5 Free Ways To Market Your Mobile App

So your mobile app is finally live in the App Store and/or Google Play, but…now what? As a mobile app owner, having your app finally get approved for showtime is one of the most exciting experiences of the process. All of the dedicated time spent on the smallest details, constant team collaboration, and tweaks here and there…all lead up to one of the most important, yet underestimated steps, which is marketing the app. First, let me say that the app market is growing, while attention spans are shrinking. A simple search of keywords in the app store is no longer sufficient to ensure your app will be visible to the right people. Finding creative ways to get the attention of your target users can be a bewildering task. Hopefully, before creating your app, you took time to study your market and existing available apps to determine the need or desire for your app and built it with a certain user in mind. If so, the following 5 approaches for marketing your app will get you some positive results without costing you a lot of money!

Social media marketing:

Social media is one of the most effective methods to spread your message to others. However, many app owners implement this marketing tool all wrong. The term “Social Media” is primarily focused on being social, being informative, and being authentically you. This can apply to you in the business sense as well since many owners are self-employed and are selling their expertise in some capacity. Most people who follow you on social media are doing so because they either know you, know of you, or are interested in what you have to say….not necessarily what you have to “sell”. So when engaging your social media public, be upfront and honest about your app. Give a back story to why you created it and tell others that you want their opinion of it. Always provide an easily accessible link to the download page so that others don’t have to search to find it. If you are familiar with social influencers who you think will greatly benefit from using your app, don’t be afraid to contact them and ask them to download your app and give you an honest review. It can be risky not knowing what he/she will think of your app, but ultimately, you will gain good feedback! Also, ask family and friends to share your post with their friends. Reward those who share your posts with something meaningful. Finally, stay engaged with followers. You don’t have to post content every day, however, you must monitor your feedback and engage your users early and often.

Create an application video:

Most app owners underestimate the importance of videos. YouTube is a very powerful tool that is not leveraged quite enough by app owners. Even with the best interactive design, sometimes creating a brief video can do the trick in showing users easy ways to navigate through your app or best practices for getting the best results when utilizing certain features. Simply create tutorials that are aimed at solving a problem, since most YouTubers now search for “ways to do things” or “hacks”. For example, if your app is a Picture Collage Maker, you can create videos titled “How to create quick photo collages in 3 simple steps”. Also, as a bonus, as you get more subscribers, YouTube pays you for your views!

Publish your Application Review on Blogs:

This method is a tried and true way of getting downloads. Here’s what you do. First, write an article that describes all the features of your mobile IOS or Android application and its benefits of it to a certain customer. If you’re a real smart cookie, you will monitor your app’s analytics to see what areas of your app that’s getting the most traffic. Analyze why you think that area is popular, then add the value of that feature into the story. Secondly, capture the reviews and testimonials of users who have downloaded and used your application. Lastly, publish that article on your blog, or you can shop in around popular blogs within your industry. Make sure you are using keywords that are used by your target market when searching for whatever your app is hoping to resolve. As others read your article, they become more prone to click on your app download link. Note: Just make sure you have great graphics on the App Store or Google Play to help sell your app’s benefit.

Find Local Users:

No matter how popular technology in the mobile app gets, there is always something purely personal and promising when meeting your customers in person. Find out how your customers think, what they like to do, and where they like to go. Show up at these places and introduce yourself. For example, if you created an app for tracking your fitness goals, find local fitness groups at your job, in your neighborhood, or even in small gyms and join for a limited time. Introduce the app and how it works for you. Even find some local fitness trainers and get them involved! You’d be surprised at home many people they interact with! Once you plant a few fitness seeds, you can begin the nurturing process, and pretty soon…you’ll be ready to enjoy the fruits of your labor!

Create and Join Discussions:

There is nothing more comforting than to read comments from potential users who are having problems with something that your mobile app can potentially fix! Joining blogs or forums of groups that are discussing issues that your app can resolve is the holy grail of marketing. If your app is offering a service, there is a group somewhere that needs it. You must do the research to find them. If by chance one does not exist, you can always create one! In this setting, you can serve as the subject matter expert and answer questions while shaping the conversation around your app’s features and even other ideas that could bring value to the user’s concerns.