The industry of global mobile advertising has been continuously booming for the past years. From 2012 to 2013, there is a rather high growth rate of 88.8% in total revenue, jumping from $5.3 billion in 2011, to $8.9 billion in 2012. In a press release by IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, it was revealed that there’s a strong growth across various formats of mobile advertising.
It’s not surprising that a number of publishers and developers switch to mobile advertising to boost their sales and enforce their presence in the mobile app industry. With almost a million apps in the Apple App Store alone, there is indeed a real and feasible market with this industry that cannot be ignored by developers and publishers.
However, this increasing number makes it quite hard for others to penetrate the industry. There are many challenges that a publisher can face, and it may even lead to a company’s failure if not properly overcome.
Marketing your apps does not just entail the proper media buying or placement, and it’s not just about social media strategies. There is always something more to effectively launching a marketing strategy. Although the proper marketing plans, such as making use of mobile advertising, can very well help your app get to be known in the iOS or Android App Store, there are other ways to actually market your app and retain a loyal user base.
How exactly can you put your app on the top of the competition through different ways? Here are five ways to actually help you build that very important loyal user base to make sure your target consumers definitely notice your app.
Facebook – It does more than connect you to friends.
Facebook has been developing over the past years to promote and advertise mobile apps. Marketing with this platform goes more than asking for lives in a candy app, or asking for a certain ingredient in a restaurant simulation game.
It can effectively reiterate and strengthen your brand. And with 1.1 billion users under its name, Facebook is definitely not some social media network that you can just ignore.
Facebook mobile ads are actually very cost-efficient. Likewise, it offers prominent ad placement and with effective and efficient user targeting, as well. Facebook also has a higher loyal user base, as well as more engaged users as compared to other premium advertising platforms. According to a marketing blog, there is a 75% reduction in costs when it comes to the consumer price index.
Loyal users are very important, so take care of them.
One of the most powerful marketing strategies is probably using your loyal user base effectively. It may depend on your app as to how you’ll roll out perks to your loyal users. Some examples include daily rewards for opening an app once a day, or registering their emails to tie up with your app.
Asking for their feedback is also one way to know what works best for them. Making things interactive will allow them to feel that your company or your app is listening to what they think, and that you are responding to their suggestions.
Likewise, these users also tend to share your app on social media platforms. In return, they help you to actually spread the word effectively – and without even spending too much on advertising.
A microsite especially for your app can hook new users and retain old ones.
A good microsite is one that gives all pertinent information to your app. Downloads may come from app stores, but the web is also very powerful in driving traffic. Some app microsites hook new users by making them register first before even knowing what’s all about. Others entice new users through very good taglines and copy, so make sure your microsite is very effective in using words.
Likewise, old users can refer to the microsite if they need some documentation or help. Some also offer various perks and benefits for loyal users who visit the microsites. However, you may want to use it, the effective use and proper words can be very powerful in marketing your app.
Make new campaigns or give some freebies away.
Remember the last time you bought something because it was on sale? Or perhaps the last time you actually registered to a developer’s website because they give out something for free? Those things work. In fact, there are lots of apps who boost their in-app sales by cutting down the prices for a while, giving the users a ‘demand’ in their minds. By giving timed discounts, you get to create a ‘scarcity’ in your users’ minds. Thus, most of them would typically buy within the time frame that you would want them to purchase something.
Another great way to market your app is to make it free – for a period of time. Users love freebies. Aside from making the app itself free, you may also make some in-app purchases free for some time.
Keep your content up to date.
What’s worse than stagnant water? Stagnant content. Users, upon seeing that you perhaps last updated your some years ago, would tend to forget about your app. Keeping an updated website or a blog can say a lot about your brand and company.
Your microsite or blog keeps your users informed that you’re really putting effort into your app. Another importance of keeping it updated is because Google would index your content. It can help create a lot of traffic to your website, and in turn, to your app. It also helps with your search engine rankings, as well as effectively targeting some search keywords.
Apart from your blog, keeping your social media accounts updated will also keep your audience and users proactive. Some apps release some sneak previews of their app updates, or even new versions. It keeps the audience interested and engaged, as well.
By doing one or all of these strategies, marketing your app would seem to be quite easier. However, remember that your creativity and patience would be the key factors to make your app a definite hit.