Technology has been on constant change and almost everything has been going mobile these days. People are on the move and the convenience mobile gadgets provide has made more and more people utilize it. The development of mobile phones did not only change how technology made an impact on how people have been living their daily lives but how their lifestyle has evolved as well.
As the mobile trend continues to flourish without showing signs of slowing down, one sector has been on the rise in recent years – mobile app development.
As the mobile trend continues to flourish without showing signs of slowing down, one sector has been on the rise in recent years – mobile app development.
What are Mobile Apps?
Application software designed to run on mobile devices, mobile applications or mobile app is very common these days even for non-tech savvy people. Mobile applications are generally small, individual software units, with limited function and frequently, serve to provide users with similar services get from computers.
Types of Mobile Apps
- Social Media Applications
Considered as the most popular mobile applications these days, these types of mobile apps have been part of our daily lives. With 3.8 billions people on social networking sites daily and checking for constant updates, social media apps have provided with ease and convenience unlike when you visit the web page version.
- Games Mobile Applications
If people are not on social media, they may be looking for applications to entertain themselves. One of the massive yet the most competitive niche in this technological development is the gaming and entertainment category.
Gaming apps have been one of the most favored categories for developers because like social media applications, people tend to log back into it several times in a week, if not every day and often dubbed as “addictive”.
- Utility Mobile Applications
Applications that can be usually found pre-installed in some devices, they commonly serve a single function. Samples of this category are calculator, flashlight, alarm, reminders and weather.
- Lifestyle Mobile Applications
The rise of mobile has not only influenced the way people communicate but also created a huge impact on their lifestyle. People have been turning to their phones and mobile applications to look for the best song to fit their mood, the restaurant they want to dine in, the fitness goals they want to achieve, or the hotel they will prefer for their next destination.
These apps have been carving a large chunk in the mobile app market as it comes strong in recent years by helping a lot of individuals define their lifestyle.
- Information/News Mobile Applications
With people going mobile, they have turned to news and information mobile applications to get the data they are looking for and still be updated on the latest news.
What is Mobile App Marketing?
Developing a mobile application is one thing, getting it known and having the public download it is another thing. Mobile application marketing is the process of how you create marketing campaigns for your developed applications to reach its target consumers. More than people discovering and downloading your application, this process also involves the total experience of your users while engaging with your app.
In delivering your product across your desired audience, you need several strategies to ensure it as a success and profitable.
Strategies for your Mobile App Marketing
- Know Your Audience
When you plan to develop an app or if you are already on the process of developing one, it is important that you pinpoint and identify to whom your app is being created. If you do not know who will likely use it and who can reap benefits from using it, your mobile application not efficient and of course it will not provide you with the profit you are expecting from it.
Be clear with your target audience. Study and learn about their demographics. Get to know them better and understand the people who will pay for your developed application. Know their lifestyle, their spending behavior, their hobbies, their interests and other factors that can help your app be tailor-fitted for them. While some apps like social media applications maybe have an appeal to everybody, most are not and that may include yours.
- Research About Your Competitors
Your application cannot be tagged as a copy of an existing one as this will badly affect any of your strategies. While knowing your target audience is important, understanding your competitor is crucial and will give you an edge in staying relevant and original.
Know your unique value proposition, the identity of your competitors, their online presence and their listing. Study how their marketing strategies work to be able to create and establish properly your plan.
- App Store Optimization (ASO)
With more than 5 million apps available for download on mobile application stores, competition is tough. You need to make your application visible to your target market and rank high in search results.
To achieve this, you need to do an App Store Optimization (ASO) or the process in improving your visibility in mobile app stores and your click-through rate. This is the same way you optimize your site to appear in search engines and have people click on it.
As ASO is the SEO when it comes to mobile applications, their only difference is their ranking factors. Mobile apps ranking in app stores are directly determined by the number of downloads and people who look for a particular application usually check the first five results only. This is why it is important to optimize your app in these market places.
Carefully plan your title and work on your description. Make your store page effective and appealing. Your icon should be catchy and pleasing. Make sure that your selling points and benefits are visible as these are factors that make customers stay and buy or move on to the next app.
- Social Media Advertisements
People are on social media and we have statistics to prove it. Almost 45% of the world’s population can be found on social media channels and it is growing by the day. Doing promotion on these platforms can give an enormous effect on your application’s visibility.
Conduct targeted advertising on social media powerhouses like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to improve your online visibility.
- Collaborate with Influencers
Many brands and companies have been leveraging on this strategy and have seen amazing results that help their name, products and services become visible and stand out among the competition.
Aside from being a cheaper alternative to other forms of advertisement, working with influencers who have a thousand to then ten thousand followers can help directly promote your app to their followers.
Final Thoughts
Mobile application marketing is an important factor in making your app stand out among competitors. As thousands of applications are being developed and launched every month on app markets, doing these strategies will help you step ahead of the competitive pit.
AUTHOR BIO
John Ocampos is an Opera Singer by profession and a member of the Philippine Tenors. Ever since, Digital Marketing has always been his forte. He is the Founder of SEO-Guru, and the Managing Director of Tech Hacker. John is also the Strategic SEO and Influencer Marketing Manager of Softvire Australia - the leading software eCommerce company in Australia and Softvire New Zealand.
