Mobile apps matter. About 80 percent of Internet users own a Smartphone and use it to surf online; 90 percent of consumer's mobile time is spent in apps. And, as Statista, by 2018, mobile ad spending would reach 158 billion U.S. dollars.
Perhaps you've just built a great app, confident that it will sell, but you're afraid: You don't have a million dollar to advertise it to a billion mobile users. Well, here are some tips to help you market your mobile app with a lean budget.
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Create a great app that works
First, test your app repeatedly and see if it works. It's the effectiveness of your product that will determine how your consumers make the best use of it.
Quality, usefulness, and value matters more than your ads. If your app doesn't work effectively, marketing it can ruin your career! So, create only the program that's free from bugs and annoying hitches – that's what will get you multiple hits and downloads.
Take time to build an app that does exactly what it promises the user before putting your hard-earned dollars into promoting it. You don't want to invest your resources into creating a useless program that will return zero revenue for your efforts.
Upload it onto the app stores
If you're sure that your app works amazingly, now is the time to upload it to app stores, whether it's Android App Market or Blackberry App Store.
The rationale for uploading your piece of technology on these markets is that most phones integrate app stores into their platform, which enables the user to click through and download. In platforms where millions of people log in every day, your app could be seen by many, which is a great boost for your marketing effort.
Give freebies
In today's technologically-driven world, the age of mobile and free apps, you have got to be creative and competitive to be able to sell your products, whether it's a physical product or a mobile application.
See, mobile users are multiplying every day; coders are becoming more productive, working tirelessly to creating apps for almost everything. On the Apple's App Store alone, there are more than 2 million apps. No wonder big companies like Dropbox scaled in part because of its marketing tactics of offering free space to referrals.
Also, the world's best riding service, Uber, offers free rides for users that encourage others to download its app.
You, too, should offer a freebie. Maybe a gift, a treat, or offer your app as a Freemium. This not only encourages a Word Of Mouth (WOM) advertisement for your app, it will expose your product to million users, boosts your marketing reach, and increase your ROI.
Leverage User Generated Content (UGC)
For the world's best brands, 25 percent of search results comprises of links to User Generated Content (UGC), according to a statistics from Kissmetrics.
If you can encourage your mobile app users to review, comment, and craft content – be it blog posts, videos, white papers, or infographics – it would be an icing on the cake to your marketing campaign.
You're giving your app users the opportunity to create buzz for your product by letting them generate content themselves. And that's a great marketing strategy that is not only effective but doesn't require much financial commitment.
Pin social sharing to your app
Talking about being creative. Social media can get your app in front of million mobile users on the spot through the power of sharing.
And the most effective way to get your app shared on social networks is by pinning social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, etc., to your app. This will enable the user to simply share your app to their friends with a simple click.
With a lean budget, you can use these steps to market your app effectively and see great results within a short period of time.