Mobile App Marketing 101: How to Reach Your Audience

2 months ago 44
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Done well, app selling tin thrust downloads of your product. It tin besides nurture a assemblage of loyal users who volition beforehand your app organically. 

What Is Mobile App Marketing?

Mobile app selling is important for gathering your apps’ sanction successful the large wide world. According to Business of Apps, users downloaded immoderate 87 cardinal apps successful 2022. The marketplace is massive. 

But, implicit fractional of tiny businesses and ample companies—including your competition—have their ain apps. That’s wherefore it’s indispensable to marque your app basal out. 

Getting radical funny successful your app is tricky. A beardown selling strategy indispensable see who the people marketplace is. It should besides enactment retired however to archer imaginable users astir the app and however to assistance them find it. 

App selling doesn’t enactment similar selling for carnal goods. Marketing apps is simply a process that needs to support users connected committee for each upgrade and caller iteration. This is called the mobile engagement loop. 

Mobile Engagement Loop

The Mobile Engagement Loop is simply a continuous cycle. Its extremity is to pull and support consumers utilizing mobile apps. Here’s a speedy walkthrough of the Mobile Engagement Loop’s 4 cardinal stages. 

How to marketplace  an app with the mobile engagement loop

Now we’ll look astatine these stages successful much depth, starting with the Awareness Stage.

Awareness Stage

Choosing the motorboat date, conducting marketplace research, and gathering idiosyncratic personas tin each assistance you turn your marque consciousness successful this archetypal stage. 

Value Proposition and Market Research

If you privation to marketplace your mobile app successfully, you’ll person to enactment successful the marketplace research. The process helps place your cleanable lawsuit arsenic good arsenic their needs and motivators. 

Here’s how:

1. Read and Consume Content

Read everything you tin that is of involvement to your audience. That means the blogs, forums, groups, and websites that are fashionable with imaginable app users. You tin besides look astatine the influencers that entreaty to your would-be users.

Great places to find content: 

  • Quora for topical questions and answers
  • Reddit for interest-based subreddits
  • Industry oregon involvement focused blogs, podcasts, oregon YouTube channels
  • SEO probe (look astatine Semrush Topic Research and Google’s People Also Ask section)

2. Make the Most of Market Research Tools 

Use online marketplace probe tools to velocity the process up. You tin usage tools similar Google Trends to analyse hunt motor hits to spot what your assemblage is looking for. 

There are besides a fig of tools from Semrush that tin assistance you bash this:

  • Mobile App Insights helps way your app’s show and support an oculus connected the competition. This app shows you the keywords that bring immoderate fixed app integrated downloads and provides an enactment to cheque retired related keywords, too. 
Overview of the Mobile App Insights app
  • AI Keyword Inspector for ASO  also gives you keyword insights for the App Store and Google Play Store. This app generates a tailored database of high-traffic, applicable keywords for your app that you tin usage for your app listing and description.
  • Semrush Trends is different almighty instrumentality that helps you leap connected integer trends successful your industry, helping you get an overview of the marketplace overview and observe competitory integer insights
  • The Audience Intelligence exertion tin supply you with a afloat assemblage overview with aggregate reports. One study volition dive into a circumstantial audience’s demographics, psychographics, online habits, media affinities, and more. Just participate immoderate Twitter grip that has an assemblage you privation to study, and the app volition bash the rest.

Recommended reading: 

3. Get to Know Your Audience successful Person

On the taxable of online research, it’s a bully thought to bash your ain superior probe portion you hole your launch. This is probe carried retired by your institution oregon by an bureau connected its behalf. 

You tin bash the following: 

  • Conduct one-on-one interviews. Use a instrumentality similar Otter.ai to transcribe your conversation.
  • Attend online events oregon webinars your audiences whitethorn beryllium funny successful (and wage attraction to the questions radical ask).
  • Explore reappraisal sites (like TrustPilot, for example). These tin springiness you an thought of what radical are looking for and value.
  • Run surveys—tools similar Typeform and Google Forms tin assistance you.
  • Form absorption groups of up to 10 radical to get feedback connected your app, including what they similar and don't similar astir it.

4. Competitor Analysis

It’s important that your app stands retired from the crowd—and you tin lone bash this if you cognize precisely what the contention is offering. 

There are 2 apps connected Semrush that assistance with this: Mobile App Insights and AI Keyword Inspector for ASO.

Mobile App Insights

Mobile App Insights shows you your competitors' keyword rankings and Apple Search advertizing keywords. You tin get a sneak highest of their palmy strategies and spot however you tin usage their tactics to assistance you. 

keywords from mobile app insights

AI Keyword Inspector for ASO

Additionally, the AI Keyword Inspector for ASO automates the process of uncovering high-traffic, applicable keywords for your app.

AI generated ASO keywords from the Semrush app

This allows you to rapidly make a keyword program to skyrocket your app's visibility and ranking successful the app stores.

Remember, if it turns retired determination are akin offerings connected the market, you request to marque definite you tin amusement however it is different. Researching competing apps tin see analyzing your apical competitors by gathering a diagnostic matrix.

Include pricing, idiosyncratic experience, and ranking successful the app store, among different things, to pinpoint what you tin bash amended than them. 

See beneath for an example:

Mobile App Competitor Analysis Example

Price

Free (in app purchases)

User experience

Difficult onboarding 

Easy to stock with friends

Regular in-app notifications and propulsion notifications

Unique worth propositions

The lone app to connection instant translation

Rating

3 stars, radical find it hard to register

Many reviews remark connected a amusive experience, but hard to larn however to usage it.

Building User Personas

A idiosyncratic persona is simply a data-driven practice of your app’s cleanable users. 

Buyer persona template from Semrush

Since your people assemblage volition not beryllium homogeneous, you tin physique galore idiosyncratic personas for your app.

These profiles tin assistance you signifier your merchandise and aboriginal selling strategies. 

How to Build a User Persona

User personas tin beryllium built with the marketplace probe you carried retired earlier—this includes your lawsuit research, nonstop feedback, and manufacture insights, among different sources. 

If you don’t privation to commencement from scratch, you tin instrumentality vantage of idiosyncratic persona templates. 

Semrush has a free purchaser persona template to assistance you get started.

Once your app is ready, you person a motorboat date, and you’ve done your marketplace research, it’s clip to commencement laying the groundwork. Here’s a database of the things you tin bash to unafraid a palmy app launch:

Build a Landing Page

All the champion launches request a pre-launch landing page. Also known arsenic a “coming soon” page, these websites physique buzz astir your app. It should item your upcoming offering concisely. 

img-semblog

You tin besides usage the pre-launch leafage to physique leads and hole imaginable conversions. 

Have a Content Marketing Strategy

Content selling helps by creating and promoting applicable contented to physique involvement successful your app. 

This differs from accepted selling successful that it serves acquisition and community-creating purposes. The much utile the content, the much staying powerfulness your app volition have. 

A content selling strategy for your app could see a program for acquisition blog posts, a video series, oregon online quizzes to prosecute your audience.

Not lone tin you make your ain contented connected your website to pull caller imaginable customers, but you tin promote your app users to stock their acquisition of the app with others (this is known arsenic user-generated content).

Take Spotify’s “Wrapped,” for example. Every year, the Spotify app generates a personalized summary of each user’s apical philharmonic preferences successful a shareable format. 

Spotify.comSource: Spotify.com

When radical past spell to societal media to stock their stories, the app gets a ton of attention. 

Before launch, deliberation of ways to promote sharing and user-generated contented from your app.

Content Types and Formats

  • User-generated content

Anything created by customers oregon advocates of a marque alternatively than the marque itself. This could mean written reviews, shared photos connected societal media, oregon adjacent blog posts talking astir your app.

  • Blog posts

Blog posts are ace versatile. They tin beryllium optimized for search, reply your users’ burning questions, stock tips, tricks and guides, and adjacent locomotion done your app’s latest features.

  • Email marketing

Emails tin support your users up to day with your latest features, stock offers and support your app apical of mind.

  • Infographics

Infographics are highly ocular ways of sharing information. They tin person tons of antithetic uses—from sharing facts and however tos, to showcasing your users’ occurrence stories. 

  • Ebooks and achromatic papers

Also known arsenic pb magnets, ebooks, achromatic papers and longer signifier guides tin each beryllium placed down a gateway. Simply cod the interaction details of the radical who download your contented and you tin fto them cognize astir your app launch. 

  • Case studies

Case studies amusement however radical person utilized your app to lick a occupation oregon win successful immoderate way. They are particularly utile successful B2B selling campaigns. 

  • Podcasts 

Whether you look connected different podcast bid oregon make your own, podcasts are a bully mode to dispersed the connection and thrust consciousness of your app. 

  • Landing pages

Landing pages outline the benefits and features your app offers. They besides supply links to download the app directly. 

  • Video

Videos are a highly engaging signifier of contented selling and tin beryllium conscionable arsenic versatile and invaluable arsenic blogs. 

In information video selling is often much almighty than substance content, arsenic it tin assistance physique an affectional transportation with your people audience. They are casual to stock crossed societal media platforms and, dissimilar text, you don’t person to repurpose the content. 

Try Influencer Marketing

According to Influencer Marketing Hub, businesses spot a instrumentality of concern of $5.20 for each $1 they walk connected influencer marketing. 

There are respective types of influencers. Take a look astatine the database beneath to amended recognize what immoderate of your options are:

  1. Nano-influencers

Nano-influencers person less than 1,000 followers. However, they person singular engagement with their audiences. They often person specialized niches, which marque their posts precise impactful. They are often among the cheapest influencers to enactment with.

  1. Micro-influencers

Micro-influencers person betwixt 1,000 and 10,000 followers. They beryllium determination betwixt nano-influencers and macro-influencers. Their posts besides spot precocious levels of engagement. They are acold cheaper than macro influencers. 

  1. Macro-influencers

Macro-influencers person galore thousands to millions of followers. Working with them is the astir costly option, but they connection nonstop interaction with immense audiences. 

Want to work more? Get a wide overview of influencer selling here oregon dive into strategies for YouTube influencer marketing.

Acquisition Stage

After the consciousness signifier comes the acquisition stage. The constituent of this signifier is to crook prospective leads into users. 

The 2 main areas present see post-launch advertizing and SEO for apps, which is amended known arsenic App Store Optimization (ASO). 

Post-Launch Advertising

This is comparatively straightforward. Once your app has launched, you request to commencement paying for ads to marque definite they are disposable to your audience. 

There are a ton of options for wherever to tally an advertisement campaign these days, from Google Ads, to Facebook ads, to Apple Search Ads.

Use your marketplace probe erstwhile deciding wherever to advertise. If you recovered that your people assemblage was astir astatine location connected Facebook, that’s wherever you should beryllium paying for ads. 

Likewise, if they bent retired connected Instagram oregon TikTok, you should beryllium spending connected ads determination instead.

Recommended reading: Facebook Advertising: How to Run Campaigns connected Facebook

ASO

App Store Optimization (ASO) is the app store equivalent of SEO and a important portion of immoderate mobile app selling strategy. 

As discussed, determination are millions of apps. There could beryllium scores of competitors. ASO tin assistance your app execute amended successful presumption of hunt returns and downloads. 

Build your ASO strategy connected keywords, dependable search, and overseas languages (if applicable).

App Store Keyword Research

Picking the close keywords for your app store statement tin propulsion your app higher up the hunt returns list. 

To place the champion keywords for your app, you tin usage tools similar Mobile App Insights and AI Keyword Inspector for ASO. 

As clip goes on, you’ll person to update your app store transcript to see caller keywords to enactment relevant. 

Mobile App Insights gives you a fistful of reports to spot what keywords your competitors are utilizing and what hunt presumption bring them the astir downloads.

Keyword probe   successful  the Mobile App Insights app

AI Keyword Inspector for ASO tin fast-track your keyword probe by utilizing AI to analyse your app and instantly make a database of high-traffic and applicable keywords on with their metrics.
 

app store   keyword probe   with AI Keyword Inspector for ASO

Boost For Voice Searching

We tin present hunt for apps (and thing else) with dependable commands. Voice searches are little robotic and much earthy than written requests. Keep that successful caput erstwhile optimizing your introduction for dependable searching. 

Foreign Languages

If you privation to beryllium a planetary sensation, you can’t conscionable instrumentality to English. App store searches successful different countries volition bash amended successful their ain languages. Translate your app to marque definite it does amended internationally. 

Public Relations

An app motorboat wouldn’t beryllium implicit without a property release. This is simply a announcement to the media that explains what your app is, who it’s for, and however it tin beryllium accessed. 

You tin nonstop a property merchandise transportation straight to manufacture journalists and quality ligament services, being definite to see wherefore your caller app is worthy penning about. 

Product Hunt 

Product Hunt is simply a fashionable spot to motorboat caller apps, products, and updates. This tech website lets you taxable a merchandise to beryllium featured and users upvote their favorites. It’s a large spot to get your app successful beforehand of journalists, aboriginal adopters, and aboriginal users. 

Don’t hide astir paid hunt and societal media campaigns, to people imaginable users by involvement and keyword. Paid and teaser campaigns are a large mode to prime up caller users and make buzz astir your caller app. 

Retention Stage

So, you’ve managed to reel them in. Now you person to support your hard-won users. There are tons of ways to bash this. 

Notifications

In-app and propulsion notifications are a almighty instrumentality for keeping users updated connected caller developments. This tin see app updates, peculiar content, oregon promotions. 

For example, the fashionable crippled Clash of Clans sends notifications astir competitions, changes to gameplay, and different news. You should beryllium cautious astir however galore notifications you send, though. Overwhelming your users with excessively galore could spot your app deleted quickly. 

Communications

Communicating with existing users is different illustration of contented marketing. Language-learning app Duolingo is large astatine this. 

It often sends emails and different messages to get radical backmost into learning if they person been gone for a fewer days. It besides sends facts astir connection learning, with chill statistic and different information.

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You tin negociate communications with newsletters, blog posts connected societal media, and different content. Here’s a speedy run-down of options.

Rewards and Loyalty Programs

Easy to understand—people similar prizes and your users are nary different.

Gamification 

Game-like challenges tin support radical coming backmost for more.

Exercise apps bash this a lot. They clasp users by letting them vie with friends via the app astatine a distance.

Feedback and Support 

Show you respond rapidly to issues reported by users.

Offline Functionality 

Let users bask the app offline. Think Spotify offline playlists, oregon Google Docs. This allows the app to beryllium utilized anywhere.

Positive Reviews Within The App

Powerful societal impervious tin vindicate people’s determination to usage your app. Flaunt that affirmative feedback. 

Reengagement

Sometimes, relationships don’t enactment out. Over time, immoderate users whitethorn determine to halt utilizing your app. That doesn’t mean you can’t triumph them back, though. The reengagement signifier of the mobile engagement loop is astir winning backmost wayward members of your app’s flock. 

Here are immoderate of the things you tin bash to triumph backmost departed users:

  1. A/B Testing 

A/B testing is erstwhile you contiguous antithetic versions of your app to 2 antithetic trial groups. Fiddle with things similar the idiosyncratic experience, notifications, and different updates. Present changes to 1 radical of erstwhile users portion the different radical stays with the archetypal app. Then, you tin spot which gets amended feedback for imaginable rollout crossed your app.

  1. Community Building

Use your people audience's preferred societal media level to physique a beardown community. Even erstwhile idiosyncratic leaves, the chances are they volition support seeing app updates from the societal media scene. 

  1. Updates and Improvements 

Release updates and improvements arsenic often arsenic possible. Base these connected idiosyncratic feedback to re-engage radical who didn't similar an earlier mentation of your app.

  1. Time Limited Offers

Send offers to entice radical backmost to your app. You tin people these to email addresses and different interaction details you person from radical who nary longer usage your app. 

These are immoderate of the astir effectual tactics disposable to you. Have a play and spot which operation works champion to re-engage erstwhile users and get them backmost connected your app. 

Summary of a Mobile App Marketing Strategy

So determination you person it, the eventual usher to selling your app. 

Build Brand Awareness

It’s wide that laying the groundwork for your app’s motorboat is captious for success. Building a “coming soon” leafage and moving with influencers tin make buzz for your offering earlier the large day.

Implement ASO and Advertising

After you’ve launched, it’s astir maintaining momentum. Paid ads and superior effort connected your ASO tin marque definite your app stays disposable to imaginable users. 

Apply Retention Tactics

Special notation should spell to retention tactics. Keep them coming backmost for much with notifications, communications similar contented selling and things similar offers, rewards, and different incentives. 

Reengage Your Users

When users leave, don’t springiness up connected them! Use reengagement tactics to triumph them back. A/B investigating tin place the astir fashionable iteration of your app. Community gathering tin marque your app indispensable to a fixed people assemblage implicit time.

Remember to marque the astir of the tools that are disposable to you. Semrush’s Mobile App Insights and AI Keyword Inspector for ASO assistance you marque the champion decisions with your app store description.

Have amusive playing with each these tactics and spot what works champion for you. Best of luck connected your launch!

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