5 Mobile App Marketing Mistakes You Might Be Making

Is your mobile app struggling to get downloads despite your best marketing efforts? Does your dream of hitting the 1 million downloads milestone seem unachievable?

With over 4 million apps available across all mobile app distribution platforms, your app is bound to face cutthroat competition. At the same time, there are thousands of apps that have hit it big, and there’s no reason yours shouldn’t be a success.

You just need to build a quality app and market it right.

In this article, we’re sharing 5 mobile app marketing mistakes you might be making.

Let’s get into it!

  1. Failing to Stimulate App Pre-Launch Buzz

A common mistake many app developers make is failing to understand that marketing begins long before they publish the app on an app store.

If your app is already live and you didn’t invest in pre-launch marketing, too late. But if you’re planning to build another app or have one that’s already in development, it’s time to start marketing it.

An effective way to do this is to create a micro-page on your website and use it to share information about the upcoming app. Tell your audience about its unique features, but be careful not to reveal everything. You want to keep potential users expectant and excited.

Another pre-launch marketing idea that can help stimulate some buzz is to do guest blogs about your app. Reach out to top tech blogs and seek guest blogging opportunities.

  1. Poor App Search Optimization

Like search engines, app distribution platforms such as Google Play and App Store use algorithms to rank the apps.

As such, when publishing an app you have to keep app search optimization (ASO) in mind. Do extensive research and establish the various ranking factors and optimize your app accordingly.

In addition to identifying the ranking factors, it’s crucial to determine their significance. For instance, Apple’s App store puts greater focus on an app’s name and subtitles, and how effectively the publisher utilizes the keywords field.

Let’s your app helps people manage their finances. While you might want to give it a name that’s not related to finance (think Mint), you won’t be doing it any favors. On the other hand, a relevant name like “Simple Money Manager,” will make the app easier to rank.

Bear in mind an ASO strategy that works on the App Store might not work on Google Play or Microsoft Store. Each platform requires a unique optimization strategy.

  1. Your App Offers Poor User Experience

A good product sells itself. The same applies to mobile apps.

If you’ve built a quality app that offers a great user experience, trust us: word of mouth marketing alone is enough to make it a success. Users will keep telling their friends about your app, earning it lots of downloads in the process.

On the contrary, an app with poor user experience is difficult to market. Most users will likely uninstall it sooner after realizing it isn’t worth a place in their smartphones.

Fortunately, this is an easy problem to overcome. You could release an update that fixes the usability issue, but this will deliver effective results only if you act quickly. If the update comes after lots of users have uninstalled it, getting them to reinstall can be a major challenge.

Alternatively, how about not publishing apps with poor usability in the first place?

During the development stage, perform extensive beta testing and use the feedback to refine the app.

If you’re not an experienced developer, don’t try to build it on your own, especially if it’s for your business. If you have to, then be sure to use a powerful App Builder; otherwise, outsourcing the job to a pro is the best option.

  1. Failing to Encourage User to Leave Reviews

When you’re browsing an app store, what do you usually do before downloading a new app?

If you’re like most users, you scroll through the reviews to know what other users are saying and gauge whether the app is worth a trial run. If the reviews are overwhelmingly positive, there’s no doubt you’ll install the app.

Clearly, reviews are a powerful marketing tool. If you’re not encouraging users to leave reviews for your app, you’re making a big mistake.

Don’t assume that it’s second nature for app users to return to the app store page and leave a review. In fact, most users won’t bother. This is why you need to activate tools that prompt users to consider leaving a review or rating the app.

Of course, reviews are a double-edged sword. Positive reviews will drive app downloads while negative reviews can kill an app.

So, should you still encourage users to leave reviews even when you know there’s a possibility many of them will be negative?

First, reviews can help you collect feedback you can use to improve the app. Second, if you build a quality app that meets user expectations, negative reviews won’t worry you.

  1. Promoting the App on the Wrong Platforms

Do you have a marketing budget for your app?

If yes, where are you spending the dollars?

When crafting a paid marketing campaign, you need to choose platforms that are ideal for mobile apps.

If you have placed an ad on a digital billboard, for instance, you’ve made a mistake, and here is why. Sure, billboards attract millions of eyeballs every day, but unless your target users take action immediately after seeing the ad, they’re likely to forget about it. The same goes for print newspapers and magazines.

The best platform to advertise your app is in the app stores. Although you’ll spend top dollar, your app will have the best chance of reaching your target audience.

Popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are also ideal for paid app marketing.

Mobile App Marketing Made Easy

It’s one thing to develop an app and it’s quite another thing to get it downloaded by millions of users. Although developing a quality app that solves a real problem will go a long way in driving your app to success, it’s your marketing efforts that will count the most.

And now that we’ve enlightened you about the mobile app marketing mistakes you could be making, you’re in a better position to audit your strategy and make the right changes.

Explore our technology section for more mobile app tips and insights.