The mobile app industry is growing rapidly. Today’s customers are on the move constantly – making mobile apps an essential part of modern life. Many eCommerce store owners have started adding mobile app versions of their e-shops. But for marketers who are new to this, it might be a challenge to learn the specifics of this dynamically-changing industry and build an effective marketing strategy for a mobile app.

The first, and probably the easiest step, is to create a mobile app version of your web store. You can build it from scratch, or even use a ready-to-go solution, such as EasyMobile. The trickier part is finding a way to attract your users and encourage them to use it.

According to AppAnnie, the most effective approach to attract users is promoting the app with a combination of paid, free and your own internal channels. Let’s focus on online, in-store, and social media promotion. We’ll also tackle mobile app optimization tactics.

Online Promotion

Use all your available online channels to promote your app. It’s an easy and effective way to inform your customers that you have a mobile application.

Prominently Display Information About the App

Start by adding the information about your mobile app to your website. Of course, putting a small mobile app icon in the footer may not result in great number of app downloads. Therefore, think about placing the app’s information in a prominent place on the website.

Here is how Ikea did it:

Source: Ikea.com

Use a Native iOS Smart Banner to Inform Users About the App

Another effective practice that you can benefit from if building your app with EasyMobile is using a Native iOS Smart banner for websites. For example, if the user views your website on any iOS device, the banner will inform the user about a native app available with a call-to-action button to download it right away.

This is what it looks like:

Source: Apple Store

Make Good Use of Email Marketing

Consider sending an email to your existing customer base notifying them about your app!

Don’t stop there though – include the banner with the link to your app download in all further email communications with your customers. Make it easy to spot and with a clear call-to-action.

Here is an example how Hilton Hotels and Resorts does this:

Source: Hilton Hotels & Resorts

In-Store Promotion

App promotion is not just about the Internet. If you have an online store along with a physical one, place a banner at your point of sale. Make sure that your customers are informed about the mobile app and also understand why they need it.

To encourage customers to use your mobile app, make an exclusive offer that is available only for mobile. This can be a special discount or a special perk, such as a free coffee or product, for those who have your app installed.

Be creative and, depending on your product, service range, and customer audience, think of the options that would make sense for your customers to install your app.

Social Media Marketing

Any mobile app promotion is incomplete without social media. Using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google Plus and other popular social media channels is always effective for brand promotion, including mobile app promotion.

Try using different content – articles, infographics and short videos. The latter is becoming more and more important in the eCommerce world.

It’s important, though, to be consistent in your social media strategy. Plan regular posts and updates so that your customers understand that the mobile app is an essential part of your business. In order to do that, you must also make use of symbols in your social media channels’ design by adding mobile components to your page covers.

See how NexusMedia did it on their Facebook page.

Source: Facebook

Here is another example from GrubHub, a food delivery company, promoting their mobile app on their Facebook page. They are allowing a special credit if a customer orders via mobile app and uses Apple Pay.

Source: Facebook

App Store Optimization

With over 1.6 million mobile apps on the App Store, it’s becoming a real challenge for marketers to make any app easily discovered by users. Optimizing it according to App Store guidelines is an important step to having your app ranked better and therefore be found faster. 

There are a lot of factors that influence the app rank, including keyword optimization, rating and more. A useful service to optimize your app store listing is AppTweak. It shows you what exactly you need to do to optimize your mobile app and rank better in the app store.

In order to make the most out of your mobile app, it’s not enough to just build it. You must also market it well by informing your customers of it and encouraging them to use it.

Try using the tactics above to promote your app and see what works best for you. Don’t forget to define the success metrics so that you can draw effective insights from your promotional strategies and measure their impact.

Remember, it’s crucial to have the customers using the app within the first week – the average app loses around 80% of its users within the first 3 days after download. So keep marketing the app as much as you can, and think about how you can retain your customers even before the actual user acquisition.

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Author Bio

Denys Shchotkin, Founder and CEO at NexusMedia, the Shopify expert team.

Engineer, passionate about eCommerce. Building Shopify apps to make the lives of eCommerce businesses easier.

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