long blog post. You can make a simple video and upload it on your YouTube channel for free. The video has to be short, precise, simple and to the point. Include details like what makes your app stand out from the rest. What are the features that make your app special? How to subscribe to your app? Your demo video should ideally be 2 or 3 minutes long and eye catching. And make sure you share the video on your social media pages.
These are some of the ways you can effectively market your app. As mentioned above, the key strategy is to have a good convincing story for your subscribers to make them want to select your app among others, to solve their problem or for their entertainment. Use the free platforms available for you at first and get the best out of it. Then slowly move into the paid platforms for a more sustainable strategy. Your first attempt might not succeed, but don’t be disheartened try out new ways you can do marketing and come up with your own plan.
