Building a pre-launch marketing strategy is one of the most important aspects of developing an app. No company or individual developer should wait until their app is already released to begin marketing it.
The marketplace for apps is more crowded than ever before, and if you’re waiting to market it, you’re putting yourself at an immediate disadvantage.
The following are some of the important things to keep in mind during pre-launch marketing, in terms of what to do and what not to do.
Invest in Market Research
Market research is so important to invest in, both time-wise and financially. It’s important for developing an app and also ultimately for marketing it as well.
You need to know who your audience is and what they want in an app. When you have market research during the development process, you can take that and translate it to your pre-launch marketing.
You can use specifics such as the keywords to target in your pre-launch blogging and press releases, and you’ll have a better idea of the best places to market.
While you’re at it, ensure that you’ve looked at your competitors and you’ve seen where customers like their product and where they’re less than happy.
You can then speak to these areas in your own marketing by pointing out what you offer that your competitors don’t.
Understand App Store Optimization
So often there is a ton of time and money put into the development of the actual app, but the same can’t be said for optimizing it in the app store. Don’t make this mistake.
During your pre-launch phase, ensure that you have the necessary elements for an optimized App Store page.
ASO is the term for this type of optimization and without an eye toward best practices here, no one is going to be able to find your app when they’re searching.
Get Unbiased User Testing
When you’re in the pre-launch phase, you’re going to need to step outside of your own team for testing. You need beta testing to ensure that the feedback you’re getting isn’t biased. You want to know what your targeted audience really thinks before you put the app in the App Store.
You will have to spend to get quality beta testers that are part of your targeted audience, but again, it’s worth it.
Be Proactive With Your Marketing Plan
Finally, you will need to create a marketing plan as early as possible, so don’t wait until you’re ready to launch. Not being proactive here and waiting too long is a huge mistake.
Some of the elements that need to be included as part of a marketing plan are the name and USP of your app. Optimizing for the App Store can also fall under this umbrella, as can keywords.
You’ll be working on your description, and you should think about developing a preview trailer. That preview trailer is a good way to create buzz before your release, but also to get more feedback. From there you can start determining who you’re going to reach out to and when, as well as creating a formalized press kit.
