On your marks… get set… wait. Jumping the gun on mobile app marketing and launching is costly. Launching your app from the start line before you’re limbered up, well-trained and ready to go is a sure-fire way of ensuring your app never makes it to the podium. If you’re looking for your app to be a successful one you need to consider all the common pitfalls and ensure that you don’t fall foul of them. The reputation dent that a poor app can cause is not worth it: Mistakes cost.
Mobile apps are a rapidly growing and changing market. What worked six months ago is potentially out of date now. BizAPPBiz have done the homework for you. We’ve got your training schedule in top shape so that you can avoid the common mobile app marketing mistakes, and race to the finish line knowing that success is waiting. Apps are now our favorite tools of consumerism. Whether your app is aimed at increasing shopping functionality, communications, socialization or decision-making: Getting your marketing strategy right matters.
Be a Social Media Buddy – Make Friends and Use Them
You know your business better than anyone, and hopefully you know your consumer base too. You know if you’re being viewed by a raft of geeks who love their stats or the cool kids who want to know what’s in. Your Social Media voice needs to adopt a persona to match in order to effectively market your mobile app to the right clientele.
Hopefully you’ve already got a working and productive Social Media presence that you can utilize. If not, get one going and get the word out. Social Media is going to spread info about your app so it makes sense that you’re in control of it. By utilizing your own Social Media network to promote the app in advance of its launch you can entice those who already love your brand and your business to be ready and waiting in the wings ready to hit download as soon as they can.
We all love a bargain. You can use Social Media to offer incentives. That way, when you’re ready to launch, you’ve already got a customer-base ready to jump on the bandwagon. Incentives can be anything from extra lives in games, coupons for money off, or reduced in-app purchases.
Importantly, social media is going to come into play with reviews. Social proof matters where apps are concerned. Link positive reviews back to your Social Media and you set up a wonderful perpetual cycle of app love.
Hop from Social Media to Microsite
A microsite is a web page or group of webpages that is set up with an express and specified purpose separate from your main website. An ideal mobile app marketing strategy is to promote your upcoming app using a microsite. This enables you to give more info in a user-friendly way whilst targeting the right audience. By linking this across from your Social Media campaign you achieve a holistic approach that sells.
The microsite will increase your app’s visibility in a simple, benefits-driven, way. You may include such things as a video showing the app in use, or screenshots showing the app’s functionality. Importantly, there should be a link ready and waiting to be clicked for download.
Manage Expectations – Be a Salesperson with Integrity
Seriously. It is possible to do both, and it’s in your interests. If you make wild claims about what your app can do and don’t deliver on that promise you’re going to lose out, and lose out fast. App users aren’t known for giving app manufacturers second-chances. You’ve got one shot at getting this right. So…manage expectations.
Be truthful about your app’s capabilities whilst identifying its Unique Selling Point. Highlight the benefits of your app but don’t make unrealistic claims. You will be found out, and it won’t be pretty when a flood of poor reviews is tumbling down on you. Therefore, we strongly recommend including images and screenshots of your app in your marketing. Whet the appetite and let users have an insight in to what they will get.
And don’t treat your app as a mini-desktop. A mobile website is not an app. An app is an app, use it as such and market it according to its genuine capabilities.
Get on board with a new acronym: ASO
The chances are you have a vague idea about spiders crawling the web and that Search-Engine Optimization matters. But the new kid on the block is App Store Optimization (ASO). It matters for you and your mobile app marketing approach because the vast majority of new apps are found simply by browsing an app store. You need to be up there in the top search results to maximize return on your investment.
Just because things are never simple, ASO varies from platform to platform. At the end of the day you not only need to ensure your app itself is adapted to each different platform (for example iOS or Android), but you need to ensure you’re tailored to the specific ASO of the different platforms. This involves a delicate mixture of keywords, driving and encouraging reviews, and straightforward popularity.
Downloads are Great, But Retention is Better
Don’t just aim for downloads. Although downloads are a key and driving part of the app’s success, for real long term benefit your mobile app marketing strategy needs to be geared towards retention: keeping the users you’ve got, and importantly, getting them hooked into using your app. The marketing strategy therefore needs to address the lifetime value of an app by accurate interpretation and utilization of Analytics Data to ensure the app is of ongoing value. You need to use engagement mechanisms such as push notifications, subscriptions and in-app purchases to continue to make a difference to your bottom-line beyond download.
Go for Gold – Hone Your Mobile App Marketing
By addressing each of the above issues in your mobile app marketing strategy, before the fire of the gun, you can be sure that you’ll gain your place on the podium for app success. Apps can be invaluable for driving business success and growth, but they can also flop pretty easily, so don’t let that be your one. At BizAPPBiz we’re the experts so you don’t have to be. Avoiding app marketing pitfalls is second nature to us. We’re here to make your app the app to have in the most hassle-free way.