App Marketing explained in 3 minutes

Mobile App Marketing covers a complete life cycle of a user from the first contact with the app, to user acquisition, engagement, and most importantly – retention. It is designed to attract new users, improve retention, and lower churn rate. 

Not to be confused with Mobile Marketing, which is any marketing activity focused at reaching a specific audience on mobile devices including smartphones and tablets through website, mobile application, email, social media, etc.

A well thought-out marketing strategy helps you stand out from a platitude of apps available in the market. Read on to see what can be done in different stages of a user journey.

To put it simply, there are three main stages of Mobile App Marketing:

· Awareness
· Acquisition
· Retention / Re-Engagement

Note that user journey is not necessarily linear, user can move between these stages. This is called “Mobile Engagement Loop”. The framework highlights how brand experiences involve engaging with various online channels which then build user trust and loyalty.

Awareness: first contacts, be on their mind

Release date
A good start is half way done. Especially make sure that the app is well functioning through intensive testing and is approved by Google Store and App Store well before the d-day. Also consider a measurement partner for performance tracking.

Market research
Audience, know who you are reaching out to. Segment the audience, learn about potential user behaviors and create user personas. Also think about who your competitors are.

Landing page
One of the best converting methods is your company mobile web, make sure that you have a page that is fitting to that. Think: a smooth journey from mobile web > landing page > Store.

Social media and content
Leverage different channels to communicate about the product and the launch. Get the word out and have people talking. This also helps with SEO.

Acquisition: getting them in

Paid channels
There are many strategies that you can utilize to acquire a user:
· search
· social
· pop-upagement
· incentivized
· banner
· videos

App Store Optimisation (ASO)
Ranking top in the store increases the visibility of your app and therefore create a higher chance that a user downloads the app.

Store Search campaign (Apple / Android)
Such strategy is rather seamless for user experience. Users are already in the store with presumably an intention to download, as your ad shows up and if it is relevant, it is highly likely that a user is acquired. The right place, at the right time.

Retention: to stay or not to stay

Communication like Push notification or In-app communication
Keep them coming back, sometimes all that is needed is a little nudge to retain users. The easiest way is direct communication via the app. Alerts through push notifications are effective as well.

Retargeting
With users who might be inactive, you can use retargeting strategies to nudge the users back to the app and perform certain actions for example, complete lesson one today or make a purchase.

Customer Feedback
Of course the product itself should be relevant and valuable to the users. User experience is crucial in the retention stage which means feedback is important and valuable. Customer support is another factor that differentiates Great from Good.

Remember, user can change in between these stages. The ultimate goal for an app campaign is to create a loyal user who would engage in the app. Userbase is key for growth.

Having loyal users is the key to success.

Are you looking to promote app or have traffic for app? Get in touch and talk to us today >>

About Appiness

Appiness is a global mobile performance solution for app marketing and monetisation, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. We work with several models like app download (CPI), registration (CPR), sales (CPS), to achieve the best results, reach objectives, and grow your business further.

Here you will find more about our new brand identity for our app business: Appiness >>