Did you know, more than 70% of the world's population uses mobile? Of all internet users, more than 87% come through mobile devices. In the US alone, more than 80% of smartphone users choose to shop online.

The world is gradually going mobile and smartphone applications or mobile apps have helped a lot to do that. But we aren't alone in this game. There are almost 3 million apps available for Android users and over 2 million apps for Apple (iOS) users. Where you can find hundreds of variations of the same app and hundreds of others competing with you, it's hard to find the podium-position when it comes to the most popular app.

Snapchat, Instagram, TikTok have already found their audience, now it's your turn to rise.

Here's how you can do that.

8 Digital Marketing Strategies to Promote your Mobile Application

A mobile website is one way to get online but most smartphone users choose to log into a mobile app instead. Video streaming, photos sharing, messaging, and online shopping are the most undertaken activities by a smartphone user. So here is how you can market your apps to bring in that precious amount of visitors and quick turnover

Understand your market

Every successful venture starts with a good idea about your market or audience. Get a good idea of who your users are. People on average use nine apps on a daily basis. So, it won't be difficult to find your niche audience.

While researching for your audience, you'd need to ascertain the theme of your app such as shopping, sports, entertainment, etc. After that, you can find the right age group, their preferences, their choices of apps, the time they spend on their smartphone, etc. Knowing the demographics will help you to create and market the app to the right audience.

Do not try to cast as wide a net as possible and say the app is for everybody. This vague idea could rake up your marketing expenses by 10 folds.

Understand your competitors

Finding out who your competitors are and what they're doing will help you understand how a mobile app can be marketed. You'll also get an idea of what not to do when marketing an app. You'd clearly see what has worked for them and what hasn't.

Knowing your market does not mean just knowing about your audience, but it's also about knowing what your peers and competitors have been doing so that you can remain relevant and original.

Start Marketing Very Early

The marketing of your mobile app shouldn't start when you're done building it, rather it should start when you have finalized the idea of building it. Marketing at an early stage can help to make your audience aware of your app, its unique features, and what it can do for them.

Prepare and start releasing teasers, video trailers, short video advertising, and run promotional campaigns on social media to make users aware.  Of course, the goal here is not to give too much away, but rather to start building up interest and awareness for a more concerted marketing effort later.

App Store Optimization

Either you want it or not, your app will land up in the App Store before anyone can download it on their smartphone. Optimizing your app for the app store is the key to gaining initial leverage.

App Store Optimization helps to improve your app’s visibility in the App Store. Not everyone who downloads your app will come through a landing page, social media sites, or paid advertisements. Many users end up downloading apps by searching for apps through the app store. They'll probably search the app that matches their immediate need and preference and download the app that looks legit.

Just like SEO, App Store Optimization requires you to identify and utilize keywords that will help your app rank high in the App Store. After that, you can focus on improving your app store page by including relevant screenshots and a video of in-app use.

You can also make use of secondary app categories so users have more than one way to find your app. If possible, you should also localize your app store entry.

Social Media Marketing

At any given time, a smartphone user will be using one or the other social media. Over 70% of users own a social media account. Hence, your marketing strategy should place social media marketing at the top.

Be prepared to spend time, effort, and advertising fee to market your app on popular social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, TikTok, etc.

A mix of deliberate, targeted advertising on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter should always be combined with more traditional "word of mouth" methods, such as promoting and reposting people who use the app.

At the early marketing stage, you should be prepared to spend $$ on paid ad campaigns on social media.

Use Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing is a great and proven way to bring attention to a new product or brand. You can leverage the power of a popular celebrity to make people aware of your mobile app. For those with a smaller marketing budget, you can collaborate with popular social media celebrities to garner attention for your app.

Only rather than needing to convince a well-known athlete or film star to use and talk about your product for a 30-second commercial or print ad, you can get a notable YouTube, Twitter, Switch, or other social media platform influencer to promote your product. This will help save you a lot of money on advertising.

A promotional video can range from a 30-sec YouTube video, a tweet, blog post, social media posts, photo/video on Instagram, etc.

Paid user acquisition campaigns

Paid user acquisition is the practice of bringing new users to your app through paid ads. You can also call it paid-advertising.

You’re required to start campaigns and adjust your ad spend over time for the best results. These paid campaigns work as in-app advertisements where different gaming or social media apps will run brief ads about your mobile app. This works tremendously well when targeted to the right audience. Many smartphone users tend to find new apps through in-app advertising.

When analyzing the success of your campaigns and adjusting your spending for better results in the future, you will have to observe data and spot trends in customer behavior. Your attribution provider will help you measure these results by tracking how many users performed each action.

Leverage Your Mobile Website

If you already own a fully functional and mobile-friendly website, then it can be one of the greatest assets to promoting your app.

Many internet users still rely on websites for finding new information. They solely rely on these websites to find new online shopping apps, new games, entertainment apps, etc. At one point or another, all of your customers or anyone interested in your company will find their way to your website. When they do, it is important they all know you have an app.

Including your app in your site could mean sectioning off a part of your site exclusively for the app. This could be done in multiple ways such as pop-up ads, side section, footer, a landing page, etc.

If you don't want to miss that core 10% of app users, then you should start leveraging the power of a mobile website.

Searchable Design LLC undertakes data science service in Urbandale, customer acquisition, digital marketing, and SEO strategy for small and medium businesses. Get in touch with us to learn more about building and marketing your business-centric mobile app.