There are many do’s and don’t when it comes to mobile app marketing. If you want to maximize app visibility and growth, one thing you don’t want to do is bury the lead. What does it mean to bury the lead in app marketing and why shouldn’t you do it? Keep reading below for answers to these questions and even some specific tips on how not to bury the lead when marketing your mobile app.
What Does it Mean to Bury the Lead?
The lead is a term that emerged in journalism in the 1970’s and it refers to the most important aspect of the article. From this came the adage, “don’t bury the lead”, or in other words, don’t hide the most important information in the story within other irrelevant or distracting information. When you bury the lead in regards to app marketing, instead of placing the best feature front and center, you’re letting other less important features of the app take the spotlight.
Why People Bury the Lead
There are a variety of reasons why marketers choose to bury the lead. Some believe it’s better not to give everything to the audience right away. Teasing information by releasing other app features before the “grand finale” could help keep the audience engaged to the very end. Another reason for burying the lead could be to trick the audience a bit. Another way to surprise them, going one direction with the start of your digital marketing campaign only to switch to the real primary benefit can shock them in a way that has benefits for the app campaign.
The biggest advantage of using these tactics to bury the lead is that they have the potential to entertain audiences and encourage them to talk. If your bait and switch amuses or shocks people, they’re likely to share it on social media or by word of mouth. Similarly, if many people are anticipating a reveal of the lead, they’re likely to tune into your campaign and follow your CTAs in order to find out more information.
Why Mobile App Marketers Shouldn’t Bury the Lead
With all of the above reasons why burying the lead can be positive, you might wonder why you shouldn’t bury the lead. But any marketing agency or professional will insist that your strongest strategy is not to bury the lead, especially when it comes to marketing a mobile app. Why is this?
- Your audience may lose interest. Have you ever been reading an article or social media post and clicked away in the middle because you couldn’t understand what the point was? This is a risk you run by burying the lead of your mobile app.
- You may confuse your audience. If your hook is buried too far under the rest of the information in your app marketing strategy, then people might not understand the primary purpose of your app. This could lead to people falling off the user journey after downloading the app or even to losing your target audience to other users who incorrectly believe the aim is right for their needs.
- You may lose the trust of your audience. While burying the lead does carry the possibility of building anticipation with your audience, it can also have the adverse effect of causing them to be wary of your intentions. If they feel that you intentionally led them astray they may wonder if you can actually deliver on the promises you’re making when they download the app.
How Not to Bury the Lead
If you’re putting together a digital marketing strategy and aren’t working with a digital marketing agency or professional, you’ll be in charge of making sure that you lead with the most important information about the app. Here are a couple of ways that you can do so:
- Narrow down your best feature. It’s true that you want your app to be full of value and it’s easy to think that that translates to having many different app features that do different things. But the best way to communicate the value of your app is to identify its single strongest feature and use that to reach your target audience. Most people have one main problem they need to solve and if you have a single, clear solution you’re more likely to garner attention.
- Be efficient with your copywriting. Once you’ve narrowed down your top feature, you need to be able to explain it to your audience in a way that grabs their attention and gets the point across. This means crafting an effective first line, whether you’re writing an email, a Facebook paid ad, or a webpage title. Don’t worry if the first line doesn’t explain everything right away. If you get the audience’s attention at the start based on your lead, they’ll follow you down the page to any further explanation needed.
- Back it up with other great features. Yes, it’s true that you should have one best feature of your app to focus on. But this doesn’t mean that you can lack on the other offerings of your app. Once your audience has been enticed by your hook, you’ll want to keep up their engagement with a well-rounded mobile app that can deliver in a variety of ways.
What Next?
If you’ve created a mobile app yourself, there’s a good chance that you can identify exactly what your lead feature is. But if you need help communicating that efficiently and effectively to your audience, you may want to reach out to a digital marketing agency that specializes in mobile app marketing. Working with an agency can help you take care of details you may be less familiar with in order to keep your focus on making your app the best it can be.