So, your mobile app is ready now and you want to bring it to the market. However, have you thought about how your target audience will know about it? Only imagine how many new apps are released on the App Store and Google Play daily. So, how to make your mobile product stand out from this crowd and from its competitors, of course?
All marketers know that it is crucial to develop a mobile app marketing plan and start preparing for the product launch around 3 months before it’s actually launched to the market. In this article, we’d like to discuss the most important pre-launch marketing activities.
Start Developing Your App Marketing Plan
Depending on the budget you have, you can plan certain marketing activities once the application is live to create a buzz around it. For example, if you want to run a PPC (pay-per-click) user acquisition campaign, you will have to find out what minimum budget you will need for this campaign. Moreover, you will need to prepare all marketing collateral such as banners, video ads, messaging before the product launch to have everything done when the product is live on the market. So depending on what goals you have and the marketing budget available, it is important to create a mobile app marketing plan including all the promotional activities with a timeline taking into account what preparation work you’ll need to do for your post-launch marketing efforts.
Develop Your SEO Strategy
When your mobile application is live, you will want to get potential users from all possible traffic channels including the web and mobile search. For example, if you have a video editing app, you may think that your target audience will search for these keywords only on the App Store or Google Play. However, this is not exactly the case. Most people still search for the solutions they need in Google and other search engines. So, if you develop a thorough SEO strategy and start implementing it even before your mobile product is live, your chances to rank on the 1st page in Google SERPs (Search Engine Result Pages) will be much higher.
Search Engine Optimization is like the staple of a successful business in 2024, so make sure that you’re not holding back on any investments in this field.
Create a Landing Page for Your App
In order to execute an SEO strategy mentioned in the previous tip, you will need to create a website or landing page dedicated to your mobile app. You will have a place where you can post appealing content about your product and publish blog posts including relevant keywords you want to rank in Google search for. Besides, having a website is a must these days, so you must invest in one if you’re looking to be on the same level as the other competitors. When somebody is interested in your product, whether that is an investor or just a curious customer, a website will allow them to get familiar with everything that you’re offering, and that’s an important part of the business.
Since every business these days has a website, finding someone who can make one for you is not a difficult task at all. Most of these services are affordable, and maintaining a site is nothing complicated even if you’re not a tech-savvy person.
Conduct Focus Group Testing
Don’t underestimate the importance of conducting focus groups and user testing of your mobile app to get their ideas on what they have liked and especially what they disliked in your product. You will also get their thoughts on the weak places in the UI and UX of your application which can be solved before your app is launched to the market. You will save a lot of time and money if you get direct feedback from your target audience about your application and adjust the product roadmap accordingly.
If you want to have a smooth release, testing is something that you need to schedule at least a few months before the official release. This can be a selected group of individuals that have previous experience in the field, or you can find a creative way to do both this and marketing at the same time.
People love it when they are chosen for something, and you can use this to your advantage. Make some sort of a closed beta or giveaway, and send out download links for the beta version of your product to a bunch of people that apply. Ask them to rate it after a few days of using, and you’ve just earned some feedback for free. Of course, you should reward them by either crediting them or providing special access to some of the features that will be available in the full version.
Develop a Content Strategy
According to ComboApp, 87 percent of visionaries and 81 percent of leaders keep content at the core of their marketing efforts because this is one of the most crucial tactics in the SEO industry. You want your app’s landing page rank for the relevant keywords in search engines, don’t you? For that, you will need to run a blog and post articles relevant to your app’s niche. You can use keyword planner tools to get ideas on what exact topics to write about and which keyword phrases to use in your texts.
These are the most crucial pre-launch marketing tips to keep in mind during the app development process. If you implement all necessary activities to get prepared for the app’s launch, you will get many more downloads than just doing nothing and waiting for users to find your product by themselves.
Conclusion
As a wise war general once said, preparation is more than half of the battle, so the more time you spend thinking of a great pre-launch marketing campaign, the less you’ll have to worry about those download numbers later. Even if it’s a free application, there are still a lot of things that you have to do in order to get some traffic, so feel free to use our list as a handy guide of tips that you can utilize.