How To Market Your Apps Without App Store

With such rapid growth of smartphone usage, there is no doubt that we will see more and more mobile apps in the coming years. This makes it very crucial for everyone in the mobile application industry to learn more about the tools that can make for a comprehensive marketing strategy. Once an application is created and launched, its success depends largely upon how well it is marketed. That being said, you don’t need a huge budget to market your app. There are number of cost effective ways to market your apps and to get them noticed in a crowded market.

 

Make it Unique: Firstand foremost, to succeed in the world of mobile apps, you need to make something that gets the users excited and constantly improve on it. Build an app that is unique, well thought out and should be adding value. Be different from what your competitors produce. Remember, whatever idea you get for a new application, chances are someone has already thought of it, and maybe even created something on those lines. So even if you cannot make a product that does something different, ensure it does it differently.

 

Choose a good name:  Once you have an app ready, pick a good (& relevant) name for the app that makes it stand out in a crowded marketplace. The name should unique and have a good recall.

 

Use social media: Social media is one of the low budgeted and most effective ways to promote your app. This can work very well if you have a niche product. Getting in touch with your audience can be a great way to grow your customer base. Platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn and twitter are great places to start. Since they are accessed via mobile on frequent basis, it is a great way to grow your customer base. One should look to constantly increase their following on Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms by being active and also keeping the users engaged at the same time.

 

Make a YouTube Video: Along with utilizing social media sites, developers are also using YouTube to market their apps. And in many cases it is working really well. Not only can YouTube help you demo your product to your audience, it is an avenue that offers the opportunity for your app to go viral.

 

PR: Build relationships with bloggers and journalists/editors who cover your field. Send press releases and personalized, friendly emails to them to establish trust and relationship. Suggest that they test out your app and get them as excited about it as you are. Influential people writing about your app will make users sit up and pay attention. Target editors/journalists and Keep in touch with them, especially at business times of year, such as Christmas, summer, and Valentine’s Day etc.

 

Build a great landing page: Your website should look professional but that doesn’t mean that you spend a ton of money on it. Your website's quality will give people an idea on what type of quality to expect from your app, so if your website is hastily thrown together and looks ragged, your audience won't expect much from your app. Once the website is ready, link it with your social media accounts. Also, use some search engine optimization techniques to increase the visibility of a website.

 

Traditional Marketing: Using basic medium of marketing such as television media ads can get you great results. In promoting your app. Likewise, utilizing print advertising in specialized magazines and newspapers create awareness and brand recall. Running, tracking and measuring mobile ad campaigns with mobile ad networks, also place some advertisements on very carefully, purposefully chosen pages and blogs that are relevant to your app.  Try mobile video advertising, moving banners and rich media and analyze your conversions to see what provides the best results.

 

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