When the first ancestor of smartphones was launched by IBM under the name Simon 29 years ago, no one was expecting these devices to penetrate our daily routines so much.
However, over the years, smart devices have gradually evolved into their more advanced forms and become the digital revolution's most critical figures.
According to data.ai, a standard mobile user today spends an average of 4.8 hours a day on their mobile devices and mobile apps. Considering that mobile applications were downloaded 230 billion times in 2021, this data is not surprising.
The abundance of mobile apps on the market creates fierce competition. Therefore, applying effective marketing strategies for a specific mobile app to stand out from the competition and grow sustainably is a must.
This guide will give you essential tips to understand mobile app marketing dynamics and create effective strategies.
Mobile app marketing is a marketing strategy used to promote a mobile app in a way that raises awareness, increases app downloads, engages users, and ultimately turns users into brand advocates.
Users begin their mobile app marketing journey when they first become aware of your app. This journey continues even after the download or in-app purchase is complete, as long as the user believes the app adds value to them.
In terms of its structure, mobile app marketing includes most digital marketing dynamics, but it customises these dynamics with unique mobile app-specific techniques.
Activities carried out systematically with the aim of promoting products and services through mobile devices, such as tablets or smartphones, are considered mobile marketing. Mobile marketers aim to strengthen their strategies in the most optimised way by evaluating all possibilities offered by mobile devices.
Mobile marketing has gained significant importance recently, especially since it allows the creation of personalised marketing campaigns with the effective use of data.
On the other hand, mobile app marketing is a marketing strategy that requires promoting mobile applications not only through mobile channels but also all effective channels while shaping the user journey in the most efficient way.
Today, users see mobile devices as the first choice to perform their routine activities in many subjects, such as education, health, finance, fashion, and banking. And just like other organisations that offer products and services in these areas, they pay a significant amount when downloading or using mobile applications.
According to data.ai, users spent $170 billion on mobile app markets in 2021, and that amount continues to grow over the years.
Of course, marketing is essential in getting a share of this enormous amount. However, there are also other factors that make mobile app marketing valuable.
Mobile applications are also an important communication and operation channel for organisations that want to provide omnichannel service. This is why mobile app marketing is often a vital sub-element of a giant marketing strategy umbrella.
And that's why the competition that organisations create in all other channels also shows up here. And implementing sustainable mobile application marketing strategies is the most effective way to stand out from this competition.
In order to create the most accurate mobile application marketing strategies, each step of the mobile application customer journey, which consists of the following four main stages, should be evaluated separately and meticulously.
This is the stage where users hear or see brand elements of your mobile application, such as name or logo, and are exposed to messaging that your application will be a solution to various pain points of the user.
At this stage, users try to choose the most suitable mobile app for their needs and expectations from among the many options on the market.
In addition to app reviews and rankings, relevant website content and social media comments are among the sources that users refer to at this stage.
This is the stage where a user finds your app more attractive than your competitors’ and downloads your app or makes an in-app purchase after downloading, based on your conversion goals.
Retention is the phase where you continue to add value to your users through the app, resulting in additional conversions from your existing users or user acquisition through word-of-mouth marketing.
Market research is the most basic and crucial stage of mobile app marketing. Because at this stage, you make sure that your application can make a difference in the market, solve users' problems effectively, and add value to them.
If your app isn't suitable for the market, all your other marketing efforts will have less impact and will eventually fail. So make sure you conduct deep market research and make pinpoint adjustments based on it before your app launches.
According to data.ai's report, 2 million new apps were launched in 2021 alone.
In order to thrive amongst the competition, you need to identify those who have the potential to compete with you from the vast application pool, analyse their positions and strategies, and tailor your strategies in line with this analysis.
In this way, you can understand the potential risks of competition and create new opportunities by taking advantage of your competitors’ weaknesses.
It is vital for you to customise your marketing strategies by segmenting user groups that you target your application to reach and solve their problems.
User personas are imaginary representatives of your segmented user audiences. These fictional people’s personalities will be shaped by the answers you give to the pinpoint questions you have prepared based on demographic structure, usage habits, and interests. And they will greatly contribute to your targeting.
Social media is a vital channel for building a solid brand identity and impressive narrative and using them to create awareness for your app. At the same time, since it is a very interactive channel, you can use your social media accounts to get feedback from your users, mobilise them, or offer user support.
A website that is attractive, reflects the tone of your product, and is built with the right SEO practices will make it easy for users to learn about your app. Your internet visibility, user experience, and conversion rates will significantly increase if you support this website with landing pages designed specifically for your personas and campaigns.
It is critical that you systematically produce written and visual content for your website, social media accounts, and paid media.
App stores are like counters where you place your products. If the content of this page delivers the most accurate information about the product, with visuals that match the tone of the application, your application will be at the top of the application store search results and ranking lists.
Notifications are powerful tools to deliver your messages and build long-lasting relationships by interacting with your users who have already downloaded the app. According to Kahuna's research, push notifications can potentially increase the average 90-day retention rate by up to 180%. That's why you need to try to keep users constantly engaged with well-planned push notifications.
You can create lists by obtaining the emails of users who have the potential to be interested in your application with lead generation strategies.
You can use these lists to design unique email workflows, including elements such as newsletters, welcome emails, and special offers. So you can create significant opportunities both in acquiring users and increasing retention rates.
Influencer marketing has recently become one of the most effective marketing strategies. Collaborations with influencers whose followers match the target audience of your app can enable you to create a quality user base.
Offering special offers or loyalty programs to your users who have been using your app for a long time will encourage them to take the actions you desire, strengthen the bond between them and the app, and speed up the process of turning them into brand advocates.
The most important metrics you need to follow vary in line with your organisation's needs, expectations, and habits. However, discovering the metrics that are considered essential in mobile app marketing can guide you in understanding what is important.
Some of the key mobile app marketing metrics are:
For continuous success, it is necessary to build a solid growth mindset as well as understand the dynamics of mobile app marketing.
Because even if the effectiveness of your marketing techniques has been proven, you can only transform these techniques into strategies focused on your product, market, and user personas with a holistic perspective. Only this way can you achieve scalable and sustainable growth.
