GETTING YOUR MOBILE
APP OUT THERE
Below are 5 great strategies that will give your app the
upper hand:
1. Start Marketing Your App in Advance of its Release
Having a finished app to post a link to is great, but you
don’t need to wait until your app is completed to start drumming up awareness
and traffic. Determining a target market for your app is the first step of this
process. Knowing who is going to use your app allows you to target the
appropriate discussion boards, online groups, and internet forums most relevant
to your potential app users. Start discussing the app’s future release, its
use, and its features. don’t be shy to ask for feedback. These groups are full
of potential early adopters and your app isn’t the first one they will use. You
will create early awareness for your app and might get some very constructive
advice along the way.
2. Don’t Forget About Social Media!
Long passed are the days where social media marketing was
considered a seldom used tool. Today, almost any marketing campaign includes a
social media arm, and creating noise for your mobile app is no exception.
Having a frequently updated Facebook page and Twitter profile funnels a good
amount of consumer traffic, so why not let them know about your upcoming (or
already released) mobile app? Posting links, pictures, videos of the app’s use,
and comments in general translate into more attention for your app and more
users too. But don’t stop there, utilizing sites like YouTube, LinkedIn, and
Tumblr will only help your cause so don’t leave any social media rock unturned!
3. Blogging is Best
Blogging has carved out a great niche for itself for
generating internet attention. In the world of search engine optimization,
content is king and in the world of content, the blog stands at the top of the
hill. Talk about your app, why its important, and why your consumer needs it
but don’t stop there. Getting others to blog about your app is arguably more
important than blogging about it yourself. Remember those internet forums and
discussion boards? Well, it might be time to revisit them. Getting bloggers
with solid followings to blog about or even just link to or mention your app
generates a large amount of attention and makes your app more relevant on
search engine queries at the same time. Don’t forget to link your blog back to
your social media outlets either.
4. App Store Optimization (ASO)
As we mentioned above, ASO is continually growing as a
mainstay avenue for app promotion and if you’re unfamiliar with the process,
it’s time for a short lesson on the key steps you should be taking to ensure
your app isn’t at the bottom of the app store food chain. Peter van der Graaf
outlines some key strategies for successful app store optimization that are
absolutely worth checking out, but here’s a general summary of what he points
out:
Similar to search engine optimization, keywords and relevant
phrases play a large role in increasing your app’s relevancy when coming up in
an app store search. Associating specific phrases and keywords in the app’s
name, description, and publisher information will influence the priority your
app takes in app store queries. But that is only the tip of the iceberg. Check
out Peter van der Graaf’s article on ASO for a more in depth look into the
process.
5. Get Reviewed
In today’s age, the consumer doesn’t simply walk into their
local Best Buy to purchase a TV; he or she will browse the internet for product
reviews and customer testimonials before making any investment into a product.
Today’s product needs validation, and the world of mobile apps is no exception.
Getting your target market on board means letting them know that your app is
worth their time, and just telling your audience that your app is great doesn’t
cut it. A good review from sites like Cnet Reviews and Mashable are more often
than not the validating nod given to app users to go ahead and download an app,
and getting a favorable review from one of these sites can do wonders for your
number of downloads. But don’t stop with just one or two reviews, there are
plenty of reviewers out there and pages of positive attention to go with them.
If you’re using an iOS platform, be sure to check out this exhaustive list of
reviewers by their Alexa ranking.
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