Step 1: Define the target audience for your app
Marketing requires the identification of your main customer segments and target them specifically
First things first, WHO are your audience? Obviously you’re developing the app for certain customers. So, you need to start by defining who they are, because everything about your app from design to function and marketing should be catered to THOSE customers. You might have already given this some thought when you first formulated the idea for your app, but you need to take into consideration any new tech trends that may have emerged during your development stage and use that to re-evaluate your intended target audience during your launch stage.
Step 2: Study the competition in the app marketplace
In order survive in the competitive market for apps, businesses need to consider the strategies of the competitors as well
Step two is all about scouting the competition. We don’t mean to scare you, but there are over 2.2 million iOS apps on the App Store, and 3 million Android apps on Google Play. So how do you make YOUR app stand out and not just seem like a generic one among a million others? Well, a strong app launch strategy is one that has given significant thought to the competition. Make no mistake about it; the app marketplace is a battlefield and you need to be aggressive and preemptive about your competition or you might get swallowed up by more hungry rivals. On this metaphor of warfare, we paraphrase the words of the master tactician Sun Tzu, who says that if you know your enemy and you know yourself, you can feel comfortable about the result of a hundred battles. So, our advice is to keep an eye on what your competition have been doing and what they could do in the near and distant future. Take some notes from their success, but also learn from their mistakes. No, we’re not asking you to stalk them; it’s called market research and this can help you plan how to improve your product before you even launch it, because nobody gets a second chance to make a first impression.
Step 3: Marketing – digital, social and all other types of it
A comprehensive marketing strategy should have include many different types of marketing, such as digital, social, offine
We have pinned marketing as step three, but really, it’s steps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and more. What we mean is that marketing is a crucial step that needs to be by your side all the way, like your own shadow. As we’ve said in our other blog posts, marketing and networking can be initiated well in advance during app development. If you decide to enlist the help of specialists in digital marketing and app launches, these experts will also need to understand all the ins and outs of the app to help get your app discovered. In order to make the presentation of the app to your target audience very impactful, these digital strategists will help you prepare a comprehensive marketing plan, which would typically include the following:
- Outlining your unique selling point – Identify what is unique about your app that your competitors don’t have.
- Building Marketing Channels – To rope in prospective users, you would need a dedicated website with different landing pages, SEO-compliant blogs, email signup options etc., all of which can help you attract and expand your user-base.
- Generating Social-Media buzz – You don’t want to seem like cavemen by not having an active social media presence. Another plus is that this allows your customers to relate to and identify and with you.
- Use of PR – This is all about preparing your press kit with descriptive information, marketing images, screenshots and videos which can explain the app’s features, functions, a colorful backstory perhaps and many more bits of genuine information that can assist you in the next point.
- Influencer Marketing – By enlisting influencers in your field such as tech bloggers or social media moguls to endorse your app, you can drive up your app download count.
- Beta testing – This is done using a selected group of people for bug fixing purposes and lets you give your app a face-lift based on early feedback, before your actual users are smothered by any issues.
- App Store Optimization – This includes picking an ideal app name, identifying keywords to rank your app higher in searches, marketing your app with a concise 2-3 line description, etc.
Step 4: Rinse, repeat and keep tweaking your mobile app strategy
Although all of the above pre-launch activities can help catapult you to the front-line, you need to be able to sustain that position once your app is launched. You will need to pay attention to user feedback, provide customer service and address any issues in subsequent app updates. As you go along, you will need to explore additional app marketing strategies, but that’s a topic for another day, so watch this space!