Nowadays it is almost impossible to take a picture or to make a clip and to enjoy it as it is. You have to add filters, stickers, comments and other special elements that will change it completely. Maybe that is the reason why Photo & Video apps are among the most appreciated by users. Statista revealed a study made for the Apple App Store by the number of downloads and this category is in top 3. A similar situation happens to Photography which reached the fourth place on Google Play Store. But how difficult is for an app owner to build an amazing app which will help users to create great photos and videos? And more important what are the best methods for promoting it? Let’s see.
Business Model
When you have a mobile app it is very important to find a way to monetize it, no matter its category. Let’s check App Annie’s reports for iOS and Android devices, for Photo & Video apps and Photography, respectively in the United States. For the moment, we can’t talk about customers’ preferences when it comes to the type of apps because many of them belong to different categories from one platform to another. For example, Snapchat and Instagram can be found in the Photo & Video category for iOS users and in the Social for Android adepts. The same thing happens to YouTube which is part of Video Players & Editors on Android devices. When it comes to monetization the main difference between the two operating systems is that there are more in-app purchases available on Apple App Store than on Google Play Store for both free and paid types. As you well know, that happens because iOS users are more willing to spend their money on apps than Android customers. But there are also exceptions from this rule especially if the app is valuable enough.
Image Source: https://www.appannie.com/en/apps/ios/top/united-states/photo-and-video/iphone/
Image Source: https://www.appannie.com/en/apps/google-play/top/united-states/application/photography/
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How To Promote Photo & Video Apps?
Photo & video is a special category which demands a lot of attention from the beginning. You have to be careful with the way you create it if you want to enjoy the results when you present it in front of your users.
Focus
Before we go on with our explanations, let’s take another look at the charts published by App Annie. As you can see most of those apps have a specific purpose. Some of them are created for removing different flaws from users’ faces; others focus on the cutest pictures for babies and some of them are created for adding a funny aspect to certain images. In preparation for writing your code, think about the reason why you are building this app. This way you will know your target audience. Maybe you want to focus on proud parents or you want to address young users who want to look better in pictures than in real life. Keep in mind that if you don’t own Instagram, Snapchat or YouTube you should focus on one important feature. Start small and evolve if everything goes as planned. With this idea in mind, we can’t continue without pointing to BabyPics and the way it engages new moms and dads.
Image Source: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/baby-pics-photo-editor/id965474816?mt=8
Capture The Moment
In order to succeed with your app, you must start promoting it now. There is no way around it. Don’t wait too much because the earlier you begin with your strategy, the better. Don’t forget that all creatives presented must reach your potential customers’ expectations. We keep repeating that all app owners must optimize their app store page. So, do that! And apply all those marketing techniques that will impress your customers. For example, user-generated content and content marketing will bring you amazing results. In the same time, guerrilla marketing is a great choice for this type of apps. Take a look at the strategy built by Nikon and you can dare to shock your users in a good way.
Image Source: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mypicturetown.gadget.mypt&hl=en
Apply The Technology
Artificial intelligence and augmented reality became must-haves when it comes to mobile apps, especially photo and video creations. Without these technologies, your app will be useless. As you probably remember when we talked about Prisma we said that it doesn’t apply some overlays. Instead, the machine learning algorithm recreates the image from scratch. This isn’t an easy operation but if you want to stand out of the crowd you need to invest in these new techniques and to provide for your users only exquisite products. Make your app one of a kind and impress users with special features that they can’t find anywhere else.
Image Source: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/prisma-photo-editor/id1122649984?mt=8
Well, what’s the entire point of creating smashing images and videos if you are the only one who can enjoy them? Users must have the possibility to share their creations with their friends and of course to share your app at the same time. It is impossible to create photo and video apps without taking care of this behavior. No matter the marketing strategies you are choosing, allowing users to share their thoughts through your app is the secret to make people talking about your brand and to acquire a huge number of new users. Think of it as a win-win situation because users get the opportunity to brag about their creations and you increase your chances to make your app viral. It is no wonder that musical.ly is in top grossing apps due to the fact that it became the users’ favorite app for designing videos and collaborating with friends. It created a real ”video community”!
Image Source: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/musical-ly-video-social-app/id835599320?mt=8
Final Thoughts
This article is somehow a special lesson from marketing theory because everything depends on the way you create your app. If you think about a special category of users and you start earlier with your plans while you apply the most innovative technology and you allow people to share their creations with the persons they know, then everything will go smoothly after you launch it. But the condition is to complete these imperative stages during the development process. That’s not so hard, is it?