Every business needs a mobile app. With how far technology has come, not having a proper digital mobile solution for your customers is an oversight. Mobile apps help bridge the gap between you and your customers more efficiently than any other digital solution.
With mobile apps becoming easier to create, many businesses have started utilizing them for various business processes. However, simply having a mobile app isn’t enough. Mobile apps allow businesses to grow their reach and get in touch with their audiences.
A mobile app needs to promote itself. Many businesses overlook mobile app promotion. They feel that simply creating a working mobile app is enough. They couldn’t be farther from the truth. You need to market your mobile app aggressively during its launch to get the traction you need.
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Why do you need to promote mobile apps
As mentioned above, simply having a mobile app isn’t enough. Mobile apps are a significant investment for a business. Depending on how you create your mobile app and what it will do, the cost of mobile apps can vary a lot. Some businesses code their app from scratch, others use no-code software like Appy Pie App Builder to make their mobile app. Some businesses simply outsource the app development process to a reseller.
What is the point of all that effort and investment if your customers don’t end up using the mobile you made? Even if you choose the no-code route which happens to be the most affordable, you must promote and educate your customers and potential clients about its existence.
You need to tell your customers clearly what the mobile will do and how it will achieve its goals. There are successful businesses whose mobile apps have failed because they failed to promote them. Forego the thought that users will automatically use your mobile apps once you launch them.
Essentially, here’s why you should promote your mobile apps:
- It needs to justify the costs you’ve invested in it
- A mobile app’s success is down to how much people use it
- A good number of users usually means that you’ll go the extra length to maintain your apps
This brings us to a critical question. How do you promote a mobile app?
How to Promote a mobile app
Promoting a mobile app is easier than it sounds. The good thing is that mobile apps always have excellent features that are very useful for your customers. The only thing you need to do to have them download your app is to tell them about these features. Here’s how you can promote your mobile apps to your customer base:
- Plan a launch: Once your mobile app is ready, treat it as a big deal. Don’t simply release it and send an email. Create a launch event, set an invite, create banners, advertise the launch, and create a marketing email campaign. No matter what your app does, treat it as a product you are offering!
Create hype around your mobile app. Even a little hype will go a long way. Highlight its key features and, if it is a paid app, offer trial periods and early bird discounts. A proper launch will give your app the necessary momentum that it needs to succeed.
- Double down on your brand message: Every business has a brand message that it is trying to live up to. Market your app as a realization of that message. Create a strategy that shows the app as a part of your brand that lives up to that message and promise you to give to your customers.
- Study app marketing strategies: The best part about app promotion is that plenty of businesses have already successfully promoted apps. Take marketing cues from them, study their success and create a marketing plan for your app.
- PR and advertising: If you have the budget, start a PR campaign and conduct paid advertising. Advertise to your potential audience directly. Send out PRs and marketing emails. Leave no stone unturned!
- Utilize social media: One of the simpler things you can do to promote your app. Use app screenshots and churn out social media posts. Create a unique hashtag and get busy on social media answering questions and promoting on every platform possible.
- Create a webpage/website: You will need specific landing pages for marketing your app. Consider building a website for your social media and app marketing campaign. If you are short on resources, various no-code social media website builders out there can assist you in creating websites in minutes.
- Appeal to tech influencers: Mobile apps are a technology product. Try to get endorsements from popular tech influencers to create a buzz about your app. Ask influencers for collaborations and advertise your app directly to their audiences.
- Blog about it: Good ol’ SEO is there to save your day! A lot of your efforts will go to waste if you forget the SEO part of it. Write blogs about your app, its features, and its potential. Promote the blogs alongside your app as a source of information for what it does.
- Optimize your app for stores: Your app will be published in an app store. Be sure to utilize an ASO agency to optimize your app store descriptions and images. App store optimization is the SEO for app stores. ASO ensures your app can be found easily when users search for them on the app stores.
- Rewards and Discounts: This is for paid apps. Customers need an incentive if they are going to purchase your new apps. You can set up rewards/discounts for early users. This can help give your new app the extra push that it needs to find its way into a customer’s smartphone.
Summing Up
Mobile app promotion isn’t that difficult. You will only create a mobile app if it solves a problem your business faces. If you have simple problems to solve, an app made with a web app builder like Appy Pie is good enough. Users will automatically download your apps to solve similar problems. However, despite that, awareness that you have an app is important.
Once your app is used by a large number of your customers, you will get the necessary word-of-mouth marketing that you need. However, to get to that point, you must push your existing customers to download your app.
