It is crucial to employ diverse platforms across multiple channels to promote a mobile app. This approach amplifies awareness, boosts downloads, enhances customer retention, and fosters user sharing. However, finding the most effective app distribution channels for mobile app promotion can be challenging. With a wide range of options, from DSP to social media, navigating the landscape of mobile app marketing and connecting with your target audience can be difficult.
DSP (demand-side platform) is a term used to describe the utilization of programmatic advertising for brands and their premium agencies/ad network partners. It enables them to bid on app download campaigns to enhance their app growth and mobile marketing strategies. Below are some advantages of running programmatic campaigns:
· Targeted Advertising: Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs) enable advertisers to accurately tailor ads to specific audiences using demographic information, interests, behaviors, and other relevant data points. This approach enhances ad expenditure efficiency and boosts engagement.
· Real-Time Bidding: DSPs employ real-time bidding, allowing advertisers to quickly bid for ad space. This fast process ensures immediate ad display to users, resulting in a higher chance of app downloads.
· Effective Budget Allocation: Advertisers have the ability to allocate budgets and implement bidding strategies within DSPs, guaranteeing optimal utilization of their marketing budget. As a result, this allows for better cost control and maximized return on investment (ROI).
The app store is the most popular distribution channel for marketers, with options including Apple and Google app stores. Connecting with an international audience is possible through these stores without requiring any budget. App stores function as marketplaces for mobile apps, facilitating easy browsing, downloading, and installation of free or paid apps. Visitors to app stores actively search for apps to download or purchase.
It is important to utilize multiple app stores to leverage these channels fully. Remember that launching an app compatible with Android and iOS will expand your reach and allow you to target both audiences.
· Apple App Store: The Apple App Store continues to be the main marketplace for iOS users. Along with mobile apps, this platform offers exclusive apps tailored for other Apple devices, including the Apple Watch and Apple TV. For developers aiming at Apple’s ecosystem, this store remains the preferred platform.
· Google Play Store: The Google Play Store remains a prominent platform for Android apps, providing a diverse content selection, such as movies and games. Boasting millions of available apps, it holds a significant position among global app stores. Its powerful search engine streamlines app discovery and download for users, emphasizing the importance of leveraging effective App Store Optimization (ASO) techniques to optimize your app store page.
· Samsung Galaxy Store: The Samsung Galaxy Store is specifically created for users of Samsung Galaxy devices, primarily powered by the Android operating system. This platform provides a seamless experience for users to discover and download apps specifically designed for their devices. Compared to the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, the Samsung Galaxy Store may offer developers a less competitive environment due to its smaller app catalog.
Read more about the app stores.
Once you’re ready to scale your app distribution channels when promoting a mobile app, you’ll need to start running ad campaigns. The more you can spend on advertising and marketing, the better your campaigns will perform. It’s important to remember that you need to plan your campaigns very thoroughly before you run your ads. Start by determining which channels to use and then decide on the visuals and messaging that will speak to your audience.
Some mobile marketing examples of ad campaigns include:
Paid Search and Retargeting Ads
Paid online advertising is crucial for apps of all kinds today. You can launch campaigns that target certain keywords to appear in search engines, or you can launch ads that appear on other websites outside of search engines. For instance, people might search for a type of app and come across yours at the top of Google results in the form of a highly visible text ad. Meanwhile, users browsing other websites could see a banner ad somewhere on the page, attracting their attention. Retargeting ads could also follow users who’ve visited your website, maintaining awareness and eventually bringing those users back to you.
Social media provides businesses with a cost-effective way to utilize app distribution channels. Establishing a presence on these platforms is easy, requiring only the creation of an account. Use it as a dynamic channel to interact with your target audience in captivating and interactive ways.
When creating social media content, it’s crucial to customize your approach for each platform. The objective is to encourage active engagement from your audience and stimulate organic word-of-mouth marketing. This will help expand your reach without increasing your marketing budget. Here are a few types of content you can leverage on social media:
· TikTok Content: TikTok is renowned for its short-form videos. Produce captivating and enjoyable video content that highlights your app’s unique features, advantages, or user experiences. Incorporate popular TikTok trends and challenges to expand your reach to a broader audience.
· Sharing Relevant Blog Posts: Share links to informative blog posts that provide value to your audience. These can include educational content related to your app or industry news, ensuring originality and avoiding plagiarism.
· User-Generated Content Contests: Engage your audience by organizing contests that inspire them to create and share their own unique content related to your app. Prizes, such as in-app freebies, can be given to winners, encouraging participation and generating excitement.
· Professional Showcase on LinkedIn: To showcase how your app benefits professionals within your target industry on LinkedIn, utilize case studies, success stories, and testimonials. This will help establish credibility and avoid any issues of plagiarism.
Email marketing is an effective method to distribute your app, leveraging an interested audience already invested in your product. There are various strategies to build your email list, including utilizing social media channels, strategically placing pop-up prompts on your website, and optimizing your contact form. Furthermore, incorporating action buttons on your app promotion sites makes it easier for users to subscribe to your email updates promptly.
In the realm of email marketing, your content repertoire is extensive and adaptable. Consider nurturing leads with a variety of materials, including:
Weekly App Updates: Keep your audience informed with a regular newsletter highlighting your app’s latest enhancements and innovations. This fosters excitement and anticipation among your subscribers.
Informative Blog Posts: Share insightful blog posts or articles about your app, brand, or industry. This demonstrates your expertise and provides valuable content that keeps your subscribers engaged.
By providing captivating email content, you establish a strong connection with your audience, increasing the chances that they will either continue using your app or be enticed to download it if they haven’t already. Email marketing flourishes by nurturing existing interests and fostering long-term engagement.
TV is an effective channel for promoting your mobile app. Many apps, including games and utilities, have utilized TV commercials to boost downloads and encourage visits to app stores. TV is especially useful for reaching audiences who don’t spend much time online, including older users who still utilize mobile devices.
Apart from TV commercials, you can also launch digital video ads on over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms like Hulu, YouTube, and others. These OTT ads are similar to commercials but are usually shorter and fit within brief ad breaks. While some OTT ads may be unskippable, the short ad break duration makes it less likely for viewers to leave during the ads. This means that OTT ads might attract even more attention to your app compared to TV commercials.
App Discovery (OEM)
OEM is a smart strategy for user acquisition that expands your brand’s reach and seamlessly places your app on the screens of specifically targeted users through on-device app showcases. How does it work?:
· Dynamic Pre-Installs: Pre-installation campaigns allow your app to integrate smoothly into the user experience on millions of devices worldwide. This is achieved through exclusive partnerships with top-tier device manufacturers and mobile carriers, positioning your app as an integral part of the ecosystem.
· Recommendation Engine: Through recommendation engine campaigns, you can deliver app recommendations across different native device touchpoints, strategically timed to engage users when they are most likely to install.
· Social Media Advertising: To tap into the dynamic world of younger users who thrive on platforms like X, TikTok, and Facebook, leverage the power of social media advertising to promote your mobile app. Utilize tools such as Facebook Ads and the various targeting options provided by these platforms to reach specific demographics and psychographics, all while staying within your budget. This strategic approach allows you to complement your broader social media marketing initiatives with captivating ads, ensuring that your brand and app are deeply ingrained in users’ minds.
Content marketing is a powerful way to build connections with your audience by providing valuable insights for mobile app enthusiasts seeking information. Crafting original content for your website not only increases your SEO rankings but also ensures visibility on search engines like Google. Delivering consistently high-quality content is crucial for engaging readers and viewers. A well-executed content marketing strategy builds trust in your brand and encourages app downloads.
Content marketing offers various avenues. For instance, informative blog posts can educate readers about your app, detail its creation process, and offer user-friendly instructions. Moreover, YouTube channels can provide regular video updates, increasing user engagement and providing valuable insights into your brand and app. Your brand stands out as a valuable resource when your website and other platforms are filled with unique, high-quality content, enticing more individuals to give your app a try.
After months of development, when you have created a fantastic app that has the potential to generate good revenue, it is important to put in some effort. Merely creating an app will not automatically lead you to become a revenue generator. You also need to distribute it through various channels, making sure to provide all the necessary details.
Here are 3 strategies you can implement when promoting your app on various distribution channels.
· Distributing your app across multiple channels/platforms is crucial to reach a wider audience. This helps target more people and increases the chances of app installation. It is recommended to run paid campaigns to raise awareness about your app before uploading it to any public app store.
· Turn off distribution channels that are not performing adequately. When managing multiple app distribution channels, it is common to notice variations in performance among different platforms. If you find that any channel fails to meet the quality requirements or doesn’t contribute effectively to your target audience, you have the option to deactivate them at any time. It is not beneficial to keep investing in a channel that does not provide the desired return on investment (ROI). Continuously monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of your distribution platforms, and compare their performance to identify the ones that are performing well and the ones that are not.
· Frequently optimize each channel. Improving the performance of a distribution channel is also a crucial strategy during testing. This entails optimizing the performance of your app on the app store. The optimization includes enhancing screenshots, keywords, and videos in collaboration with tech partners for more effective campaigns. These campaigns require assessing bid optimization, analyzing ad sources, determining the optimal time for posting on social media, and other important factors.
There are several app distribution channels available, but it is crucial to select niche-based ones. While the volume may be low, targeting the specific audience can greatly enhance consumer quality. Ad networks, social media groups, and other channels allow you to share your app and generate significant traffic from specific countries, demographics, and interests.
Promoting mobile applications necessitates a multi-dimensional strategy that leverages various distribution channels. An extensive arsenal of tools is at your disposal, including DSPs, social media, advertising, and content marketing. Along with an array of distribution strategies. The crucial factor lies in selecting channels that resonate with your audience’s preferences, aspirations, and behavior. You need to find your niche.
Working with a leading 2nd Generation DSP like Bigabid is likely the most powerful tool as long as you have your other ducks in a row. If you’re ready to grow your app with Bigabid please get in touch.
