How to Build a Marketing Plan for Your Mobile App

With over four million applications downloadable from the world’s most popular app stores, businesses understand standing out in today’s app market requires a precise marketing plan. Concentrating on mobile app development and creating a functional app is important as well as its proper marketing so that people get to know more about the app and its uses even before it is released.

From the instant a user learns about the app to the time they become a committed customer; mobile app promotion encompasses every action. Establishing a target audience, knowing how and where to reach them, communicating with them, and evaluating their in-app activity to make continual adjustments as users progress along the conversion funnel are all part of marketing a mobile app efficiently. Finally, the objective of a mobile app marketing plan should be to attract consumers who would not only engage with the product again but also become committed advocates.

This comprehensive guide to promoting a mobile app will walk you through the three different stages of a mobile app marketing campaign as well as the metrics to track for future success.

The prelaunch stage

A mobile app promotion strategy’s awareness phase begins even before the app is released. The purpose of this stage is to increase brand recognition and product visibility. How might your target consumers find your mobile app, especially? It is critical to have a good grasp of your branding and approach before commencing the awareness phase. Customers connect with a brand because of its values and mission, not because of unique product attributes. Users will be able to interact with your product on a personal level if you define a brand stance. The stages and approaches to take during the initial stage of your marketing campaign are listed below.

Schedule out the launch phase

With so many tasks at hand, it can be quite easy to get confused among all the chaos. Therefore, the first thing to start with is a schedule of tasks. This will help to stay organised and stay on top of your promotional efforts. From posting teasers about your app, to offering promo codes to loyal customers, schedule out your tasks on a daily basis to stay organised. The best idea is to have a daily planner software to keep a track of all the tasks and the progress.

Choose a release date.

In comparison to Google, Apple has a tight review procedure that may cause your release to be delayed, or you may have an unexpected setback. Preparing ahead of time will give you enough time to plan for your app’s initial launch and will help you to anticipate and plan for any eventualities.

Pay attention to the events in your area that can eclipse your app launch when arranging your launch date.

To better understand your customers, conduct market research.

Among the most typical pre-launch blunders is failing to conduct adequate market research. You must first identify the major players in your app category before beginning any development work. It doesn’t matter how comprehensive your marketing efforts are if your app doesn’t solve a user pain point or solves a problem for which there is already a successful app solution on the market.

Evaluate and analyse your targeted audience’s most popular blogs, forums, communities, and sites, as well as any social influencers they follow. These outlets will assist you in attracting and retaining users.

User Personas should be created.

Identifying who your intended users are, what they love, and the major problem they have that your app will treat is a key goal of the awareness stage. A mobile app can have several user groups, and each user profile will have its own user experience.

A user persona is a fictionalised version of your ideal customer. User personas also tackle the user’s primary goals as well as the present issues they confront. User personas are the foundation for customer journey design, enabling you to customise every aspect of your mobile application to the preferences and needs of each of your customers. Everything about your app, from the branding and in-app content to the usability, features, platform selection, and monetization plan, must appeal to your target customer. You’ll be able to answer crucial questions that will drive your whole marketing approach by clearly describing your target demographic with user personas. Consider the following scenario:

What is the main source of discomfort for this audience as a whole?

What OS does this audience utilise on their mobile device? Apple iOS or Android?
What kinds of online material does this audience enjoy?
What are the best style, tone, and content style for this audience?

Is there any graphic branding that emerges from this audience’s internet activity?
Are there any recognised influencers in this product’s niche that these users follow on social media?
What are the best platforms to use for sponsored advertising?

Is it common for these consumers to pay for applications or do in-app purchases?

Personas can assist you to coordinate design, business, and promotional decisions to attract the correct market for your product by answering questions like these. You won’t be able to create a product that is appropriate to their demands if you haven’t thoroughly researched your audience.

Perform a competitor analysis

There will be competition for your app. Make a list of your top five contenders, including their current pricing, revenue plan, app store position, user experience (UX) advantages and disadvantages, and noteworthy reviews. You might even create a comparative matrix to see how your application stacks up against the competition. Ensure that your app doesn’t have any of the poor-quality features or UX components that people have complained about. Consider what makes your app unique in comparison to the competition. These are crucial factors to consider while developing an app marketing strategy.

Create a landing page or a website

The number one source of app downloads is mobile websites. It’s become normal practice to create a pre-launch landing page or, at the absolute least, a teaser clip for your app. Once you’ve created a clip for your website, you may repurpose it by posting it in app stores, sharing it on social media, or even using it in paid advertisements. A pre-launch webpage is a terrific approach to start doing initial search engine optimization (SEO) by increasing your domain authority, in addition to creating buzz about your app.

Promote Your App on social media

Social media sites allow you to grow your online presence and engage directly with your intended audience. If your app is aimed toward a certain age range, determine which social media channels are most popular among this population and concentrate your efforts there. Share corporate news and highlights that will pique followers’ interest in the launch. Make a hashtag and utilise it in your postings as needed. To establish a community around your app, post and distribute not only promotional but also interesting and engaging material.

Develop a Content Marketing Plan

Months before the launch, start creating a blog. When it’s time to debut, you’ll already be a recognised expert in your field with a large following. Begin by writing a launch piece that highlights the app’s benefits and includes screenshots and videos.

The stage of acquisition

The choices are unlimited when it comes to a user acquisition plan. It’s critical to experiment with new ways, be inventive, and keep improving your plan. In the initial week following the debut, try to get as many downloads as possible. The faster your software is downloaded, the higher it will appear in search results on the App Store. As consumers begin to download your software, it’s critical to keep track of where the downloads are coming from. You may then concentrate on the most productive channels while improving the others.

Paid Marketing

After the programme is out, begin running ads, such as those on social media networks such as LinkedIn, which are incredibly efficient at attracting new users. Other channels, such as Instagram and Twitter, should be considered depending on your target audience; while their reach isn’t as wide, they’re nevertheless beneficial, especially for millennials. LinkedIn’s ad platform is excellent for targeting specific consumers based on their interests, geography, and other factors. If you’re using social advertisements to reach out to your audience, keep in mind that consumers have shortened attention capacities, so your advertising should express the product’s purpose in a matter of seconds.

Optimization for the App Store

App Store Optimization is making changes to your App Store page so that it appears to rank higher in the search results and converts more frequently. Over 65 per cent of applications are found through a direct search on app stores. Once your app gets highly rated in search of a certain term, it will remain there for months. The higher your app’s ranking, the more likely it is to be discovered by potential users. Finally, increasing visibility should result in more downloads, which will help editors discover your app. App store optimisation is based on several elements, including the title and keyword selection. For optimum results, insert a keyword in the title. Those keywords should be thoughtfully put across your listing so that you appear when people search for them. Always highlight the features and benefits that the app will provide to the user. Upload screenshots and clips to add value. Finally, there are a lot of individuals who would want to use your application but can’t since it isn’t available in their language. This may be changed by localising your app.

The stage of retention

Most people will put some consideration into acquisition marketing, however, if no one is using the app once you’ve recruited users, the product isn’t generating revenue. Your next step should be to create a retention marketing strategy to turn your new consumers into long-term customers. The following is a list of retention tactics that can be used:

Establish good communication

The more closely your app experience matches a user’s wants and desires, the more likely they are to use it again. After 28 days of receiving a message, brands employing in-app communications to connect with consumers will witness user retention improvements.

In-app messages are alerts that don’t need to be responded to right away but are still crucial to get. Warnings concerning app difficulties, transaction failures, and version updates are examples of these. Please remember that not every message you send will be appropriate for every user. By segregating your audience, you can guarantee that the content they get is relevant to them.

Push Notifications

Push notifications have indeed been demonstrated to enhance user retention by ranging from 56 per cent to 180 per cent, according to studies. Users who have chosen to get push notifications have 88% higher app interaction than those who have not.

Giving people a reason to utilise your app might also be beneficial. Conversions and engagement will be aided by mobile-specific awards, specialised content access, vouchers, special offers, and other incentives.

Continuing your success

Request Customer Feedback

When consumers use your app regularly, it means they’ve developed a bond with it. Allow customers to voice their thoughts with a popup request to post a review, but keep in mind that the customer experience should not suffer as a result of this strategy. Consider when and how you’ll ask for a review, and make sure it fits in with the user experience to avoid frustrating them. The more strategically positioned the popup is, the more likely it is to receive a good rating.

Try launching a burst campaign.

One of the most prominent tactics employed by mobile app marketers who aim to raise the app store rankings is a “burst campaign.” A burst campaign is designed to give your app a “burst” of publicity by purchasing paid media visibility in a short period – often between 24 and 72 hours, according to the budget.

The aim is to increase your rating by obtaining as many paid installations as possible. All of this is in the hopes of raising the number of good-quality organic installations, which should happen if the app is rated high enough to be found. While an effective burst campaign should result in more organic adoption, sustained sponsored advertising will ensure constant downloads. You must maintain your momentum.

Provide a Bonus for Referrals

Offering your customers, a bonus or advantage in exchange for spreading the word about your application online is a guaranteed approach to persuade them to do so.