The biggest problem the developers of mobile apps face doesn’t arise during the process of the creation of the software. Promotion of the app is the most difficult task. You have to do everything possible to be seen and chosen by your potential users among a huge amount of the other apps in the stores.
Therefore it is so important to start developing your mobile marketing plan before the application is ready to be launched to the market. There are a lot of marketing activities that should be done before the launch, such as creating promotional materials, press-releases, videos, establishing social media accounts, etc.
Besides, when you start advertising your mobile solution before it is finished to be launched, you can get valuable feedback from your potential customers understanding if your app is ready enough to satisfy their needs. Below are the most important pre-launch marketing steps you need to take for creating a successful product.
1. Start with in-depth market research
Source: ball-law.com
You have to be sure that you’ve really created the software which people want and need. Analyze your competitors and you will see that perhaps some of them are missing useful features that can be added to your software. You can see strong and weak points of the application, identifying opportunities and threats in the future. When you identify your target audience, you make a research of demographics, personal opinions, interests and other information. It will show you what content you need to create to effectively promote your product as well.
Basically, market research and competitor analysis are the crucial works that should be done before you start working on developing your mobile product. You need to understand if your target audience needs another great solution to solve their needs or there is already a huge number of similar solutions and your product needs to have something unique and innovative. You can read more about how important marketing is at the development stage.
2. Make sure to work on the App Store Optimization
Source: editage.com
App Store Optimization (ASO) is the integral part of mobile app marketing. The better you organize the page of your software in the store, the higher organic traffic you will attract. You should start ASO before release of your software in the App Store and Google Play markets. Some important steps that should be done within ASO:
- Header optimization. The title will be displayed in the list of other products that are presented in the app store, that is why it should be easy to understand and remember, have no analogues in the same category and not contain incomprehensive characters. On Google Play, the optimal title length is up to 50 characters, in App Store – up to 23.
- Description of your mobile app. Store search algorithms are pretty smart, that is why add only relevant keywords to your app description. Otherwise, your product may be downgraded if you have a large number of clicks but a low percentage of installs. Remember that you write your content for people. Try to be creative and interesting, while telling about the best features of your app. Work hard on creating appealing screenshots and promo videos. It is not obligatory to add promo video, however, according to statistics such listings convert more visitors into app users. You can create a really cool video showing your app’s interface and best features. If you have several videos, it is possible to make a A/B split test and find out which one converts better.
- The icon of the app. In fact, beautiful packaging determines whether the product will be bought. Developing the icon is worth time, effort, and money. The image should catch the user’s eye, at the same time it has to be simple and easily recognizable.
3. Create a Mobile-Friendly Website for Your App
Source: jooinn.com
Another step of pre-launch marketing is developing your product’s landing page and content strategy. You may be asking why your mobile app needs a website when it is downloaded from mobile marketplaces. However, you need to remember that part of your target audience will search in the App Store and Google Play, while the others will be looking for such a solution in search engines like Google or Bing.
In order to rank in Google search by certain keywords, you will need to develop a website that runs fast on mobile devices. It is also important to make a blog section where you can post articles about various topics in your niche. While you may use your Home page for telling news about your app, contents, or publishing videos, blog posts on relevant topics will bring you organic users from search engines.
First thing, you will have to search for keywords and create a keyword list relevant to your product’s idea. Once the list is done you can start planning your content strategy to get everything written and published before the app is launched. The reason is that it takes some time to get indexed in search engines and it is highly recommended to start working on the website 2 months before the application’s release.
Moreover, you can use your blog to get readers excited about your mobile application’s release. Your goal is to create a buzz around your product before it’s live so that you can start getting installs one the app is live. It is very important to get first users to the product and engage them to live feedback and rank your solution on the stores.
4. Work Hard on SEO and Link-Building
Source: lifeofpix.com
As explained above, it is crucial for your mobile product to get traffic from search engines. In order to rank on the first page of SERPs (search engine results pages), you will need a strong domain authority with an established backlink profile. So, your next step is to get as many backlinks as possible in order to show that other sources are linking to your website and it is useful and reliable.
Moreover, link building is about spreading the word about the product and driving engagement. People are often influenced by the opinions of other users, their blogs and posts in social media. Find the right influencers for your topic and ask them for the reviews of your product. Be active on social media, because its content can spread the world in a couple of days.
There are a lot of ways of how you can get backlinks to your landing page. You can search for app catalogues and reviews websites and submit your mobile product to be listed as well. It is also a good option to look for blogs where you can create your profile and make blog posts. Just make sure to add your website link to the profiles.
