It’s no secret that the mobile app marketplace is highly competitive and saturated. Apple’s App Store sales topped $10 billion in 2013, and customers downloaded nearly 3 billion apps in December alone.
It can be hard to stand out in this marketplace, but it is possible by understanding how simple marketing tactics can work together to make a big impact on your business. Whether it’s a great piece of coverage in Entrepreneur or a stellar blog post that is picked up by outside sources, the key is to understand that press coverage, social-media engagement and blog content are synergistic entities.
For instance, anyone who reads about an app in a major media source is more likely to become a user if they see that the app has good content on its developer's blog as well as an active social-media presence. Better yet, people will be more likely to read an app’s blog and take its content seriously if they know the press covers that app and takes it seriously.
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In the end, using all three of these marketing tactics synergistically will lead to increased credibility, awareness and, most importantly, new users. Here are some ways to embrace the power of synergy and garner more users or customers:
Make press coverage go further. Landing great coverage in a well-known news source such as CNN or Entrepreneur will increase any developer’s credibility for having an exciting and relevant app on the market that’s worth talking about. Although many people will see that one article, an app’s entire target market will not see it.
This means great placements must be distributed throughout all appropriate marketing channels in a targeted and specific way so that they reach the intended audiences. Send out messages to targeted social-media lists, provide a summary of the article on a blog and link back to it and maybe even send an email out to any current user base.
Put out relevant and interesting content. Providing relevant content that actually informs an audience, or helps them discover new and interesting information, is a great way to garner new users or customers. People have learned to ignore ads and embrace content, so creating this type of content and posting it on a blog is crucial.
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Posting great content doesn’t stop there. For content to be read, utilize all social channels. Draft short teasers that include bits of information from the blog post along with the URL. Directing people to this content also gets them closer to the app’s site, and if people find that content to be truly inspiring or interesting, there is a chance that they could navigate around the site and eventually download or sign up for your app.
Find the niche audiences on social media. Being active and responsive on social media is a great start, but to truly harness the power of social media, identify very niche audiences to reach a target market. Research Twitter lists, Linkedin forums and groups and threads on popular sites such as Reddit.
Once these lists have been compiled, sharing links to any relevant press coverage or blog posts with these specific communities will ensure that all targeted audiences are learning more about the app. As the app name becomes more common and the audience begins to see it in a more credible light, they will more likely become new users.
As an app developer that likely has limited time to devote to marketing efforts, remember to leverage the synergy between the three basic marketing tactics: press coverage, social media and blog content. These can work together to form a simple, yet cohesive marketing strategy that will get news and content in front of the audience that matters.