App Promotion : How to create a buzz with your mobile apps

If you think making an app is a tough cookie, you haven’t tried promoting it yet. It’s that final hurdle where many a business has come and got stuck. The most common flaws begin with ludicrous app ideas. People like to think of mobile app developers as perfectionists, and if they fail to deliver the perfection, then it’s all “letting yourself down” stuff.

At Apptunix itself we come across various mobile app pitches that just can’t be taken seriously. Having plied our trade in mobile app development for some time now, we know a thing or two about the kind of apps that get people talking. So our experience tells that if an app doesn’t look good on paper, it’s going to be hard work getting it working on the mobile screen, and more so promoting it.

So, what really does it take to promote an app?

Without looking too far ahead, focus on the app idea first.

Has it been attempted before, or you’re going to announce yourself as a pioneer?

Is your idea feasible enough?

How is it going to help people?

Is it going to be addictive?

And lastly, your business concerns.

There’s no point in rushing headlong into any mobile app development when the chances of its success are meagre. It’s often skipping this early assessment that leads to racking your brains when the app promotion seems to go all too wrong. The app stores are replete with apps, and there area  number of apps that enter in with high hopes but disappear very quickly without getting noticed.

The following are a few measures that can help get your app noticed

What’s the story behind the app?

Every app has a story to tell, and even as a business, you shouldn’t shy away from sharing it. People appreciate learning about the background of any product or service they might use.
A good story always catches the user’s attention and can actually give your app a head start in your promotional efforts. Look to propagate this story as much as it’s possible through your advertising media.

• • Reach out to your customers

You wanna know what the people who’ll be using the app think of it before making it live? Target all the people who’ve shown interest in your app or subscribed to newsletters. Request for a brief dialogue, no more than five to ten minutes and look to get a good idea about how those people would like your app to function. This approach introduces crucial new aspects of your app that you might be unaware of. The likelihood of your app being used increases when you act on data collected through market research.

• • A website to call its home

There are few better uses you could put your website to than talking about your App on it. There’s a good chance that if your users don’t find your app directly on the App Store, they will find it on your website. Creating pop-up reminders whenever user visits the website or creating a different section dedicated to your app altogether would be ideal. It ensures that anyone who visits your website will know that you have an app.

• • Social Media for the ultimate buzz

There’s hardly anything newsworthy that doesn’t get picked up by the great clutches of social media. Though primarily serving a networking purpose, social media can act as a powerful promotional tool for businesses.

If a Facebook post goes viral for a couple of days, it captures global attention. When the reach of Social Networks is so tremendous, you want to make the best use of it. Launch of any major product or service is a huge thing for any company, and you have to make sure that your audience knows about it. Social Media could come more than handy to get the job done.

• • App Awards…anyone?

App awards are just the kind of thing you need when you want people to notice your app. By applying for them, you get a fair amount of reviews, downloads, and press exposure. Whether your app wins the award or not is down to the app’s idea and functionality. If you’re really serious about your app, which you should be right from the beginning, then app awards are definitely worth a shot!

• • App Store Optimization (ASO)

App Store Optimization works in a similar way as the SEO, but it’s exclusively done for App Store and Google Play Store. As in SEO, the focus here is to target relevant keywords, search entries and keyword density .Using the same in app description to help people find it is the main purpose of it. If you can crack the code and get ASO right, you’ll see your app displaying in the top-most app results.

• • Crowdfunding to see who’s buying into…

Crowdfunding is known to us as the earliest forms of getting financial aid to fund ideas. But it’s also an effective way to promote your ideas. When you put your idea on display for the wider audience to see and acknowledge, it no doubt gets people talking. Depending on how compelling your idea is, public opinion will make it clear soon enough whether it’s going to rock or flop! If you do gather substantial appeal, there’s every reason to rejoice. You’ll have helped your cause by securing a user base of curious people who show faith in your idea.

How to make people use your app?

While these are some of the most notable ways to promote your idea, ensuring that people actually stick with your app after downloading it is a completely different matter.There have been many instances where apps created a lot of buzz initially, but then crumbled under pressure when it was time to deliver.

You don’t want that happening with your app. Especially after all the hard-earned money and hours you put into it for such a long period of time. MVP is a great way to avoid future mishaps. Herein, you introduce your product to your users in bits and pieces. Initially, only the core functionality is manifested to gauge user interest levels. After that in various stages additional features are implemented until a final prototype is fixed. The MVP approach makes sense when there’s a lot at stake. Plus it’s both time and money-efficient.

When people do approve of your MVP, there’s good reason to believe they’ll embrace your final product as well. Finally, the distinctive quality of an app can’t simply be undermined, irrespective of everything. The unique the app, the more memorable impression it’s likely to leave on users. If you’re making something that’s already out there, or a better version of it, your percentage of success tend to decline.

So as a mobile application development company, you have to make something new, unique, something that’s not out there is sure to grasp everyone’s attention. When the homework is thorough, the examination will be a doddle!