Between Apple’s App store and Google Play, there are approximately 1.7 million apps. Of those, very few will achieve popularity and success. The reason? Most app developers aren’t able to combine a great product with a great marketing strategy. The first is obvious, if your app isn’t of high quality, nothing else matters. But even great apps can remain undiscovered if the developers fail to market them effectively. There is the occasional app that goes viral without any type of advertising on the developer’s part. But in most cases, if you want your app to be downloaded, you need to market it. So if you’ve got a great app, but just need to market it, here are a few pointers.

Start with existing relationships

Chances are, you’ve already got a base of people you can start with. If you are trying to launch an app to help your small business grow for instance, you’ve already got your customers. Get them excited about your mobile app and they’ll be more likely to download it. If you’re developing game apps, start with players who have downloaded other games you have developed then branch out to players who have downloaded games similar to yours.

Paid marketing

The most difficult step for most app developers is the paid marketing. After working hard to develop an app you know is great, you may be tempted to think the app will sell itself. This isn’t the case. Almost every app on the top charts got there because the developers invested the money to get it there. To get your app seen you need to purchase ad impressions. Ideally your revenue per customer will exceed your cost per customer.

A few more tips

A mistake many app developers make is trying to test too many channels at once. If you try to advertise your app across 50 different platforms, you won’t be able to discern which ones are working and which ones aren’t. If on the other hand you test out a few marketing partners and social media sites at a time, you can separate out which channels are effective and which ones aren’t.

Another mistake developers make is getting too attached to their ads. Sometimes you create a perfect ad that generates a lot of success. It can be hard to move past it but to remain successful, you need to continually develop fresh advertisements.

It’s important to look beyond the cost per install. When considering how much to pay for ad impressions, keep in mind that geography and device type play a huge role. Players in wealthier areas using newer devices are going to spend more on apps that players in poorer areas on cheaper devices.

It’s also important to track where your customers are coming from. While no tracking system is perfect, it’s important to try your best to know how your customers are finding out about your app. If you don’t know how they found it, you can’t know which of your advertising channels is working.

Finally, you need to make sure that your marketing efforts are profitable. In order to know whether your efforts are paying off, you need to pay close attention to your profit margins across all channels.

Source:  Venture Beat