A Comprehensive Guide to Mobile App Marketing Strategies

In today’s digital landscape, a golden rule emerges: dedicate as much effort to promoting your product as you did to create it. Just as you spend days crafting a blog post, allocate a proportional amount of time to disseminate it widely.

This principle extends seamlessly to mobile apps. Months invested in app development should mirror months committed to promotion. We understand many budget constraints; even well-funded ventures may grapple with limited promotional avenues.

Our in-depth guide dives into the app marketing world, offering insights and strategies to elevate your app marketing game. Let’s embark on this journey.

Understanding App Marketing

Mobile application marketing is a collection of strategies used to draw in, keep, and retain app users to boost their overall lifetime value. People need to be more aware of mobile marketing and app marketing, but it is essential to work on app marketing when you want to attract and retain users.

Developing an app is insufficient and will only succeed if your app reaches its target audience. 

To get your product in front of its intended market, you must put in A LOT of careful planning and work. 

This is where app marketing comes into play and fills the user funnel for your application.

A marketing strategy for apps is a requirement for every business launching a mobile product. A well-thought-out, meticulously planned, and precisely executed app marketing strategy is necessary for success. 

Let’s now Understand why App Marketing is essential.

The future of marketing is undoubtedly apps, as more than 85% of Americans and 70% of the world’s population currently own mobile device.

However, here’s the thing: almost all major brands and more than 65% of small businesses have already created a mobile application. The cost of developing apps worldwide reached $28.1 billion in 2021 & is predicted to reach almost $35 billion in 2022.

That’s plenty of rivalry in a space that is getting more and more crowded.

Hundreds of thousands of apps in similar positions will compete with you, depending on the market niche for your product. Even if you come up with some unique app idea, you still have 8 seconds to grab the target audience’s attention towards your app.

Thus, planning app marketing is essential to see success. 

Role of a Marketing Plan for Mobile App Promotion

In today’s digital landscape, the numbers tell a compelling story. With approximately 1.85 million apps catering to iOS users and a staggering 2.56 million apps designed for Android enthusiasts, the app ecosystem is nothing short of bustling. Moreover, over 80% of the global population wields a smartphone, spending an average of 5 to 6 hours daily glued to their screens.

These statistics underscore the undeniable shift towards mobile in the world of business. Remarkably, over 65% of small enterprises and virtually all major corporations have already ventured into the realm of apps.

Yet, amidst this thriving digital wilderness, competition is fierce. To thrive in this densely populated landscape, your app needs to shine brightly among the multitude. The reality is overnight success is the exception, not the rule. However, your aspirations can become a reality with a meticulously crafted mobile app marketing plan.

Mobile App Promotion Strategies

Promotion of an app or website can be done via a combination of methods or choosing the suitable one, and this depends upon who your target audience is and how they expect your service or product. 

Given below are a few app promotion strategies like email marketing and many more that will help you promote your app and grab a good audience’s attention. 

App Store Optimization (ASO)

In the intricate world of app marketing, ASO shines as a fundamental strategy, aptly named App Store Optimization. It’s a technique that works magic on the iTunes App Store and Google Play marketplace. While it draws inspiration from the world of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) used for websites, it’s essential to recognize that searching for apps differs from scouring the web on Google. Nevertheless, ASO techniques bear a striking resemblance to SEO.

The primary goal of ASO is to enhance the discoverability of your mobile app among potential users. When effectively applied, ASO boosts your app’s visibility for specific keywords and improves the conversion rate on the app and play stores, meaning more users who stumble upon your app end up downloading it. This strategy is a valuable asset for apps across all categories.

Technically, ASO involves optimizing various elements of your app’s marketing copy, including keywords, title, video preview, description, screenshots, icon, publisher name, and category.

Social Media Marketing

Promoting apps via social media is essential. Paid and organic methods are available for connecting with your audience on social media. Here is a brief analysis of each:

• ORGANIC – Organic promotion on social media entails having a presence, such as a Facebook page, Twitter account, and Instagram account. Make accounts and begin following users in your target market and industry. Try to connect with your audience meaningfully by posting about the issues they care about and participating in the discussion rather than spamming them with excessively promotional content. 
• PAID – A 2016 report by Kenshoo revealed that mobile app ad click-through rates (CTRs) increased 32% YoY while CPC (cost per click) decreased 33%. Your app’s discoverability will increase, and more users will download your app if you invest some money in its promotion. Facebook and Instagram are two of the most effective app ad platforms due to their large audiences and segmentation capabilities. Facebook also makes it very simple to advertise app installs on both platforms since it owns Instagram.

Paid Advertising

In mobile app marketing, finances split strategies into two categories: free and paid. Paid app marketing entails allocating a portion of your budget to acquire new users through various marketing platforms. 

This includes Apple’s Search Ads, Google Ads, Meta Ads (formerly Facebook Ads), Snapchat Ads, Pinterest Ads, Reddit Ads, TikTok Ads, Twitter Ads, and numerous advertising networks.

Given app stores’ limited visibility, running paid user acquisition campaigns is essential for app marketers. It’s not a matter of whether but how and when. In today’s landscape, most mobile app projects require paid user acquisition to reach potential users beyond the scope of free strategies like App Store Optimization.

Content Marketing

Each mobile app is designed to address specific functions or topics, and therein lies a golden opportunity for content marketing. This approach involves creating articles for publication in media outlets related to your app’s niche and establishing a blog that covers various aspects of your app. Topics for the blog can range from the app’s development journey to thought leadership pieces discussing the market your app serves.

The articles and blog posts resulting from content marketing become valuable resources for potential users, positioning you as a professional in your field. This will help users to know how to use your app. 

Platforms like Medium, which hosts thousands of professional publications, offer another avenue for establishing thought leadership. While not a direct sales channel, this method allows you to discuss topics/queries related to your app, its purpose, and the problems it solves.

Influencer Marketing

Within the expansive realm of social media platforms, individuals hold remarkable sway over vast audiences, often boasting tens of millions of followers. These individuals are aptly termed “influencers.” Their unique ability to foster genuine connections with their followers positions them as powerful advocates capable of introducing products and services they endorse and rely on. 

Engaging in a social media campaign with influencers is one of the most effective methods to propel your mobile app to viral status. This approach significantly expands your app’s user base and cultivates a cadre of devoted and loyal users.

The vital components of a successful influencer marketing campaign encompass the following elements:

• Identifying the Right Influencers: It’s imperative to find influencers with a bona fide interest in your app’s thematic domain. Their passion and alignment with your app’s purpose are pivotal.
• Effective App Marketing Campaign Management Tools: Managing an influencer campaign involves coordinating with multiple creatives and engaging with numerous influencers simultaneously. Streamlining these processes necessitates efficient campaign management tools.
• Financial Compensation: Handling compensation for influencers is crucial, and ensuring fairness and transparency in this regard is paramount.

Fortunately, the market offers a variety of influencer marketing companies and tools designed to simplify these intricate processes.

Measuring App Marketing Success

Certain metrics are crucial to measuring mobile app marketing success. These metrics reveal your app’s performance and engagement. The essential mobile app marketing metrics:

Daily and Monthly Active Users (DAU & MAU)

• DAU shows daily app usage
• MAU shows monthly user engagement.
• Daily and monthly popularity metrics show how engaging and useful your app is to users. As they indicate user interest and retention, these metrics are often the most important.

Average Session Length

It shows how useful and engaging your app is—the industry-specific significance of this metric. For instance, Instagram benefits from longer sessions, while healthcare apps may have different expectations.

Retention Rate

• Retention rate shows how many users return to your app within a certain timeframe.
• It’s crucial to user loyalty and satisfaction. Strategic goals determine measurement frequency—monthly or annually.

Churn Rate

• User churn rate shows how often users leave your app.
• It represents user attrition, the opposite of retention. This may indicate when users uninstall your app or cancel subscriptions.

Return on Investment (ROI)

• ROI measures marketing campaign value versus resources.
• Your return value and investment costs determine its calculation, which is the ultimate marketing success measure.
• Mobile app marketing metrics guide your efforts and help you make data-driven decisions. Monitoring and interpreting these indicators can help you improve your app’s strategy.

The Bottom Line

In conclusion, there are countless opportunities in the world of app promotion. You use email marketing, social media, influencer marketing, in-app purchases to make money, and many more.

As with any traditional product launch, approach it with the same commitment by devoting time and resources to developing a strong app user acquisition strategy. Always remember that quality over quantity matters when it comes to users for your app. 

Spend the time to fully understand your target market so that you can create advertisements that will speak to them.

Consider Twinr if you’re looking to convert your website to an app efficiently. Our dedicated team provides comprehensive assistance, from app development to elite app promotion. The success of your app knows no bounds when Twinr is by your side.