The aim of marketing an app is to get their app to as many users as possible. You can find countless apps available for download on the numerous platforms available, more than any one person could ever look at. Your ap needs to stand out amidst a great many apps that are available. As the market grows, it is no small feat to successfully gain the attention of your target audience when launching a new app.

Experienced marketing professionals don’t rely on a single channel or a short-term timeline. Successfully marketing requires both pre- and post-launch efforts through several channels. You don’t want to rule out paid marketing or organic growth, so several channels should be considered in the strategy. Here is the complete guide that you need for app marketing. Now, this is something that every app owner needs to follow.

Before You Launch

Many people realize that it is necessary to have a solid marketing strategy in place before their app goes live. If you desire to make a successful product, it is essential for you to know who your customers are and where exactly you can find them. Now, this is one of the most critical pieces of the app marketing puzzle that you need to know. These are some of the steps that you may need to follow before you launch the product.

Select Keywords

It is necessary for you to understand the keywords that matter the most for your product. While a keyword can mean so many things, in generic, it is the term that the customer uses to recognize what your app is going to do. For example, the most important keyword for a sudoku game is “sudoku.” In the same manner, as a calculator, the main keyword would be a “calculator.” These are some of the easy examples, but in some cases, you might have to use peculiar keywords and hence they might not be something that is obvious.

There are some tools available like MobileDevHQ App store optimization tool as well as its competitor AppCod.es which you might consider using. These tools give you more information about the keywords that people use frequently and provide insights into how to distinguish your product from your competitor’s apps. It will give you a clear image of how often people are using these keywords to search for something on the app store. It is necessary for you to select strong keywords if you want your app to be successful. It should be part of a marketing strategy.

Select An Excellent Name

Though this is something that is probably obvious, in some cases, it is not. Do not forget that the name that you give to your app will often make or break it. Ensure that the name of the app is something that is memorable and unique. Including a keyword that potential users are using to search is also a great idea to get the needed attention.

Know Your Competitors

Once you decide the keywords, the next thing that you need to do is to research your competitors. Take time to find those apps that are ranking high in the app store search results using the keywords. Research about their feature set and also discover what other keywords these guys are targeting. Filter the long list of the competitors by checking the reviews left by the users.

Pick the Right Category

Undoubtedly, deciding the category of the app is not a simple task. It is a whole different science in itself. Pick a category that will give your app a better chance to rank well. It goes without saying that not all categories are as popular as others. For example, a social category app will drive more downloads than a lifestyle category. For your app to rank high in a social category it is going to be very tough.

This is because if you launch a social app, you’ll be competing with Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter, Tumblr and so forth. Beating these apps is practically impossible as people across the globe love them. Perform a risk calculation yourself and also take time to check the pros and cons of each of the categories. After doing extensive research, pick a category that is relevant for your app to succeed.

Icon Should be Awesome

An icon is one of the most important aspects of your app. It conveys a message to the users about what they can expect from the app.

Create an icon that is appealing to the users so that they can click on it when they find it in the search results. The icon should stand out on a grid on the user’s device. Unless you carefully craft an eye-catching icon, most users are unlikely to use it frequently..

Screenshots

If you want to convert a visitor to a user, the app should look convincing. Screenshots are quite essential as they can help demonstrate to the visitor the functionality and aesthetic of the app. Take the best screenshots and include them on the download page so that more people can understand how your app is going to look before they download it.

Most people think that their journey ends the moment they launch their app. But it is definitely not so; launching the app is just the first step. There are two types of marketing once you launch the app, paid marketing and organic marketing. The best option is to choose organic promotions for which you don’t have to spend any money to get more downloads. Many people cannot afford paid marketing as it will cost a lot of money to advertise.

App Store Analytics

If you want to know if your app is doing well, you can link your app to an analytics tool. It will track your app and provide you with great insights of where you are lacking and in what segments you are doing well. You can find a lot of app analytic tools these days that can carry various functions. App Annie and MobileDevHQ are a few of the favorite mobile app analytics tools that you can find in the market.

Feature in App Review Sites

There is a very high percentage of downloads that only happen after the app review sites give good feedback about the app. Now, this might include tech news, mainstream media, and niche related sites. Identify those blog sites and authors applicable to your app and approach them to see if they can publish an article or two about your app.

Pitching to a journalist is hard. One rule that you need to follow is to put yourselves in the shoes of the author. Some like to write popular articles while other focus on breaking news. Offer them something that they are more likely to be interested in.

Building an app is never an easy thing and marketing it can be even more difficult. You need to use a multi-faceted approach that is coherent and coordinated to become successful. Besides creating a terrific app, put in time and effort to market in all the possible channels to become successful.