What does it take to launch your own app in the App Store? I guess a good idea, a designer to transfer that imagination to the paper and a bunch of intelligent tech-minds to execute it correctly. Is that all? No, surely not. You’ve just stepped outside the house and there’s a long journey to go. The most important part of a product cycle is its promotion and if you haven’t had the chance to take care of it rightly, then all your investment has just vanished like ‘puff’. But don’t worry, even if you don’t have the money to promote your app, there are many alternate options to do so and we’ve just prepared the to-do-list for you. So let’s check it one by one.
LET ME CRITICIZE YOUR APP!
Remember when a movie hits the theatre, no matter how promising it looks you still first check out its reviews on some of the popular websites such as IMDB or Metacritic. You want a good value for money and they tell you that. Similarly, you should first get your app reviewed by such popular reviewing websites. They don’t charge much and don’t worry, they aren’t as hard on the developers as those critics are on the movies.
WHERE’S YOUR PRESS RELEASE?
Create a list of all the press reporters, bloggers and writers who write about apps or anything related to them. Create a Press Release and distribute it to them for publishing. They have access to many potential customers and if you can spread a good word of mouth, it’s the perfect shot on your targeted audience.
SO ‘APO’ STANDS FOR APP STORE OPTIMIZATION?
Every app has a dedicated page for itself on the App Store. You can do whatever you want to do with it. You can either keep the description short & keep the viewers guessing thinking that they might download the app to know what’s behind the curtains or you can include everything related to your app on that page. The second option is a safer bet if you’re new as a developer. So create a good plot around your app, focus on relevant keywords and few good screenshots are enough for the display. It’s the homepage of your app and everyone will go through it before downloading. So it must be appealing and engaging.
HAVEN’T YOU GOT MY LINK YET?
Use the name of the app anywhere you can. If you’re part of a discussion on any forum, leave your App Store link there. Use it as a part of your email signature. The more links you post, the better are the chances for the people to visit your App Store page. But use only at relevant pages and make them count.
RIGHT FROM THE START!
It’s always good to build a good base right from the start. So right from the moment when people start downloading your app, track them and ask them for their feedback. Use these reviews on your App’s page and make sure the best ones are the headliners.
YOU CALL THEM SCREENSHOTS?
If a person comes to your app’s description page, first he needs to take a look at what he’s about to download. That’s what screenshots are for; to give them a preview. As there aren’t any videos, so these screenshots are your only way of promotion and work like trailers. So make sure these infographics are visually appealing and cover all the different areas of your app.
YOU’VE GOT THE RIGHT ‘KEY’WORDS?
Every word that you use on your description matters to you and your app. The keywords are the only search criterion for the users. For example, suppose I search for best adventure apps, then the search will be done separately for best, adventure and apps. So a page where all these three words exist will come first. So if you have a game with the same features but not the exact words in your resume, you don’t fit the criterion and you’ll have to sit outside the door.
YOUR GRAPHICS ARE COOL!
A picture speaks a thousand words and therefore as long as you don’t have good graphics to back you up, words will soon fade to an empty bottle of confidence. Use colour combinations that psychologically have a positive effect on the viewers. It can prove to be life saving for you.
DO YOU HAVE A UNIQUE WEBSITE?
A dedicated website for your app is all it takes to give your users just the right platform where they can have all the info related with the app ask questions and share their thoughts on the forum. It’s also a good place to talk to the developer if you have a blog running and where you can talk about your upcoming apps. Design the website in an interactive way so that people may come back. Keep the user interface simple and easy to navigate. Put all the stuff related to the app on display. They’re like your trophies; so show them off.
ARE YOU SOCIALLY ACTIVE?
As a promoter, you need to be active on all your social accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, etc. Create fan pages for your app and invite people to join you. Start discussions there and reach new people in a friendly manner. This will help you connect with them and utilize the big base of potential customers effectively. Analyze which websites are helping you more using A/B testing and shift your focus accordingly.
USE YOUR MIND!
Though there are countless methods of promoting your app, you never know which one works for you. Every situation is different and these are all general ideas. So the one that suits you best depends upon your own conditions and therefore only you can determine if it’s all you can do or is there any other possibility as well. All I can say is that you have a brain that works perfectly well. Use it properly.
