Insider tips for promoting your app with zero budget
There are developers or companies which gave up creating mobile applications, because of the unsuccessful campaigns they had run. They have spent thousands of dollars to get in top rankings and have paid to several advertising services for a higher mobile presence, but unfortunately they didn’t get the result they wanted. It is not because their idea was not original or the app was full of software bugs, it is because they haven’t paid attention to the smaller things, which I will talk about in this blog post.
In this article I have gathered some tested and proven methods for promoting your mobile applications, which are the natural way for getting on the road to success. The other thing you should know is that they are absolutely free.
Make a meaningful app
Still thinking what kind of application you want to make? I suggest you to create an app with a target audience and a purpose in mind. If it is a game, you have to make a research what games your customers will be willing to play. Make a meaningful application, which will be used/played and talked about.
Customers are the main engine for any business and if you give them what they want, your application will succeed for sure. Remember that if you are able to convince just one user to try your app, you’ll be able to potentially hit the market just by his/her friends.
Stay connected with your users
Other important thing while you are running a marketing campaign, is to get in touch with your customers. As long as you respond to their requests and you answer their questions, they will be satisfied with your presence. All negative and positive feedback should be regarded and taken care of.
Gain leverage from your existing website
If you have a website which already has decent traffic, it is the right time for taking advantage of it. Let your customers know that you are expanding and you can offer them more ways for accessing your content/service/products.
If the target audience of your website is not the same as this of your applications, you can put links in visible places. Present your application shortly with a video or just place a banner of it.
Create a video
Presenting the main functions and features of your product is another way to motivate your customers to download your application. You can make a decent video, which can present the main functions and features of your product. Your video has to be entertaining and informative, because what you are presenting to your customers needs to answer the questions - Why this application is so good and useful and why it should be downloaded right away?
When you are ready with the video, you can upload it to your YouTube channel and after that you can use it as a promoting video in your app’s description in Apple AppStore and GooglePlay.
Present your application in a blog post
If you have a blog, you can write a story for your mobile application and tell your readers what is the purpose behind it. By Including links, video and screenshots you will motivate your users to read your content with high interest and increase the understanding of your blog post.
If you don’t have a blog, I suggest you to find a friend who owns one or just pay a small fee (like $10) for your post to be published in a blog with a target audience similar to the one of your App.
Upload your app on alternative stores
There are two major players on the market for mobile applications and they are AppStore and GooglePlay, but you cannot always rely on them and there are various other markets which have decent visitors. You can always publish your app in third-party stores, if you want to increase your downloads and visibility.
Some good app stores:
ASO - App Store Optimization
ASO (App Store Optimization) is a new subset of SEO and it takes a huge part of your presence in the application markets. This is a process of optimizing mobile apps to rank higher in an app store’s search results. Just like search engine optimization (SEO) is used for websites, ASO is for mobile applications.
There are various ASO factors and methods you can use to improve your ranking in the search results:
- Title - Your application’s title is probably the most important factor for ranking in the search results. Having a keyword in your title can drastically improve your visibility in the app store.
- Keywords - You should constantly track your keywords and the movements of your competitors. I would suggest you to use these services, because this work takes time and effort: SearchMan or Distimo.
- Downloads - This is a secondary factor, but it is also important for the ranking in the search results. If you have large amount of downloads, you will rank higher.
- Rating and Reviews - Apps with higher ratings are also ranked higher, so you need to find a way to connect with your customers and make them happy. Also, you need to add an option for rating directly from the app.
Social Media
After your application is ready for public exposure, it is time to get started on the social channels. Your application can benefit from the social media in many ways - it is good for promoting content/products/services, increasing your brand awareness and also you can get the right audience for your app.
There are plenty of cool and interesting social networks which can be considered like Facebook, Google+, Twitter, Instagram, etc.
Apply for awards
You can participate in various app awards sites, which will give you more exposure, reviews and downloads. You can also have chance to win a contest, which of course depends on your app idea.
Here is a list of some app awards sites:
- AppCircus competition
- Apple Design Awards
- Appy Awards
- Appsters Awards
- Best Mobile App Awards
- Best App Ever Awards
- Ericsson Application Awards
- The Webby Awards
In Conclusion
In this blog post we have described some of the most commonly used ways for free app promoting. They can be put together to build a complete marketing strategy for your mobile app that doesn’t require large investments. As all marketing strategies, you need to be consistent and have to be ready to spend some time for maximum benefits.
