From the mundane “Get Your Family to Download Your App” to the off the wall “Create Beer Coasters” join us on a 52-week journey of some of the top ways to promote and market your mobile application.
All this month we’re going over items that you’ll need to create or gather in order to help you promote your app. We’ve discussed Creating a Video Trailer, building a microsite, and putting together a media kit, this week we’re going over perhaps the most important item of the entire year, creating a Marketing Plan.
Week 8
Mobile Marketing Tips: Creating a Marketing Plan
Perhaps a post that we should have written in January, but there are so many things to focus on to get your app up and running. Having an app marketing plan is definitely something that should not be overlooked, and in my (marketing-biased) opinion, is just as important as the overall business plan for your app and how well it’s built.
So what goes into a marketing plan?
Quite simply, anything and everything you are reading in these blog posts and the same items you would put in a “regular marketing plan”:
- Define your product
- Define your audience
- Identify their needs
- Identify how your product helps those needs
- How will you reach your audience?
- What will be your messaging?
In addition to all of that, you need to think about your budget, timeline, and everything that needs to be created.
We’ve already discussed making a video, creating a microsite, and putting together a media kit, but there is so much more to do. Some things to consider, and which we’ll work to define in future posts are:
- Advertising (Online, mobile, traditional)
- Social Media
- Pitching the Media
- Email marketing
Not to mention analyzing your app’s success and adapting your app to changes and requests by your audience. All of which we’ll address in future posts. A marketing plan will help you define you budget, set a timeline to execute on a variety of items and be the basis for success.
In short, marketing NEEDS to be a key component in the development of your app if you want to be successful. So keep following along with these blog posts to learn what to do. At the end of the year, we’ll take another, more detailed look at putting together a marketing plan, which will use all of the items we’ve mentioned throughout the year, and we’ll give you a blueprint for success.
Next month is all about Social Media, with next week’s post dedicated to Facebook. So with that, follow us on Twitter and Facebook to keep up.
The 52 Week Series of Marketing Mobile Applications
Week 1: Talk to Friends & Family
Week 2: Picking the Right Name for Your App
Week 3: App Store Optimization
Week 4: Submitting Your App to Review Sites, Blogs, and Directories
Week 5: Using Video to Promote Your App
Week 6: Creating a Microsite
Week 7: Creating a Press Kit
Week 8: Creating a Marketing Plan
Week 9: Social Media: Facebook