20 Quick Ways To Promote Your Ecommerce Mobile App
Have you created a new app to promote your ecommerce store? Would you like to know how to promote your mobile app so that your target audience downloads and uses it to access your website?
Once you’ve created an app to promote your ecommerce store, there a number of ways you can use to promote it.
According to The Beginner’s Guide To App Marketing by Localytics, there’s a lot more that goes into creating successful, long-term app marketing than simply tallying downloads. App marketing is also strikingly similar to web marketing: both serve to drive value and revenue over time.
Here are the best ways you can promote your mobile app online and off.
20 Quick Ways to promote your mobile app
ORGANIC TRAFFIC
1. Submit to the app store
When submitting to the app store, brands need to optimize their listing with product screenshots, matching keywords, and other proven organic tactics, says the Localytics report.
Doing this is important to ensure that your app can be easily found by searching for it in the store. For more tips on app store optimization, go here.
Give your app a name that’s easy to remember, preferably the same name as your desktop store. Instead of just using a logo, design an attractive image for your app, so potential users can spot it easily.
2. Design a great landing page
Promote your mobile app on your website. Create a separate landing page for your app download on your website. Have a clear call-to-action on your app download page, with a button to download on mobile.
Need a great template for your landing page? Check out the high-converting landing pages templates here.
It goes without saying that your app download page must be designed for mobile devices. Need inspiration for designing a great landing page for your app? Check out the examples here.
Related:Â Best Practices for Mobile App Design to WOW your Customers
3. Publish a blog
Drive traffic to your website and your landing page organically, by publishing blog posts that appeal to your target audience and target the keywords that they’re typing into search engines.
Blog publishing is so essential now that it’s a must for any website looking to get traffic from search engines. If blogging can get you leads and sales, it can definitely help you get more app downloads.
Additional Reading: Optimize SEO of your mobile site
4. Create a Slideshare Walkthrough
This tip is courtesy of Tim Cascio. He recommends creating a Slideshare presentation with a walkthrough of your app, explaining to customers what they can expect when they download it and providing instructions on how to use it.
Don’t forget to list the link to your landing page, both in your presentation and in the description accompanying it. Use the right keywords to tag your presentation. Having a Slideshare presentation creates another listing for you in the organic search results and can get a lot of referral traffic to your landing page.
5. Create a YouTube Video Demo
Create a YouTube video demonstrating your new app and showing users how to use it to buy your products and services. Optimize your YouTube videos and channel with relevant keywords, titles and descriptions. They will give you another way to get listed in search engines.
Post regular videos on your YouTube channel demonstrating your latest products. For some creative inspiration on demonstrating products on YouTube, check out how BlendTec does it. Their videos get millions of views on YouTube, proving that demo videos need not be boring.
WORD-OF-MOUTH
6. Be unique
If your app is unique and does something no other app of its kind can do, it will be easier to promote your mobile app. Of course, you need to be sure that it fills a gap in the market and offers users an experience that they actually want, otherwise you’ll get few takers for it.
7. Create an irresistible offer
Giving users an incentive to download and use your app is always a great idea. Before you advertise your app, create an irresistible offer for your users. Offer a discount to users who install your app or purchase products worth a certain amount.
If your ecommerce site sells designer clothes, for instance, you can also offer exclusive content to your users, such as the latest fashion and style trends, as an incentive to download your app.
8. Surprise your users
Give your users a reason to stick with your app by adding incremental improvements over time. You can improve the user interface, the images, the content.
Giving your users something new every time they login and use your app, adds an element of surprise. Of course, before rolling out these surprises, test them with a small number of users to make sure they are received well.
9. Reach out to the press
Besides sending out a press release about your app and how it can help users solve their problem, you also need to reach out to select journalists and let them know that you’re open to being interviewed and quoted. Tell them how you built your company and how the app came to be. Give them a story that their audience will lap up.
10. Connect to influencers
A single message from an influencer to their target audience can have a viral effect on your app downloads. But to ask an influential person to send out a message about your app, you need to have built a relationship with them first. See my influencer marketing best practices to help you build a fruitful relationship with the influencers in your market.
11. Submit to app review sites and lists
This tip also comes via Tim Cascio. He recommends submitting your app to app review sites like the ones below.
• 148apps
• AppVee
• AppStoreApps.com
• TUAW
• App Safari
You can also submit your app to app directories or lists. For a list of 100 sites to submit your apps, go here and here.
12. Consumer touch points
If your website is an ecommerce store, you can advertise your app at every customer touch point – on your shipping labels, flyers, printed information, email receipts and newsletters.
Email your existing subscribers with an offer, such as a discount on in-app purchases. Include barcodes to make it easy for potential customers to download your app. Don’t miss a chance to let your customers know that you have an app they can use to connect with you anytime.
13. Invite referrals
Invite your app users to tell their friends and network about your app and send an invitation to download it. You can also tie this in with an incentive, such as freebies or discounts for referring a number of friends who download and install it.
Allow users to share pre-populated messages about your app to their social media users. They could even send out a unique URL that tracks downloads to incentivize their shares.
PAID CAMPAIGNS
To promote your mobile app through paid campaigns you need to do some research. Running paid acquisition campaigns requires identifying the right channels, targeting the right potential users, and analyzing the value of those users over time, notes the Localytics report.
14. Blog ads and reviews
Connect to bloggers that write on related issues and offer them an incentive to write about your app. You can pay for reviews or for banners on their blog. You can contact blogger networks like BlogMint that connect brands and bloggers.
15. Ad networks
Ad networks like BuySellAds and StumbleUpon Paid Discovery also work when you need to get featured on other Publisher’s websites or found by social media users.
16. Facebook ads
Facebook ads options include App Installs. You can create a Facebook ad designed to get maximum installs of your app.
17. Google Adwords
Google Adwords is also a great option to drive traffic to your app landing page. Make sure you target the right keywords so that you get the best ROI on your campaigns. Test and track landing pages to see which one works best. Then use the best performing landing page in your other campaigns.
18. Pinterest ads
Pinterest is an important source of traffic for ecommerce sites. Use Promoted Pins and contests to advertise your irresistible offer and get more app downloads.
19. Advertise in publications
Publications like Macworld and PCworld might be good places to place ads for an app, but if your ecommerce store targets clothes shoppers, for instance, you might be better off advertising in fashion magazines and blogs.
20. In-app referrals
Pay for interactive ads in other apps. You’re likely to get a high conversion rate with this method. Companies like Medialets will do this for you. Target your in-app referrals to other apps that have the same target audience to get higher conversions with this method.
Did you like these tips to on how to promote your mobile app? Have any tips of your own to share? Do post them in the comments below.
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