So, you’ve finally finished creating your mobile app. Congratulations! Now, comes the uphill battle—marketing it. Crafting and fine-tuning your app can be equally as important as digital marketing you do for it. As the number of smartphone owners increases, so do the number of apps out there.
Most businesses have taken note of that and created their own mobile app to stay on-trend. Just last year, the global sum for app development reached over $25,000,000,000. With all those apps out there, users are spoiled for choice. One great way to catch app users’ eyes is by presenting your app as reputable and trustworthy. However, in a world of scamming, phishing and even catfishing tech lovers are understandably wary.
Building an excellent reputation for your app requires plenty of work before, during, and after the launch. Your best bet is to leave no digital stone unturned. Of course, you may need a bit of direction on where exactly you should start. Here are ten powerful digital marketing tricks your company can use to leverage your app’s reputation.
- Build A Great Website
Your website should be the information headquarters for your app. Prospective users seeking to gain insight on your app will always head to your website for more information. Unfortunately, plenty of app developers don’t even consider this. While it may seem too conventional or traditional, having a website actually helps organically build your app’s following. It’s crucial that you make your website as comprehensive as possible.
A simple way to maintain prospective app users’ interest is with a stellar landing page. If you can capture their imagination from the beginning, they’ll be happy to learn more about your app. Include awesome content like videos, images, and links to the app stores. An exceptional landing page can suffice for a website as the app begins to take off. If you’d prefer a more developed web, then pull out all the stops.
Well organized information and live chat are musts for your app’s website. Ensure that your website isn’t too heavy and can load quickly. Most importantly, make sure that it is optimized for mobile devices. - Make A Killer Press Release
Putting out a press release is critical to hammering out your app’s great reputation. Essentially, a press release is a written presentation of your app that you send to journalists. Any media outlets interested in your app will take that press release and write about it.
That gives your app two significant benefits. First, it exposes your app to a much wider audience that you may not have been able to reach otherwise. Second, it sets the record for your app. Ergo, it’s a free promotion that makes your app look good. When it comes to a press release, you should follow some protocol.
Be sure to reach out to journalists or tech bloggers a few weeks before your app launches. Provide them with a comprehensive document detailing what your app is, what it does, and what makes it unique. Include great visuals that will help captivate interested parties. You can even keep the conversation going on social media if you feel it would help.
- Curate Your Overall Web Presence
Of course, your web presence doesn’t stop at your website. App users who do a quick internet search for your app may be curious to browse all the results. Taking time to work on your page rank and SEO strategy can help build your clout. You don’t want your reputation to be dragged down by spammy links or vague blog posts.
A great SEO strategy will help you ensure that all your content affiliated with your app goes to the top of searches. This strategy should be in place before you even get started designing your app. Narrowing down your keywords and creating a sophisticated campaign will help guide app users to you. Prospective app users will feel less hesitant about downloading your app when they see an impressive web presence. That means the first few results on an internet search, images, videos, and even blog posts. Putting more of your company’s content out there helps boost your digital reputation. - Blog About It
Blogging can also help boost your SEO strategy. That’s because you can fill posts and affiliated images with keywords. Search engines will recognize those keywords and push your posts to the top of searches. Although it’s not always that simple. Do your best to avoid keyword stuffing as that can actually hurt your results. While it’s a great tool, blogging requires some skill. If you don’t feel like anyone on your team is up to the task, hire a blogger to help. You can approach bloggers who already have high page rankings or reach out to services like Trust My Paper.
An email with your pitch, relevant links, documents, and keywords can help you get a blogger on the job quickly. A brilliant blog is an important way to build your app’s prestige. Beyond page ranking and SEO, it provides a platform for your company to communicate. Your blog is a great place to address the recent press, paint points, or any other claims about your app. It is an invaluable resource that can help make your app more visible and influential. - Be Active on Social
Social media is a really affordable way to engage with your app’s audience. The facts don’t lie, most people today spend a significant amount of their time on social. Therefore, it makes sense to go where the people are. Use social media as a tool to connect with users and build your reputation.
Simply having profiles on various social media platforms doesn’t cut it anymore. You have to directly engage with your following to cultivate your app’s online influence. The second-place audiences go after your website is your Facebook page. It’s almost a reflex in today’s tech-obsessed world. People require social proof before they’re ready to invest their time or money in something. Active social media accounts will also add to your page rankings. In fact, they can help ensure that your app gets the first entire page of search results. That’s the goal, isn’t it? Prospective app users should be assured, not confused, by your online presence. Take advantage of social media’s popularity and precedence to help you reach that golden status.
- Pay Attention to Reviews
Black Mirror’s “Nosedive” episode about personal reviews might have taken the psychology behind reviewing to the extreme. However, it touched on a very truthful idea. People pay a lot of attention to reviews. Moreover, reviews can profoundly affect whether app users decide to download or not.
In the beginning, listening to any negative reviews is crucial, especially if they are recurrent. Politely addressing those reviews is a straightforward way to keep app users satisfied. Taking steps to remedy the situation is also necessary to keep your app’s reputation from suffering. Being proactive and helpful can help make your app more successful.
Do your best to avoid being brutish with app users, no matter how belligerent they may seem. If you are reactionary and not proactive, you can drive users to your competition. People don’t remember what you say, but how you make them feel. Strive to make users feel like you are listening and working to improve your app. Don’t ignore your reviews, point blank. - Make A Demo Video
Visuals always help users. Whether it’s an illustration, diagram, or map, people sometimes need images to help to understand. Take the guesswork out of understanding your app by making a demo video. Prospective users looking for guidance will appreciate a quick video that explains the app to them. This video doesn’t have to be very long. Approximately thirty seconds to a minute is enough time to help prospective users get an idea of what the app can do. Your demo video can be as creative as you like. Although it’s a good idea to design sleek and modern visuals.
The video should be intriguing, not overwhelming. Incorporate some footage of your app in action. Users should be able to imagine themselves using the app. Colorful visuals and cute characters are alluring for prospective users, as well. Nevertheless, feel free to be as experimental as you wish. Your demo video just needs to capture the imagination and interest of users. - Apply For Awards
Everybody feels comforted by seals of excellence and awards logos. Truthfully, seeing that something has received an award makes it much more appealing. Trust, prestige and an excellent reputation come along with awards that companies receive. Use this to your benefit and apply for awards to boost your app’s credibility. Some award sites are The Webby Awards, Best App Ever Awards, Best Mobile App Rewards, Appster Awards, and Appy Awards. If you exclusively build iOS apps, consider applying to Apple Design Awards.
No matter where you apply, keep in mind that there are plenty of upsides to winning an award. Receiving an app award is another fantastic way to promote your app.
More importantly, winning an app award will help increase your app’s reputation. When your app gets tried, test, and stamped with a seal of approval, your credibility will skyrocket. Remember to update your app store profile and website accordingly. Wear your award like a badge of honor and use it to help your app succeed. - Review Your Analytics and Feedback
Just like your reviews, paying attention to your app’s feedback is essential. As technology advances, your app needs to as well. Regular updates and fixes will help keep your app running smoothly. In order to get the information, you need to improve, be sure to incorporate some kind of metrics or analytics.
Analytics provide you with the data you need to see how and when users are using your app. Moreover, the proper use of analytics and insights can help you measure app loyalty. Also, they can help you improve it further on down the line.
When there’s a glitch or a bug, it’s crucial to see how many users continue using your app. The data and feedback that you receive are useful tools for you as a developer. After all, keeping an app running well involves a lot of work. Work smarter by utilizing these tools to your advantage and keep users happy, too. - Dedicate Time (and Money)
At this stage, you might be feeling as though you’ve already dedicated quite a bit of time and money to your app. Well, if you want it to succeed, you can’t stop there. All of the previous strategies require either time or money to work. As exhausting as that may seem, it’s the truth and nothing but the truth.
If you don’t have time to invest in reputation building, then hire someone who does. In the long run, your app will immensely benefit from it. Now is no time to be stingy, especially if you want your app to be successful. You can’t expect to put in the bare minimum and receive much of a return on investment. That’s completely unrealistic.
Conversely, if you don’t have the money you need, invest your time. Once your app begins to take off, you’ll be able to employ team members to help you. It’s pertinent that you cover all your bases and work toward boosting your reputation on a daily basis.
Conclusion
Crafting an excellent online reputation is no easy feat. As you know by now, it takes time, effort, and usually, money. Although, systematically working towards building your reputation is an effective way to get the job done. It’s crucial to be thorough and consistent in your prestige building practices.
Never neglect your online presence and be sure to focus on your content. Good content will help ensure that users view your app are trustworthy. Be visible on social and work on engaging your audience for maximum effect. Most importantly, pay attention to reviews, feedback, and analytics to help improve your app. We wish you and your app the best of luck on your reputation building adventure!
This post was written for Messapps by Melanie Sovann, born in 1990 in the greater LA area, is a seasoned writer and blogger,
passionate about a broad spectrum of topics, ranging from technology to sociology, who is currently an avid contributor at 3to5marketing.com, the blog that has amassed a sizable following over the years.