Mobile apps are more popular than ever befores. But with hundreds of thousands of apps available to choose from, how can you make sure that yours stands out? Better yet, how can you confirm that your app reaches the right people who could really benefit from it?
The key to successfully launching a mobile app lies in your ability to properly market the product. You have to demonstrate the app’s value and show people why they should download it onto their phones.
In this guide, we’ll go over some of the top marketing tips you can use to launch your app.
Utilize ASO For Keywords That Bring In High-Value Clients
App search optimization, or ASO, is a critical element of success for any app. When you want to attract the most high-value clients—in other words, the people most likely to pay the highest price for your app's premium features—you need to optimize ASO for the following:
- The app name
- The app title
- And the app subtitle
Put yourself into their shoes and visualize the words they would use to find an application like yours. Experiment with some common keyword phrases and search for them in Google Play or the App Store to see what results you get. When you think your idea fits the bill—and is clearly the best in the bunch—then you know you’ve got a winner.
Prioritize A/B Testing
Once you know your targeted keywords, you can run A/B tests on them to find out which ones your targeted customers like and engage with the most. Any direct line of communication you have with your audience will provide a good way to test potential ideas.
Conduct Target Market Research
The only way you’ll ever know if your app is a good idea is if you conduct proper target market research. This will take a little bit of effort on your part, but researching your ideal audience will help you to clearly see the features, tools, and options they’re most interested in when it comes to mobile applications.
Figure out not only their basic demographics (age, location, job title, income, etc.) but also their deeper desires, fears, and wants. Is there a problem your app will solve for them that’s been bugging them for years? Does your app make a small part of their lives a little easier or a little more enjoyable?
If you can answer those kinds of deeper questions, you’ll be able to market specifically to those needs. For example, when conducting target market research for Zutobi, we uncovered the fears people might have about not passing or having to take the permit test multiple times. From there, we were able to create copy and ads that talked about these fears—and how our app can help people move past them. Those who are afraid of failing their drivers test could have their fears calmed by taking the practice test as many times as they needed until they passed.
Create Incentives To Encourage Customers To Share The App (Or Come Back)
Promoting your app with incentives is a great way to get new customers and engage with former ones. Freebies, giveaways, or discounts can be offered as a reward if users share the app with their followers on social media, or if they refer a friend who downloads it.
Also, incentivized apps can keep people returning your app more often, especially if they stopped using it or deleted it. For example, you could offer a prize or giveaway for each consecutive day of using the app or give a discount to resubscribe. Users could also receive push notifications recommending that they sign in and see what’s new.
Using our DMV practice test app as an example, we could incentivize our users who have failed the test to try again by using our app to study. Push notifications could go out to count down the days until their scheduled driver’s test and encourage them to keep practicing with our test resources until the day comes, or we could offer a discount for users who used the app to study for their permit test and are now using it to study for their license test.
Consider your customer’s goal and the problem they're trying to remedy by using your app when creating incentives. By creating little incentives along the way, you will keep them engaged and motivated to reach their end goal.
Embrace Feedback
Even if you think you know what users want when they use your app, it’s important to embrace feedback if you want to build it into something great. Getting feedback from customers is the only way to know where your app might be falling short or what areas you could improve on.
It also shows you where you're excelling and what your customers love. If you know your customers are going wild about a certain in-app feature, you can begin to brainstorm on similar features they might like or ideas on expanding that one to make it even better.
Become An Expert In Your Field
The best way to make sure your app succeeds is to become an expert or leader in your field and work from there. Be the innovator and change-maker in your industry. Brainstorm what it would be like to do something differently. Challenge the status quo.
If you don’t, your app will likely end up just copying apps that are already out there instead of being a true market leader.
Conclusion
Designing an app is no walk in the park—and neither is launching it. You have to get crystal clear on where your app stands out in the marketplace so you can provide a valuable tool for all to use. The more you keep your customer in mind, the more likely you are to succeed.