Mobile App Marketing for Small Businesses – All You Need to Know

As the total number of available apps for download in leading app stores reaches a staggering high, the only factor that can help you stand out in a fiercely competitive app world is a well-planned and meticulous marketing strategy. While you can put a lot of focus on developing a successful mobile app development plan, if you do not market it well, all the hard work goes to waste.

A perfect mobile app marketing strategy essentially covers every interaction with the user from the time they first learn about the app to when they become loyal users. The key aim of it is to acquire users that will not only drive engagement but will also become active promoters for your app.

However, a powerful mobile app marketing plan requires a lot of careful planning and a detailed strategy to be able to achieve the desired results. In this blog, we share some expert tips to seamlessly manage mobile app marketing for your small business.

1. Carry out Thorough Market Research

Carrying out thorough market research will allow you to develop a greater understanding of how to use the mobile app marketing strategies covered in this blog. It will also help you answer the following questions early in the app development process to enable smooth sailing at a later stage –

• Who is the target audience for your mobile app?
• What strategies are your competitors using to target the same audience?
• Why do you think they will be interested in your app?
• What you want your app to achieve and how can you get creative to ensure that your app stands out from the competition and helps you achieve your marketing goals?

These details will provide more insights to achieve the optimal results of your mobile app.

It is needless to say that small businesses need to be extra careful about the type of marketing strategies they adopt as they are mostly constrained by a small budget. They need to invest every penny wisely so that they derive the value for money and keep their businesses going.

2. Maximize Your Content Promotion across All Platforms

The importance of generating pre-launch buzz is essential for every mobile app marketing as only 40% of mobile users search for apps in app stores. What this means is that you’ve got to go where your users are and offer them valuable content to market your new mobile app.

Some of the strategies you can employ here include –

• Make necessary changes to your landing page copy to include the mobile app
• Preview the app with highlighted articles, blogs, videos, and other teaser content to generate interest and get customers excited about the app
• Make use of guest blogs to reach a wider audience
• Create targeted YouTube videos to share on social media with step-by-step instructions on how your mobile app works and how it solves the user’s problems
• Reach out to relevant influencers on social media platforms (such as Instagram and Facebook) of your niche target market and ask them to review the app
• Use mobile advertising to highlight a landing page and informing subscribers of the app launch

Since the app downloads for any new mobile app typically reach their peak in the first few weeks after the launch, it is important to generate a lot of pre-launch buzz.

3. Boost Your App Downloads With Marketing Automation

Although there are several effective mobile app marketing strategies that you can choose from, the best ROI comes from implementing marketing automation. It plays an important role in mobile app marketing by freeing up human resources and systematically capturing and nurturing leads.

Among some of the examples of marketing automation are –

• Exit pop-ups on a website to direct potential users to either the download page or mobile app landing page
• Targeted email sequences that nurture potential clients by educating them on how an app functions and ending with a proper CTA
• Using various tactics to drive desktop and web traffic directly to app download pages

4. Make Your Website Mobile-Friendly

If you really want your mobile application marketing plan to work, make sure that your website is mobile-friendly or else you will quickly lose the new website visitors after putting all the hard work into attracting them in the first place.

Some of the mobile optimization tips you can use here include –

• Developing an understanding of how and when to include LSI keywords in your content
• Writing catchy and appealing headlines that make your website visitors want to read more
• Building several inbound links to your content to increase your authority and relevance for specific search terms
• Create long-form, in-depth content (over 2k words) to get top search rankings, and ensure that people would want to link to it and share it

5. App Store Optimization (ASO)

App Store Optimization is an integral part of the best mobile app marketing plans. It is a technique that helps optimize your App Store page to rank higher in top search results and convert at a higher rate. Data also suggests that more than 65% of new apps are discovered from a search in the App Store directly.

The higher your app ranks in search results, the more visible it will be to potential users and this kind of increased visibility will lead to more downloads.

Some of the key factors you need to take into consideration here include –

• Title and choice of keywords should be done carefully as a great title can serve as a chance to hook users in and get them to click on your app to know more
• Make sure to include features and benefits the user will get out of your mobile app
• For best results, include keywords in the title which should be strategically placed throughout your listing
• Include screenshots and videos for added value
• Localize your app

6. Push Notifications

Push notifications are known to increase user retention to a great extent. Users who have opted to receive push notifications exhibit much higher app engagement as compared to those who haven’t. And the higher the retention rate, the better will be the ranking of your app in the App Store.

Further, giving users an incentive to use your apps such as mobile-specific rewards, coupons, special promotions, and specialized content access, also help you drive conversions and encourage engagement.

The Bottom Line

Mobile apps today play a huge role in the growth of brands, especially small businesses, as they help them reach a global audience and improve on multiple parameters including customer engagement, satisfaction, and enhanced revenue.

One of the most important things to keep in mind when considering how to market an app is to define KPIs at the very beginning. Tracking the right metrics at each stage of the user journey will allow you to identify possible hurdles that keep users from engaging with your brand.

If you wish to ensure that your app business remains competitive in the market, it is best to invest in a professionally qualified mobile app marketing company that can focus on real-time data and help you optimize your mobile app’s performance.