6 reasons why a mobile app is an absolute necessity for an eCommerce business

whatech.com

Got an eCommerce website? Here is why you need a mobile app too to ensure your success in the ecommerce industry.

It’s an era of smart phones and it is fastest growing industry where mobile apps plays a major role in connecting people. Any business needs a mobile app and it is truer in case of ecommerce companies.

According to a research by Gartner if you only own a ecommerce website you are missing at least 60% of potential traffic which can come via mobile apps. The way today we communicate with our friends, family and relatives has changed a lot and fully depend on mobiles and internet.

Want to wish on bday? Send message on whatsapp, Want to send gift to your near and dear ones? Send gift online through mobile apps, etc and much more through apps and mobiles. So why do you think it is different for ecommerce?

Lets dig deeper into the pool of reasons that why mobile apps are so necessary for an ecommerce business

1. User preferences and awareness:- With the ratio of 80% of users says that they prefer mobile apps for shopping via mobile browsers. Mobile apps makes shopping safe, secure and easy. Cookies help them to remember the Url and so there are login issues. Every Time they save their items are always seen stored in their apps which makes it easy for them to shop.
2. Easy payment options:- While mobile app is developed they take care of secure payment options for hassle free shopping experience. This makes it the buying process streamlined from their end.
3. Stay connected socially:- Mobile apps encourage social sharing via their apps. So if you more business and let your customers do advertising and promotion for you then sharing your social account ids of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media sites help you build more audience and customers.
4. Ease of access and maintenance:- Mobile apps are kind of easy and convenient option to get in touch with your customers and business. There are some issues with external or other apps like if developer decides to stop the support for the application and you left with no functionality and help then mobile apps are your right hand.
5. Push notifications are important:- Notifications are really important because it helps you do your half of the work like giving that special offers to customers, also when you want to put up a sale or some special discounted products. Push notifications can be location based which let you know which customers are interested in what. It can surely help you boost sales.
6. Mobile apps builds a brand:- Put your brand and products center with the help of mobile app in the form of pop-ups and advertising. Apps are like ears and eyes of the shopper. Customers sees what it has been shown always to the screen, so why not your brand and products. All this can happen only because of mobile apps.

Did you just launch your mobile app? Here are surefire ways to expand your reach and engage with the right audiences

e27.co

Whatever kind of app you have, you need to develop a sound marketing strategy for it to help it stand out from the increasingly crowded marketplace

Mobile apps offer great opportunities to not only market your brand but also to create a revenue stream on their own. You can create an app that helps people more easily shop with your company or get branded information, or you can create an app that is a product on its own that makes you a profit.

Whatever kind of app you have, you need to develop a sound marketing strategy for it to help it stand out from the increasingly crowded marketplace. Here are a few of the best ways you can market your mobile apps to get more downloads and more engagement:

Content marketing

Content marketing continues to be one of the most effective ways to promote any brand, product, or service. By creating useful content, you are attracting the attention of your target audience without trying to overtly sell to them. For your app, you can create content that is on-topic or that is about the app itself. For example, if you have an app that lets people track their food intake and exercise, you can write content about why it’s important to track these things or about how the app helps them to meet their goals faster, and so on.

You can write the content yourself and try to get it placed on high-quality sites that are most likely to reach your target audience. However, you may want to consider hiring a company that offers content creation services as it will likely have a proven system and established contacts in place that will get you results faster.

Native ads

Native advertising can be a bit like content marketing, but instead of publishing content on your own site or even pitching and publishing guest blogs on other sites, you are writing content and paying for the privilege of having it published. You could write a sponsored post in which your link appears somewhere in the content or in the byline, similar to the informational content you would publish on your own site. Or you could write a sponsored review of your app.

Native ads can take any format – their defining characteristic is just that they take on the look and feel of the site on which they are published. But native content advertising is highly effective and engaging. People are much more likely to read these ads since they do not identify them as ads but as useful content. People are much more likely to click through on native ads and to take action, such as signing up for more information or installing the app.

Appstore ads

Traditional advertising can also be effective if it is designed properly and placed in the right location. The app store is one of the best places to get visibility for your app since people will be there already looking for new apps to install. The right ad can grab your audience’s attention and get them to install your app.

Without ads on the app store, your app is likely to languish in anonymity. There are millions of apps on any given app store – how are you going to stand out? You can’t just hope to get featured. You need to take the situation into your own hands and put your app at the head of the pack.

Post-install events

You don’t just want people to install your app; you want them to also be engaged and to take action after they are already using the app, such as by purchasing your products or services or clicking on your ads. Otherwise, your app is nothing more than a novelty that drains your resources.

You can encourage activity post-install by offering exclusive discounts for products or services. You can also offer promotions like free shipping or a free gift with purchase. Not only will people be more likely to act with these kinds of offers, but people who don’t have the app will be more likely to install it if they know that such exclusive offers are available through the app.

Mobile apps can be highly profitable if you market them properly. Use these tips to get more downloads for your apps and more profits from those who are using the apps.

The last-click conundrum

campaignasia.com
Millions of dollars in spending on app advertising depends on last-click attribution, a model which has issues. But should it be finessed or replaced?

Millions of dollars in spending on app advertising depends on last-click attribution, a model which has issues. But should it be finessed or replaced? Kabeer Chaudhary Attribution in marketing is the study of determining the efficiency of a media channel. The study becomes even more fascinating when it comes to mobile app advertising, where it’s possible to track and measure everything. Well, almost. 
Most attribution systems in mobile-app marketing use a last-click-based attribution model. This means that the ‘end action’ taken by a user is attributed to the channel that delivered the ‘last click’. And rightly so, for a click is synonymous with intent. A click is a symbol of a user taking the first move toward a product. The click is the last breadcrumb and hence is probably the most important aspect of measurement in digital advertising. 
Millions of dollars of budgets in app advertising are determined based on the source that generated the last click. If you’re a digital native, you can be sure that there are hundreds if not thousands of publishers fighting amongst each other to get your last click before you install an app or purchase something online. For that reason, it’s compulsory that the measurement and definition of a click be standard and accurate for precise attribution, which is unfortunately not the case at the moment. Below are a few factors that make click measurement non-standard for all publishers: 
1. Click is URL based 
For all third-party attribution platforms, a click means a click on the URL. One key problem with URL-based measurement is that it does not care what creative the URL is embedded upon. Thus, there is no way for an advertiser to be able to guarantee that the publisher got you a click from a legitimate creative that was supposed to be clicked upon. As long as the destination URL was clicked upon, the attribution platform will count a click. 
In a fair world, there should not be any problem with this. But sadly, in the world we live in, this gives fraudsters an open palette to show their creativity, stuffing attribution platforms with clicks from everywhere, leading to misattribution. The combination of a URL and a creative tag based measurement is probably the solution that the industry demands. 
2. Asynchronous clicks 
App attribution platforms have server-to-server integrations with some ad networks and publishers. This means that these ad networks are able to let the attribution platforms know when they got the click instead of the attribution platform counting it themselves. Well, the legitimate case that ad networks have made for being able to do this is that when the inventory they buy is rebrokered, it leads to multiple redirects, which in turn leads to a lag time between the click and landing page. 
Now, this in itself is debatable. However, the problem arises when publishers send millions of false clicks through these server integrations to be able to win the ‘last click’. This along with the URL-based click measurement is a major reason for advertisers seeing an exaggerated amount of clicks from publishers. 
Possible solutions to this are for attribution platforms to either let go of the concept of ‘asynchronous clicks’ or at least give advertisers the freedom to choose whether they want ad networks to send them clicks asynchronously. This might not kill but will at least grievously injure two evil birds with the same stone: rebrokering and click spamming. 
3. The walled gardens 
Beyond the purview of attribution platforms lie the majestic walled gardens of Facebook, Twitter and Google. They are self-attributing networks. They count clicks, measure actions and attribute data themselves. 
The main reason that they cite for this is ‘privacy of their data’ which makes a legitimate case for publishers their size who are concerned about how their data might get misused. In a perfect world no single party, however important they might be, should be allowed to mark their own homework. However, for us to be able to reach there, third-party attribution needs to go through a couple of rounds of evolution in terms of fraud prevention, ad serving and being truly third-party. 

Beyond last-click? 
There is a valid argument in the industry that questions the finesse of the last-click attribution model and recommends wider usage of other more sophisticated models, such as multi-touch and cross-channel attribution. Theoretically, irrespective of what model an advertiser uses, it would still get down to the click or impression or both to be measured accurately. In my opinion, true and unbiased third-party attribution will play a very important role in mobile app marketing. Measurement of clicks has to be accurate and standard across the board and depending on how quickly we do that will determine how quickly we evolve. This combined along with educating clients and passing them all the ammunition required to understand and interpret data from all sources and evaluate their efficiency.

Google vs. Ad Blockers: If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em

pantagraph.com

Google is the biggest internet-advertising company in the world, so it's ironic that the Alphabet subsidiary is considering including an ad blocking feature in its popular Chrome web browser. Ad blocking has grown increasingly popular over the last few years; roughly 26% of U.S. internet users now employ ad-blocking software.

Google may be looking to preempt further adoption of ad blockers by automatically disabling the most annoying kinds of ads on the web, like full-screen takeovers and autoplay video ads. Google is backed by the Coalition for Better Ads, which includes some of the largest marketers, ad agencies, and media organizations, along with Facebook.

The rise of ad blocking is a threat to companies like Google and Facebook that generate nearly all of their revenue from online advertising. If they can control the ad-blocking software, they can control which ads get blocked and which ones don't, a win-win-win for internet users, publishers, and advertising companies.

Don't block every ad, just the bad ones

Google has already built functions into its Chrome browser to block ads that result in the biggest drains on laptop and smartphone batteries. The updates it's discussing with publishers and the Coalition will take another step, to block the ad formats that overwhelmingly lead users to seek out ad blockers.

Publishers are drawn to ads like full-screen takeovers and autoplay videos because they typically fetch higher rates than other ad units. However, they can also ruin the user experience, potentially leading to high website abandonment rates. Top publishers understand this and generally stay away from these annoying formats, but with the proliferation of small publishers through Facebook, it's more and more common to come across these types of ads.

The Coalition for Better Ads is in the process of setting standards for publishers to follow. Google's Chrome browser is just one vehicle through which it will enforce those standards. Chrome is used by 58.6% of all web users; with that much of the market, Google should be able to get most publishers to adopt the standards, for fear they'll miss out on a lot of potential ad revenue.

Won't Google be hurting itself?

Google is one of the biggest digital display advertisers in the world, but most of its ad revenue actually comes from its search business. Google doesn't break out search specifically, but its owned and operated properties accounted for over 80% of its total ad revenue last quarter. The other 20% came from its ad network, which it splits with publishers.

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Google's own websites have increased their share of Google's total ad revenue in recent years, as people spend more time watching ads on YouTube and searching Google on their mobile devices. While paid clicks on network member sites continue to increase (despite the proliferation of ad blockers), Google's revenue per click is declining.

Facebook actually generates more revenue from display ads than Google. But Facebook investors shouldn't be worried either. Facebook's main ad unit -- native News Feed ads -- certainly falls within the standards set forth by the coalition. Moreover, most of Facebook's audience accesses its platform through a dedicated mobile app, which is immune to ad-blocking services like the one Google is reportedly developing.

Even blocking the most annoying kinds of ads, Google can still let nonintrusive ads through. That's better for both Google and publishers than third-party software, which generally blocks any and all ads. If Google integrates ad blocking into Chrome, it could stop many consumers from going for those third-party apps, saving some revenue for Google and its network partners.

5 Crucial Mobile App budgeting Mistakes to avoid

businesszone.co.uk
Mobile app budgeting is an undertaking which most of the businesses are not adequately equipped with. Regardless of the number of organizations understanding the importance of planning a mobile app budget, there are in fact very less number of companies that really grasps the essence of what it really takes to build a user-friendly, fully-functional mobile app. This knowledge difference is the reason why many underestimate the significance of the resources, budget and time they require in building a valuable product. Check out the five mobile app budgeting mistakes companies make and you as an entrepreneur can avoid:

App marketing Budget

Marketing plays a vital role in driving user acquisition and growth and as the app market has become highly competitive, just like any other service or product, your mobile applications also need to be promoted in order to be successful. But all too often, the aspect of marketing takes the backseat.

Most of the entrepreneurs while paying attention to the mobile app development process, forgets to focus on app marketing altogether. And this is how they fail to capture customer’s attention for their app. Setting up a budget for app marketing will help you familiarize people about the benefits and usability of your app which in turn would lead to more downloads and profits.

Mobile app marketing should be considered at the initial stages of the development process when you are establishing the success metrics. Just like app objectives are essential, your marketing budget also needs to be compatible with these objectives.

App Updating Budget

This is one of the most critical budgeting mistakes mobile app developers make that results in reduced shelf life of the mobile app. New technology keeps emerging in the market which makes it vital for the developers to update their application on schedule to keep it relevant with the ever evolving technology.

Constituting budget for regular app updates helps you in delivering a better user experience that meets your user’s requirements and enable your app to continue longer in the competition. Proficient mobile app development companies provide services to clients release major updates timely, thus empowering the clients to earn more profit from their app solution.

Prioritizing App’s UI

Even though a powerful UI can boost the user engagement, the app functionality is what delivers the actual benefit. To make the app appear more attractive, entrepreneurs focus more on UI (user interface) but overlook the app’s functionality. If you want to build an app with great user experience then you need to set a proper budget for its back-end infrastructure which will ultimately bring forth a business boosting app.

Excluding Cross-platform app development

Many entrepreneurs set up their budget only for a single platform and are oblivious to the involvement of cross-platform development which eventually restricts the possibilities of gaining more profit from their app. As customers today are divided on numerous platforms thus incorporating cross-platform mobile app development in your business strategy can help fabricate functionality that serves the need of large section of end-users.

Thinking Mobile apps and websites are correlated

Websites and Mobile apps both are two different elements and you cannot set the budget of your app taking into consideration the budget of your website. Developing a mobile app involves more complexities which add to the overall cost, thus it requires more budget than developing a website.

The above-mentioned five aspects are highly important mobile app budgeting factors. However, they are generally altogether absent when budget propositions are being formulated. If you haven’t contemplated these aspects, then you have only planned a budget for your project, not a functional, feasible mobile app.

Will YouTube's troubles impact social spending?

marketingdive.com
Brands are hitting pause on the platform over brand safety concerns. Experts weigh in on whether there's a "ripple effect."

The ongoing advertiser boycotts of Google properties, specifically YouTube, have captured media attention in a way few industry controversies have in recent memory and raised the question of whether there will be a ripple effect on how marketers think about social spending and platforms more broadly.

As the situation turns into a bit of a waiting game — many brands can't afford to miss out on the reach offered by Google, which likely wants the PR nightmare to end — early indications are that some brands are taking their budgets elsewhere. If YouTube is able to address the issue quickly, any impact on budgets is likely to be a small blip. But if the troubles drag on, there could be a number of beneficiaries as spend shifts, including Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter, mobile video advertising, in-app video and competing TV-like channels.   

"Brands could definitely take this recent boycott as a charge to test some new options out," said Stephen Boidock, director of marketing and business development, Drumroll. "Mobile video advertising and in-app video advertising continue to see healthy increases in spend year-over-year, so this might be a chance for brands to test the waters."

Classifying social

The issue started when a number of U.K.-based brands and organizations, along with the French advertising giant Havas, pulled their spend on Google, citing the tech giant's failure to guarantee ads wouldn't appear next to content featuring material like hate speech and terrorism. This "brand safety" boycott quickly escalated to a global scale, with many U.S. companies including AT&T, PepsiCo, Wal-Mart and Johnson & Johnson joining the fray through varying degrees of budgetary freezes.

In response, Google has offered more transparency into YouTube inventory, along with entirely reconfiguring how advertisements are served on the platform's channels. Agencies, ad tech firms and content networks have stepped up in the meantime, offering sturdier whitelisting and guarantees of safer inventory.

The phrase being leveraged most against Google and YouTube, in particular, is "brand safety," but it's far from an issue limited to these platforms, experts said. 

"Social platforms in general, including YouTube, should keep a close eye on the content that is shared on their platform because it will be, even if unfairly, perceived as a representation of the platform vs. the person posting,” said Boidock. 

"I think that some things are unavoidable and the main takeaway for social platforms is to be hyper-responsive and action-oriented when situations like this arise to minimize the damage they may cause," he added.

Although YouTube is often grouped in with social platforms like Facebook or Snapchat, not all marketers view it as fitting into that category for advertising purposes. Jason Beckerman, CEO and co-founder, Unified, explained that the boycott won't necessarily affect social spend broadly because most advertisers place YouTube ads into their display budgets, given that ads on the video portal are frequently bought through Google's DoubleClick Exchange.

At the same time, Beckerman said he is already seeing a shift, with marketers taking YouTube ad spend to other platforms.

Google's woes are rivals' opportunity

While YouTube is a digital video veteran having arrived so early on the scene, it's seen growing competition from other tech players like Snapchat and Facebook, the latter of which is investing in long-form, premium video more akin to YouTube's content model than something an over-the-top service like Netflix provides. Given that, YouTube's current vulnerability doubles as an opportunity for rivals. 

Both Beckerman and Boidock cited upstart Snapchat as a beneficiary of YouTube's struggles; Beckerman also highlighted Facebook and Twitter, while Boidock pointed to Instagram. The common element here is that all of these platforms are rapidly proliferating video ad formats ready for purchase, and have healthy user bases that show a propensity to consume more video content.

Boidock mentioned that more publishers are producing original video content as well, so some YouTube ad dollars might end up on those non-social channels.

"Marketers who decide to reallocate YouTube dollars will focus them on platforms with similar visual/video mediums," said Boidock. "Most of the platforms with that type of content offering fall within social."

However, where video strategy fits into the individual marketer's goals overall will ultimately have the most influence on how any YouTube ad dollars are reallocated.

Boidock said that brands focused on passive consumption, where the user is just expected to watch the video, might turn to digital TV-like channels like AMC.com or Crackle. Marketers looking for active consumption, where users interact with and click on ads, might turn instead to social platforms since their users are accustomed to directly engaging with content.

How will YouTube fare?

In the short term, YouTube and Google are obviously losing a share of ad revenue, but neither Beckerman nor Boidock expect the boycott to be long-lived or especially damaging.

Beckerman sees YouTube addressing the issue through innovation — the company is apparently working on a Cloud Video Intelligence API that uses artificial intelligence to flag down inappropriate material —  and marketers moving on to a new topic of discussion. Boidock thinks that, as soon as YouTube tightens up policies around offensive content, advertisers will come running back.

"Fortunately for Alphabet/YouTube/Google, the current situation is a result of other people’s negative content hosted on their site vs. something [Google is] proactively producing," he said.

"The only thing they’re guilty of is creating a platform that erred on the side of minimal censorship/right to free speech," he added. "This means users and advertisers should have a much easier time forgiving them when this is resolved."

One area where Google could find itself in trouble is if the YouTube content creators that capture huge audience attentions decide to switch platforms. Many are already taking a direct hit to their incomes, and some of the most prominent YouTube influencers have, in turn, started to produce content for rival services like Amazon's Twitch. 

The controversy overall highlights how social platforms have evolved since they launched with priorities leaning toward the user through ease of access and free speech, according to Boidock. Now that many of these platforms, including Facebook, Snap and Twitter, are publicly traded, they have to meet both the increasingly watchful eye of brands and also shareholder expectation and preferences.

"A brand pulling its advertising can actually cause a ripple effect that influences social policies," Boidock said.

The broad view on social

YouTube’s current issue isn’t likely to impact social media ad spending, said Boidock, citing research that says spend in the category is expected to increase by 26% this year, and one that has doubled globally over the last two years. YouTube might even see a bounce back when marketers return, eager to make up for lost time, he added.

Beckerman took a more philosophical look at the big picture.

“In general, digital is a brave new world," he said. "This will not be the last bump in the road for digital marketers, but like all great pioneers who set a course — that journey is not a straight line.

"You recalibrate when you need to and keep walking forward because the benefit of getting to the end of the journey is much better than not taking the trip at all."

7 Brilliant Tools to Market Your Mobile Apps

business2community.com

All set for your app release? The battle isn’t won yet. According to a Statista report, ITunes currently lists over 2,000,000 apps. You may end up lost in the lot if you haven’t thought your marketing strategy through.

There are tons of articles on the internet that will tell you how to market your app, but few of them list resources that can help you do it. This is a list of 7 brilliant tools that can help you market your app and gain a competitive advantage.

1. Reddit

One of the top reasons why mobile apps fail is because a great idea in theory need not work as well in reality. App developers who work in isolation often miss out on the most valuable feedback – from the intended audience.

Reddit is a great place to seek honest, brutal feedback for your app, while also building relationships with prospective future advocates. Begin by identifying the SubReddits that have your target audience. Summarize what you intend to create with your app and request feedback or suggestions of features that people would want to use. Compile the suggestions on a Google Doc and refer to them when building your app. You can also store details of respondents who show interest in receiving development updates and contact them when you release the app. Alternatively, you can thank them with early access explaining what you did with their feedback – the advocates who spring off of these efforts are often the most passionate and influential.

To collect information in an organized manner, you can use Google forms.

2. Erli Bird

Erli Bird is a post-development version of Reddit. Once you have a Minimum Viable Product, I recommend that you test how the app is received by submitting it to a community like Erli Bird.

After you have submitted a summary and a URL access to the app, beta testers will use your app. Their interaction with the app will be recorded as screen captures and heat maps and their experiences as feedback. You can use this information to make another round of changes before you make your app available to the public.

3. Google Analytics

You can set up Google Analytics easily and for free on your app using an SDK. Once you have, the app will report number of users, user insights – location and characteristics, user actions and navigation, revenue and in-app payments which can give you an invaluable overview of your app’s performance.

You can use the audience insights to build out your PPC and content marketing strategies, based on who your users primarily are and their age, gender, location, reading level and interests. Analytics also gives you some insight into user behavior, helping you improve your UI and better app performance and sales.

4. Keyword Planner

An important part of driving traffic to your websites and apps on the internet is understanding the keywords that can help you do it. You can use Google’s Keyword Planner to identify important keywords in your niche to leverage them on content marketing and distribution apps and platforms.

• Long tail keywords have been found to be better targets than short keywords, because
• They are easier to rank for (less competition)
• They convert better, according to a MarketingHub study

On the keyword planner, type in a generic term related to your niche and click on “get ideas”. The planner will display a list of keywords similar to one you have inserted. Pick the most relevant suggestion and re-plug it into the planner. You will get long tail keyword options that you can use.

5. DrumUp

Once you have your keywords, you can use it to source high quality content that can attract a social media following and improve your brand’s visibility. You can use DrumUp to manage multiple social media accounts (so your Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter pages) without expending much effort.

Today’s audience spends 30% of all the time they spend on the internet on social media, according to a GlobalWebIndex report. To reach them there and stay on top of their minds you need great social media content. On DrumUp you can space out your original content on a scheduling calendar and schedule posts across multiple social media accounts weeks or months in advance.

You can also use the apps to content curation resources and fill in the engagement gaps with high quality, non-promotional and interesting articles related to what you do. Alternatively, you can use the app to store content for the future in a library and schedule them when needed.

A strong social media following can have huge impact on your app’s branding, sales and usership.

6. TalkWalker Alerts

Before you launch your app, you’ll need to create momentum or a buzz of sorts to carry your app for the first few weeks, so you can take advantage of PR and the excitement of being “new”. To do that, you’ll need a list of app review sites, directories and journalists you can hit to gain your app more visibility.

One way to do this, is to set up alerts for mentions of your competitors. By identifying places where they have been featured or published, you ascertain opportunities for your brand to facilitate the same. You can also use your keywords to find publications and in-turn journalists who talk about your niche.

Ensure that you reach out to reviewers and journalists well in advance so the articles come out in time for the app launch, because if the come out earlier, you will lose search traffic and disappoint interested individuals.

7. Canva

Graphic design is an important part of effective communication. If you aren’t well versed with Photoshop or Illustrate and need a quick online alternative to create graphics, Canva is a good tool to use.

You can use Canva to put together app teasers, social media posts and blog post covers. You can also create infographics and slides using the tool. Once you have created your graphic, you can add a link back to your app and directly share it to your social media accounts from the tool.

A checklist of 12 essential tips for mobile app marketing

The success of an app can be attributed to multiple factors, considering everything from design to release and marketing. This is a list of 12 tips that can help you cover the necessities in selling your app.

1. Design the app with users in mind

You can’t market a product that has no predefined audience. You could, but you would probably fail and waste a lot of money.

Many times, developers end up building products that people don’t want to use.

An app is easiest to market when you have considered its target audience from the initial stages of development. Many developers use active online communities like subReddits to seek invaluable feedback during development. Others rely on early adopters to get product defining feedback.

2. Optimize your web presence

For your app to be a hit, you need to have a strong presence on the web to point all your traffic to. A website is an important part of app success.

People who want to talk about you usually link out to your website, and not your profile on an app store, which is why you need to have an impressive, conversion optimized website.

You can direct people to download your app from the website, and if you have managed to create a great impression with your web pages, your conversion rates are likely to be high.

3. Optimize your app store presence

The tools mentioned on this article will help you direct traffic from external sites (top publications and social media networks) back to your website and your app store presence.

If you haven’t optimized your app store presence with detailed descriptions of the services you offer, the latest screenshots of your app and support on how your audience can use it, you won’t convert much of your inbound traffic.

4. Create an online event to mark your app release

People are more likely to try something when it is “new”, and you need to make the most of the hype created by a release.

Create online events to reach more people – a webinar, Youtube event, a Facebook live video or Periscope video. You could also follow up your event with a Twitter chat or engagement to
connect with people who are interested in your app. All you need is a strong content marketing strategy and the means to execute it.

5. Highlight and effectively convey your unique selling points

If there are 2,000,000 apps out there, you need to stand out to command attention of the market.

What sets you apart from the rest? Create strong messages that highlight your best features and distribute them on social networks and your web presences. Get listed on relevant app directories and lists of top apps in your niche.

6. Be creative and interesting

Several apps build their reputation via word of mouth offline and on online communities.

If you are interesting and creative, people are likely to talk about you on social forums. Be tweetable. Associate yourself with something powerful, clearcut and simple that people will post about and talk about on external networks.

You can also try and create viral content – like GIFs, memes or other entertaining bits that are likely to spread virally on online media.

7. Get users to join your social media communities so they can talk about their experience

Many apps get users to join their social networks as part of the registration process.

When you register for some apps you may have noticed that they have an auto-filled selection box asking you to follow their Twitter or Facebook page and tweet or post about them. You could consider this option for your app, in hopes of nurturing brand advocates.

8. Run social media contests

Social media contests can help you reach wider audiences, in short spans of time. Create a like and share contest that requires participants to like your social media page/ post and share it with friends to enter.

You also need exciting prizes related to your brand or app to give away to contest winners.

Pokemon Go ran a few of these contests to keep their engagement going during quiet periods – when they had no new updates to share with their audience. Most Pokemon Go users are fans of the anime, so Niantic (the company the created the app) offered contest winners Pokemon merchandise to like and share their Twitter page.

9. Create in-app prompts to review and rate your app

Reviews and ratings are an important part of how an audience chooses which apps to download. Since you can’t manually request users to review and rate your app, and emails and social media requests will yield limited results (you can’t be sure how many of your users you are actually reaching), in-app prompts/ notifications are a great way to get them.

10. Build a community around your app

If you build an engaged community around your app, you will need minimal external interference to keep users enthusiastic.

Many apps have communities within the app or externally that allow users to communicate with each other. For instance, Clash of Clans allowed users to communicate with each other, adding a whole new layer to experience they delivered to users.

It could be a chat box or even a simple discussion board, or even a social media page for your app users to express themselves. A community can add value and engagement to your app.

11. Plan app upgrades beforehand to keep your community engaged

Many apps enter the market with a bang, only to fade out and die over time. To keep your audience engaged, you need timely upgrades for old users and easy adoption for new users to ensure that both groups are taken care of.

If you don’t have upgrades planned in advance and to some extent ready to push out, you’ll lose users to next new app that comes into the market.

The idea is to sell app users a journey that you experience alongside them, so they never find the need to jump ship.

12. Respond to every comment on your app store account

It isn’t a good idea to leave negative comments unattended to on any of your official accounts – app store or otherwise. App store comments are in fact, a great way to identify the bugs you missed or ways in which you can improve UX on your app.

Respond to every negative experience showing that you care and intend to seriously consider what your users are telling you. It will help you convert more users who land on your app store page.