You have created a great app. And you are now ready to launch it. Even if you have implemented an excellent app promotion strategy, you need to make sure you have your distribution strategy in place. How are you going to make your app stand out of the thousands other being launched on the app stores daily? Your app is probably not the first of its kind. Even if you have created something unique, you may still find a few competitors.
As per recent research, Apple’s App Store contains over 2 million mobile apps and Google Play Store features around 3 million apps. This changing trend of the app ecosystem signifies growth for the app development industry. This growth leads to increased competition for almost every kind of app. Many app developers even after creating an excellent app, are facing challenges in making those apps stand out.
In this blog, we have listed a few great app distribution strategies with unique app distribution channels that you can use to increase your app downloads.
How to Distribute Your App?
Here are a few unique strategies that you can implement to get your app recognized and distributed in the market.
- Pre-Launch
- Optimize Your App
- Find the Niche
- Craft App Presence on App Store
- Be Exclusive
- Pitch in Influencers to get free and discounted promotion
- Use SEO and Hashtag Marketing to promote your app
- Promote your app on YouTube
- Get more app downloads with email signatures
- Implement Ads Monetization Strategy
- Leverage Your Social Presence
- Develop User Interest
Test your app potential with an early release. Introduce a few core features of the app and use popular channels with strong communities like Hacker’s News and Product Hunt, to gain interest and attract people. This helps you grow your user base and get the attention of investors. With an early release, you can fascinate a few early adopters before you start with creating the brand-new framework.
Go through this video to learn three winning ways to launch your app.
(Above video is a part of a more elaborate course on Academy by Appy Pie. To access the complete course, please Click Here, or continue reading below.)
You need to optimize your app for app stores just like you optimize a website for a search engine. Find the relevant keywords with the help of effective SEO tools and make sure you add those keywords to the app title and description.
Here is a video for you to learn how to write an effective app description.
(Above video is a part of a more elaborate course on Academy by Appy Pie. To access the complete course, please Click Here, or continue reading below.)
You can go through our post to find the SEO tool that best fits your business requirements - 19 Best SEO Tools for Better Google Ranking in 2020. Here is the tool that we would recommend. This is one of the best SEO tools for finding relevant keywords – Sensor Tower Keyword Spy Tool. Watch this video to learn how to use it.
(Above video is a part of a more elaborate course on Academy by Appy Pie. To access the complete course, please Click Here, or continue reading below.)
Adding keywords to the app content might seem a menial activity. However, without doing this people won’t find your app when they will search for a relevant keyword which means the app does not exist at all. Go through this video to learn more about how SEO works for apps.
(Above video is a part of a more elaborate course on Academy by Appy Pie. To access the complete course, please Click Here, or continue reading below.)
To help your app stand out, you must differentiate it with the other apps available in the market. There are two ways of doing this – release such features that no other app in the app store has or find your own niche.
You can read this post to understand how to find the best niche for your business - How to choose a profitable business niche?
They say, ‘the first impression is the last impression’. When users find your app in their searches and stumble upon it, you only get a few seconds to impress them. Make sure your app’s home page is loaded with well-crafted screenshots and has engaging content. It should highlight the effective features and other factors of your app that can help users understand your app better.
If your app is paid, you must offer your users a basic version with a free download and limited features. Here is a video that you can go through to learn how much you should charge for your app.
(Above video is a part of a more elaborate course on Academy by Appy Pie. To access the complete course, please Click Here, or continue reading below.)
Make sure you uniquely promote your app. Use the app marketing strategies that help you develop people’s interest and attract them to download your app. There are various effective ways to promote an app for free.
Here are the top ones with tutorial videos.
(Above video is a part of a more elaborate course on Academy by Appy Pie. To access the complete course, please Click Here, or continue reading below.)
(Above video is a part of a more elaborate course on Academy by Appy Pie. To access the complete course, please Click Here, or continue reading below.)
(Above video is a part of a more elaborate course on Academy by Appy Pie. To access the complete course, please Click Here, or continue reading below.)
(Above video is a part of a more elaborate course on Academy by Appy Pie. To access the complete course, please Click Here, or continue reading below.)
(Above video is a part of a more elaborate course on Academy by Appy Pie. To access the complete course, please Click Here, or continue reading below.)
There are many other ways that you can use to promote your app. To learn how to promote a mobile app, why don’t you go through our post that helps you learn 70 ways to promote your app for free?
Social Media is one of the most powerful marketing tools available online. You should leverage your social media presence to the optimum level. Provide your users with the social media integrations in the app so that they could share their experiences and achievements among their social circle. You can also offer reward points or coupon discounts for every referral share.
Here is a video that you can go through to learn how you can let your users use social media automation tools in your app to get the best out of them.
(Above video is a part of a more elaborate course on Academy by Appy Pie. To access the complete course, please Click Here, or continue reading below.)
Coming back to Social Media Integration. You can use Appy Pie’s Automation Tool – Appy Pie Connect to integrate social media channels into your app. This platform helps you connect your apps with various social media channels including Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. You can also leverage these social media platforms to share your accomplishments and to win new customers.
Release your app for a few users first and have rest use the app through referrals and invites. This makes users curious about your app and helps you get the target audience by word of mouth marketing. Also, good reviews from these users can help you rank higher in App Store optimization.
Here is a video to help you learn how you can make your app strong and competitive in app store search results.
(Above video is a part of a more elaborate course on Academy by Appy Pie. To access the complete course, please Click Here, or continue reading below.)
Various Distribution Channels for Mobile Apps
From different types of distribution channels available online, we have listed a few major ones that you can use to distribute your apps.
- App Stores
- Your Business Website
- Pre-installation
- Mobile Web Version
- App Giveaways
This is one of the most obvious app distribution methods that you could go for. There are many app stores and recommendation sites out there. These app stores include app distribution platforms for both Android and iOS apps. You can use these app launching platforms to increase your app downloads.
You can introduce your app on your business website or other marketing channels that you own and convert your website visitor into your app downloaders.
To get your app pre-installed on the handsets, you need to pay. Pre-loads for an app are a very effective channel for distributing your app as they help you increase the conversion rates.
Introducing a mobile web version of your app can help you get the app downloads outside of the mobile audience. The upload process for this version is the same. You just need to add the site link, graphics, description to the app. When the user clicks to install, it will create an icon on the home screen just like other apps.
You can offer a certain number of free app downloads valid for a limited time. This can help you increase your user base and the number of app downloads.
Conclusion
To make your app distribution strategy work, you need to market your app effectively first. You can create an excellent app with Appy Pie’s App Builder and make it stand out using an ffective app promotion and marketing strategy. You should start planning your app marketing and distribution strategy the day you start working on your app creation. This is the best way to get the best out of your app.
Citations
Brand24
App Maker
