So, you have an app...

The process of designing and developing your iPhone or Android app is time and labor-intensive, but at Fueled we know that this is only the very beginning of the total mobile application journey. Making an app is certainly an accomplishment, but it doesn’t end there. Developing a marketing strategy is as important as developing the app itself because an app is nothing without users.

Why is it important to develop a marketing strategy for your app? The answer lies in the app store statistics. On average, 2,371 new apps are published every day. If your app is one in over two thousand, a brilliant marketing effort can make the difference between having the successful app you envisioned, and one that gets lost among flappy bird ripoffs.

The idea is to get an app noticed as soon as it is available. By all means, announce your new product on social media, but also understand that you can - and should - increase the reach of this news through as many platforms as possible.

Friends and Family

Your friends, family, and peer community are a very valuable resource as you launch your new mobile app. They will be among the first to download your new app, and they will also be a source of honest and valuable critiques. Their initial suggestions and ideas will help you understand how to make a mobile application that is more appealing, functional, or user-friendly.

Never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth. Friends and family talking about your application is a great starting place for increasing public knowledge about it.

Tech Press

Gain the awareness of the tech-savvies, the early adopters, and the mobile tech lovers by reaching out to blogs that cater to this demographic. Contact bloggers and ask for reviews, which will be seen by people who are interested in learning about new apps as well as providing another opportunity for you to learn about what kind of improvements you can make. Need help figuring out how to handle PR on a budget? Check out this handy presentation by Courtney Boyd Myers.

Try to have blog posts, big social media announcements, and ad spaces you may purchase, all hit the web at around the same time, or timed like one wave after another for a consistent drumbeat. Simultaneous exposure will be the most effective in creating as much buzz as possible.

A continuing process

Now you’ve created a mobile application, some buzz, made it available for download, and hopefully obtained some users! Your job hasn’t ended, but rather expanded. Continue generating interest in your new app, and begin to focus on retaining the downloads you’ve already gotten.

Ask your users for reviews and ratings, and pay attention. Address complaints and questions, and deal with them promptly. The Internet is lightning-paced, and now people carry it with them in their pockets. They will not be patient.

Keep an open mind. It is easy to get stuck in the thought that your initial vision for your app is the best, but your audience knows what they want and expect from your product. Their feedback is indispensable.

ASO

Ever wonder what it takes to get onto the top 50 of Apple’s app store? For a free app, you’ll need 23,000 or more downloads per day; 950 or more for a paid app. This doesn’t happen overnight, and in all likelihood won’t happen at all. This means that you’ll have to find other ways to get noticed.

This is where App Store Optimization, or ASO, comes in handy. Paying attention to ASO makes your app as relevant as possible to as many search terms as possible, and can dramatically increase downloads.

Keywords are the most important tool for ASO, so put the title and description of your app to good use. Make sure to use the keywords that people will be searching for if they are looking for an app like yours. For example, if your app is "Audible" be sure you use keywords like "Audiobook", "ebook", and "listening" in your description.

Statistics like discard rate (how often the app is deleted and after what duration,) frequency of use, average ratings and number of downloads also play into ASO, so it is important to keep your users satisfied!

The ideas, time, and money that go into designing and developing your app should be noticed by as many people as possible. See that your new product stands out from the thousands of others that will be introduced alongside it, you owe it to yourself to make sure it is as successful as possible!

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