Having the skill set needed to create a mobile app does not guarantee instant success. The mobile app market is competitive. It is not an exaggeration to say that, every single day, thousands of active gaming companies are submitting hundreds of applications to app stores. In 2016, a study by Khaled Shaalan from Game Gavel showed that 73.1 percent of game developers felt that the biggest threat to the success of the mobile game industry was the overwhelming competition.
Many failed apps are actually quite inventive and would meet the needs of many people. However, in order to stand out, you need to identify marketing strategies that can lead to success. The following are the top five marketing methods for mobile apps.
Make Your App Stand out in the App Store
If you want your app to sell, people have to see it. This means that you must optimize your mobile app so that it ranks higher in app store search results. This process is called ASO. Here are six elements that can help improve your ASO:
- App Name– Success depends on thinking outside of the box. Include your brand name and also try to include a keyword or two. Apps that have a keyword rank 10 percent higher than those that don’t.
- App Description– Keyword research is essential during this phase. The description is where you are going to use your targeted keywords. Remember, your description will be read by potential users, so it has to make sense and should not be keyword stuffed.
- App Logo– Your app logo is going to be the first and largest thing that users see. It needs to make a good impression. You need to do some testing to make sure that it’s right. You want to communicate the quality of your app through the logo.
- App Category– The app category that you select should describe the main function of your app. Your app might fit into multiple categories. Do some research and find out which one people search for more.
- App Screenshots– This is where you get to show what your app is all about. Make the screenshots exciting, not boring and predictable. The screenshots should take viewers on a journey through your app.
- Localization–- A number of brands ignore this point and lose customers. If you have customers who speak Spanish, German, or Chinese, then your app description should be available in those languages. Prices should be shown in the applicable currency.
Create Viral Content
You want your mobile app to generate as much buzz as possible. Apps that go viral bring in a lot of money. One way that you can do this is by creating eye-catching demos of your mobile app. These videos should show off multimedia elements to grab your users’ attention. Publish these short videos on YouTube. Then, they can be embedded into your site and other sites. Remember, YouTube is a Google partner. If your video is hosted on YouTube, this is going to improve the SEO of your app.
Advertise, Advertise, Advertise
You can have the greatest mobile app in the world, but if no one knows it exists, it doesn’t matter. Sometimes you need to give your app a boost to get those first few hundred downloads. If your app isn’t free, why not give out a discounted coupon code? Or why not have a nice giveaway for the first 50 downloads? It’s best if your giveaways can be custom designed to meet the interests of potential customers.
You don’t want to give away so much that you hurt your bottom line, but you want to be sufficiently generous so that you can get the ball rolling. Word-of-mouth advertising is another great way to impact mobile app marketing.
Reach out to Numerous Markets
The Apple Store is not your only option for marketing your app. Google Play is the big player in the world of Android. There are a number of third-party distribution sites that can list your app. Some of these include Appland, Aptoide, Café Bazaar, F-Droid, Cydia, and GetJar.
Take the time to read the fine print before you list your apps with these companies. Some of them are free, others ask for a small fee, and some take a percentage of the download purchase price. You want to find the stores that are going to attract the audience your app was made for.
Take Control of the Narrative by Getting Good Reviews
You can do a lot to optimize the appearance of your app store page. But this alone does not guarantee that people are going to purchase your app. Users want to hear about the app and want to know what other people think about it. This is why reviews are a critical part of the mobile app marketing strategy.
This is especially true if you are offering your app for a price. It is not unusual for people to research their potential purchases. If you have made an app and you know people are going to enjoy it or find it useful, encourage them to say so in a review.
What you say about your product is going to impact potential buyers. But, they already expect that you are going to promote your product. However, if they hear positive things about your product from a random review or even a professional review, this is going to lend more weight to the usefulness of your product.
Social media plays a role in this. Facebook and Twitter should always be used in conjunction with word-of-mouth methods. Once people start talking about your app, those people and their followers will start to give your app traction.
As always, we love hearing from our readers. Are you an app developer? Or have you localized or marketed an app? What suggestions do you have on ways to improve the visibility of an app? Let us know in the comments section below!
