It takes a lot of time and effort to create an app. But what some businesses don’t know is that it should take just as much time to promote it.
You need to be doing all you can to show your target audience the value they will get from your app. For example, if it takes you a day or two to create a video, you need to be spending a day or two promoting it across as many channels as you can.
When it comes to promotion, it’s about the quality AND quantity. The app marketplace is very competitive so you need to do as much as you can to get it noticed in the Play Store and/or App Store.
This article will show you techniques to help increase the number of downloads and boost your bottom line. Implement them before and during launch to see the best results.
So, without further ado, here are 5 promotion strategies for a new app.
Design An Awesome Landing Page
The purpose of your app’s landing page is to explain what it is, how it works and track its performance. This information should then be used to increase the number of downloads and engagements with uncertain customers through other marketing channels such as email.
Ensure that your landing page includes plenty of clear call to actions. You must guide them down your funnel towards the download page. A good place to start is the story behind your brand to connect and build a relationship with a visitor.
Landing pages are also important for improving your SEO. Google wants to rank pages relevant for target keywords and content. Ensure your landing page provides plenty of useful relevant information about your app and keywords to boost your brand’s rankings in search results.
Finally, use your website’s landing page to collect visitors’ email addresses and start building a list. This can be used shortly before the app goes live. Drip feed content to subscribers to get them excited about downloading the app.
Demonstrate The App In A Video
Not everyone loves to read. A lot of people prefer to learn through visual content. For this reason, prepare a video that demonstrates how to use your app and why they would benefit from downloading it.
According to Healthcare Weekly, 8% of all mobile traffic will be video so not using this promotion strategy means missing out on a lot of visitors.
Visual content is likely to be shared over social media. In fact, according to Digital Authority Partners, that difference can be up to 40x more.
The video doesn’t have to be that long either; 30 seconds to a minute will do great.
Above all else though, the video must provide value to the watcher. If not, you can expect visitors to stop watching and exit your page.
When the video has been created, make it a prominent feature on your landing page and share it across your channels online. Upon launch, include the video on the download page too.
Create A Media List
One of the best ways to promote a new app is involving journalists and social media influencers in your niche. They have already developed an audience so they can be very useful at driving traffic to your download page and increasing the number of installs.
Influencers are particularly useful as they are active across social media and have only got an audience in the first place through their expertise in the field.
There is a way to get the attention of an influencer aside from emailing them and offering them a load of cash to promote your app. Instead, start by being an active member of their community. Like and comment on their posts, as well as with others that have engaged with it.
This builds trust within the community and makes it known you aren’t just there looking for downloads (even though you are).
In terms of using a journalist for promotion, contact them a few weeks prior to the launch to gauge interest. If they are on board, ask them for a shoutout when the app goes live to maximise the amount of traffic on launch day.
ASO
SEO was referenced earlier; it stands for search engine optimization. ASO stands for app store optimization. It gives your app the best chance of featuring high in the relevant category.
To start, write a brief description about your app – you don’t need lots of text to convince someone your app is worth downloading. Ensure the description uses your primary keywords to help with rankings and feature in the correct category.
As mentioned earlier, be sure to use a video to explain the app for visual learners. Screenshots of the app are a must too as they give a sneak peek to users for what to expect after downloading the app. Give them attractive captions to encourage installs.
Invest In Ads
The app marketplace is fierce. Everyone is trying to get to number one in their field so they get the downloads. Traditional downloads come from people either searching for your app or browsing app stores and selecting your app.
However, organic growth may not always be enough. One of the major ASO ranking factors is the total number of installs. The more installs your app has, the more popular it is, making it more attractive to those that don’t already have it, eventually leading to even more downloads.
To help it along, it may be worth investing in ads to promote your app.
Instagram and Facebook ads are the best platforms to promote your app. Not only is there are large user base, but they are also relatively inexpensive for the reach you get. Adwords is also a good option to explore but it’s more expensive than social ads.
Once the downloads from ads start to come, your app will rank higher in app stores, resulting in more organic downloads, etc.
Conclusion
These five promotion strategies for a new app will see your customer base grow and the number of downloads increase. Do as much as you can to get your app in the eyes of those you want to have it.
