Top 10 Tips on Marketing Mobile Applications

It is not enough if you merely create a mobile app - marketing mobile applications is equally important. The best way to market your app is to go through an App Store. You will benefit immensely from including your app therein. But there is a hitch here.





There are almost 1,500,000 apps in the market and counting. How do you go about ensuring that the app you created gets the attention it deserves? How do you turn the stoplight on your application and get people going crazy over your hard work? Now that you created this wonderful app, how do you go about getting people to spread the word and purchase it?

1. Be Original

Originality is always a virtue. You stand a very slim chance of success unless you are truly original. You therefore need to do one of the following:

• Be the first developer to come out with your type of app or


• Present an existing category of app in a new, unique way

Today, it might get difficult to come up with an entirely new idea or category – there are just too many of them in App Stores already. So it might be safer to go with your second option and present an existing concept in a different way. Study the app you want to focus on. What is it missing? How can it be improved?


Adding that unique feature will immediately push customers’ attention to it. That will help push up your reputation in any app store.

2. Plan your Strategy

Nothing works without proper planning and implementation. So go about marketing your app in a systematized way.

• Keep your focus on marketing the product in a unique way. Plan out a marketing strategy well in advance.
• Place yourself in the potential customer’s shoes. Would you buy the app if you were them? Does the app appeal to you as a third person?
• Try out different ways to work on the same concept, like fusing different categories to make something new out of it.
• Is your core market too saturated? Why not try the exact opposite of what the market leader is doing? This will let you grab attention almost immediately!

 

3. Create an Effective Sales Pitch

Before you even start talking about the product, you need to create an effective marketing pitch for it. You should plan a sales pitch that sounds appealing enough for people to follow through to the next step.

4. Build your Website

Building a great website goes a long way in effectively marketing your product. Think of unique ideas and present your product in a way that will attract more visitors to your website. Show the app in action and also involve a human element. Tell people how and why they will benefit from buying your app. Your website will then act like your best marketing tool.

5. Tweet Away

Be accessible on Twitter. This is one platform that gets you plenty of attention, all for free. You need to get people to talk about your product. So create the necessary exposure by tweeting about it as often as you can and in as many different ways as you can.


Plan out your conversations in advance and find ways to convince people about the benefits of buying your app. Twitter allows only 140 characters, so decide what you should say and how you should say it.


Use a lot of humour and casual conversation while presenting your product on Twitter. This is bound to let people sit up and take notice of you. For example, saying, “Hey there, people! Check out this new baby!” will make you highly tweet-worthy, instantly.

6. Talk Easy

Being noticed via Social Media is all about being easy, conversational and approachable. Imagine that all people using social media are your buddies. Make conversation with them like you would, with your friends.

7. Get Blogging

Set up a nice blog and update it regularly. Understand that the blogosphere and social media are like Siamese twins – they always go hand-in-hand. Tech sites and review blogs are very useful in generating traffic too, so do try and get your product featured on these blogs.

8. Create Media Hype

Create a nice media pitch to market your product. It is of course important to develop a unique product, but it is also important to rustle up media hype about it.


Create a freely downloadable press release of your app, giving viewers some high-resolution views of the product. Also, make liberal use of promotional keys and giveaways. Run product-related contests and distribute relevant prizes to winners.


Invite reputed blogs to distribute your promo keys for free. Try and find category-specific blogs and you will instantly be able to approach target customers, without too much extra effort.


That way, many other blogs will follow suit and feature you in their front page as well. This is far more effective and permanent than Twitter.

9. Play Around with Teasers

Start your product hype early in the day. Keep potential customers on tenterhooks, by playing around with teasers about your products. Create some mystery around your product and maybe even a “Coming Soon” page on your website and pass it around to get a nice big mailing list for your website.
Creating a video teaser works really well too. This will generate some extra buzz on your product, even before its actual launch.

10. Launch Big

All the hype you generated for your product should be followed up with an equally big launch. Send out newsletters to everyone and hit social media big time. Hold an online event of the launch and ask media to cover it. Make sure the spotlight is on you always.


If you manage to make it into the “What’s Hot” section of App Stores, you have truly accomplished your mission. A word of caution - once you start to succeed, tone down the hype and focus on giving a good product to your customers, else all the efforts you took so far will fall slack.



In conclusion, no strategy is a surefire step to success, but the above-mentioned tips are guaranteed to make it easier for your mobile marketing efforts.


Author / Source:  Priya Viswanathan, MobileDevices.about.com