The vast majority of businesses nowadays need to be easy to access or people aren’t going to find them. That is why nearly every business has some sort of website promoting their business, whether the site is good or not depends on the store. But as times continue to progress, more and more businesses are beginning to have mobile apps as well as websites.
To get more people to use a mobile app, first market the new app through things such as social media or paid advertisement. Then, make sure to create an effective, simple application that people will want to continue to use. Lastly, get positive reviews to optimize the app on the app store page.
Each of these can a lot easier to say than to do, however, with the right mindset and help, it can easily be done with great success. I will help explain how to be most effective in each of the three major factors to increase users and what specific ways you can implement it for your app to reach your specific audience.
Planning Mobile Campaign & Marketing
There are many ways for you to market your mobile app!
Paid Media
Paid media can be anything from pay-per-view ads to billboards or event text ads. Social Media ads are technically also going to be paid ads, however, because of how big and important these have become, I will talk more about them in their section.
Paid media can be a wide variety of different types of ads, but the most common variety is pay-per-view and pay-per-performance ads. These two are nearly the same, except one you pay depending on how well they help increase app traffic, and the other you pay for every view of the ad.
These are effective and good ways to market your app, however, pay-per-performance is considered the safer of the two options.
Other good ways to market your app are through newspapers, magazines, and radio. The success of these strategies is going to depend on who your specific audience is because many people don’t use physical versions of newspapers and magazines nowadays. However, there are some audiences who still prefer these, so don’t rule them out! If you do choose to use these marketing strategies, also have a plan to market online as well to hit as many people as possible. Billboards and posters are other options, but if used alone have a very low conversion rate.
The last paid media advertising that I would recommend will likely be the most expensive of the three. Television marketing, while being expensive, is a great way to advertise to large-scale audiences. It also allows you to hit your target audience with ease, as you can choose which channel you advertise on. And while it may not seem worth the cost, over and over, by a wide variety of model apps, we have seen television ads help increase users.
Social Media Marketing
Social Media Marketing is a type of paid media, however, over the past years, it has become so important and effective that it has become its own type of advertising. There are multiple ways that you can advertise your app on social media, using both your business accounts and through ads.
The easiest and most obvious option for advertising the creation of a mobile app is to use your business accounts. Those who are already interested in your business are then going to be aware of this and will be more likely to use the mobile app. It also will make it easy for your supporters to share this new app with their friends by reposting on commenting on the announcements.
Social Media is also a great place for you to place ads. According to Statista.com, people typically spend an average of 2 and a half hours a day on social media apps, meaning that by advertising on social media, people are going to see your ads. Facebook and Instagram are the most popular of any social media, and these sites also allow you to specifically advertise to your target audience. Also, social media ads tend to be pay-per-view or another variety of this style of ad.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is very similar to social media marketing. As a business, you most likely already have an audience, and if you have any of their emails, then send them an email informing them of the launch and development of your app. Doing this can also act as a chance to give early access to a few beta testers for a teaser app.
Have a Teaser App
Ideally, a teaser app will be done about a month or two before you launch the app. Then, after sending out the emails, you can also ask for people to volunteer to help test it. Select several loyal customers, and this will offer a unique experience for those testing it and increase the hype for the rest who are waiting for the official release. It is also smart to have some sort of influencer use and promote your app before you release it as well.
Market the Experience
When it comes to marketing your app, you don’t want to overwhelm those who might be interested in your app. So, market how it will make the user’s life simpler or easier. Don’t go into all of the small and intercut details about every feature your app offers. Statistics have shown that by doing this nearly 86% of customers are more likely to purchase or use your app.
Blog About Your App
Another good way to advertise and increase publicity about your app is to enter the blogosphere. Have someone who is known for covering topics similar to your app and have them cover or talk about yours. This will increase the number of people who will hear about your app, and it will be likely that many people who will see the blogs will become first-time users.
Making the App Effective
After (or before) you have advertised your app, you need to actually create the app!
Keep It Simple
When it comes to mobile apps, people want them to be simple and easy to use. If your app is too complicated to learn, then you most likely are going to lose the user. Everything on your app should be clear and simple so that someone who is viewing your app for the first time can navigate and find everything.
A great way to make your app simple but to still catch the attention of the user is to use videos and well-made graphics. Also remember that when you are just getting started, you probably won’t have much content, but don’t sacrifice quality for quantity. It will be much better for your app if you have quality content rather than a lot of content.
User Interaction
One of the biggest things that you can do to help increase the number of users you have on your app is to prevent the loss of any users you already have. You are more than likely going to receive reviews for your app on whatever app store that you use, so make sure that you review these reviews often and try to address any complaints.
When people mention negative aspects of your app, try to make changes to help and allow for more positive reviews in the future. Also, it is smart to leave room for people to make comments on the content that you produce. Read through the comments to see what your audience and users prefer and also find more insights on how to improve your site and business.
It is incredibly important that when people go to your app that they have an enjoyable experience and that you don’t lose anyone from them disliking the app. One of the most important ways for people to see more of your app is through reviews that your app receives. The better reviews you receive, the more likely your app will be at the top of the app store and generate more traffic and users.
Motivate User Referrals
Once your app has been released, you will want to keep advertising and find ways to continue to get people to find your app. One of the easiest, and the only free option, is to get those who have already used your app to refer to it. Several other ways will help and encourage more users, the biggest being the teaser app.
For those who get to beta test, they are going to be very likely to share the experience with friends, as it is something that is not super common. So, when they talk to their friends about the cool experience, people are going to be interested in the app that they tested and are likely going to visit the app. And those who receive the email but aren’t testing it are probably going to mention it while they wait for the release.
Also, if your app has been made well and offers lots of benefits for the user, then people are likely going to talk about it. Through all of these ways, people are likely going to talk about how it is a good app and through these means, you are going to get more users to check out your app.
Optimizing App Store Page
Internet Reviews
Reviews are an important part of determining where your app will rank higher in the app store. The better rated the app, the more likely it will be the first one to pop up when you are looking for it. When you go and look at the Google Play App Store, the lowest-rated app on the front page is 3.9/5. So, when it comes to trying to get your app seen by more people, you are most likely going to need at least a rating of 4, and as you receive more reviews, the higher your app will climb as well.
When you do receive negative reviews, try to address them so that future users do not have the same problems. Comment on these negative reviews telling them that you are fixing the problems, that way when people are considering your app, they will see that you address any problems people have.
App Store Page Optimization
If you want your app to be found by people, it needs to be one of the first apps that people see when searching in the app store. It is very similar to how people rarely go to the second page of Google search results—the further people have to search to find your app, the less likely they are going to download and use it.
Some important things that will help your app store page optimization in having good reviews. Next, use keywords that people will research often so that when they are searching for apps, yours is more likely to come up. Give a detailed, but simple, description for your app and avoid using the word “app”. Another way to help is to add plenty of high-quality apps and videos so that people can see and know how your app works.
Pitch to App Review Websites
An app review website does what you would guess—it goes over and reviews your app. When reviewing apps, they look for whether they are reliable, perform as expected, respect user privacy, and are free of objectionable content. Not only will having your app reviewed through one of these sites help you make sure the app works well, but it can also let you know if it isn’t ready to be released.
Apple’s app review site tells that there are several reasons that they tend to reject reviewed apps. These most common ways are crashes, bugs, broken links, placeholder content, requesting permission, inaccurate screenshots, incomplete info, substandard user interface, repeated submission of similar apps, misleading users, and not enough lasting value. Having all of these things and more reviewed through your app will help make it look and feel more professional for users. All of these things will help increase the likelihood of your app showing up first on the app store.
To learn about a few more mobile app marking strategies, check out this video!
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