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Top 5 Distribution Channels to Promote Your Mobile App
When promoting a mobile app, it’s important to use various platforms across multiple channels to build awareness around your apps, drive downloads, increase customer retention, and encourage people to share the app. However, it can be challenging to determine which app distribution channels to use to promote your mobile app. With everything from TV to digital platforms, there are plenty of ways to go about mobile app niche marketing and connect with your audience.
Ultimately, the channels you use will depend on your target audience. Think about who your audience is and what these prospects want to see from your app and brand. What are their interests and their user behaviors? Where do they spend most of their time online and offline? Gaining these insights can help you figure out which channels to target.
To help you pinpoint the ideal marketing platforms, the following are some of the best app distribution channels to use to promote a mobile app.
1. App Stores
The most popular app distribution channel for marketers is an app store, including Apple and Google app stores. Through the app store, you can connect with an international audience without the need to establish a budget of any kind. App stores are essentially marketplaces for mobile apps, enabling consumers to easily browse, download, and install the apps they like, which could be free or come with a price tag. When people visit an app store, they’re likely actively searching for an app to immediately download or purchase.
However, you need to use several app stores to get the most from these channels. Keep in mind that launching both an Android- and iOS-compatible app will help maximize your reach as you’re able to target both audiences.
Here are some app stores that can serve as app promotion sites:
Google Play Store
The Google Play Store hosts Android apps along with different types of content such as movies. It’s one of the first app stores and currently has millions of apps. It also uses a search engine to make it extremely easy for users to find what they want in the store, making it important to strengthen your app store page with good app store optimization (ASO).
Apple App Store
The Apple App Store will be the right platform to target iOS users. In addition to mobile apps, the platform has apps that are exclusive to other Apple devices such as the Apple Watch and Apple TV.
Samsung Galaxy Apps
The Samsung Galaxy Apps store is intended specifically for Samsung Galaxy users, which are Android devices. Through this store, these users can quickly find the apps they want, and developers can benefit from less competition compared to other app stores, as this platform has far fewer apps than either the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.
These are simply a few of the platforms available to you as an app creator. Try to find out which ones your audience uses and target as many of them as you can to extend your reach.
2. Social Media
In addition to app stores, many social media platforms can serve as app promotion sites. Social media is free to use for businesses as app distribution channels. You can simply create an account on the desired platform and use it to connect with your audiences in fun and engaging ways.
You should always carefully consider your social media posts based on the specific platforms you’re using. If you can get your audiences highly engaged with your app and drive more word-of-mouth marketing among users, you’ll be able to reach even more people without spending more on marketing. Some of the types of content you can share on social media include links to relevant blog posts, industry news, and user-generated content through contests or other activities.
Some social media app marketing examples could include:
- Creating a contest in which users win prizes such as in-app freebies for submitting user-generated content around your app.
- Illustrating on LinkedIn how your app can benefit professionals.
- Sharing blog posts on Facebook that provide insights into the app or the developers behind it.
3. Email Marketing
Email marketing is one of the most effective app distribution channels because users are likely already interested in your app if they wind up in your contact list. You can use a variety of methods to attract email addresses to build your list, including social media channels, pop-up prompts on your website, or your contact form. Action buttons on your app promotion sites can also make it easy for people to instantly subscribe to your email list.
Email marketing content could consist of a variety of lead-nurturing materials. For instance, you could share weekly updates through a newsletter detailing improvements made to your app. You can also share blog posts or articles about your app, brand, or industry. This will keep people continually engaged with your business and increase the likelihood that they’ll use your app or download it if they don’t currently have it.
4. Advertising
Once you’re ready to scale your app distribution channels when promoting a mobile app, you’ll need to start running ad campaigns. The more you can spend on advertising and marketing, the better your campaigns will perform. It’s important to remember that you need to plan your campaigns very thoroughly before you run your ads. Start by determining which channels to use and then decide on the visuals and messaging that will speak to your audience.
Some mobile marketing examples of ad campaigns include:
Paid Search and Retargeting Ads
Paid online advertising is crucial for apps of all kinds today. You can launch campaigns that target certain keywords to appear in search engines, or you can launch ads that appear on other websites outside of search engines. For instance, people might search for a type of app and come across yours at the top of Google results in the form of a highly visible text ad. Meanwhile, users browsing other websites could see a banner ad somewhere on the page, attracting their attention. Retargeting ads could also follow users who’ve visited your website, maintaining awareness and eventually bringing those users back to you.
TV Commercials and OTT Ads
TV is another great channel to use to promote your mobile app. Many apps from games to utilities have used TV commercials to increase downloads, encouraging people to visit developers’ app stores. TV can be a great way to reach audiences who might not spend as much time online, including older audiences who still have and use mobile devices.
In addition to TV commercials, you can launch digital video ads on over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms such as Hulu, YouTube, and others. OTT ads are similar to commercials, but they’re often shorter and fit within brief ad breaks. In some cases, they may be unskippable, while the short length of the ad break period makes people less likely to get up and leave while ads are playing. This means you may attract even more attention to your app through OTT ads than TV commercials.
Social Media Ads
To reach more younger users who like to spend time on Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, or other platforms, be sure to engage in social media advertising to promote a mobile app. Using Facebook Ads and other tools that these platforms offer, you can effectively target specific demographics and psychographics while establishing a budget. Subsequently, you’ll be able to supplement other social media marketing efforts with high-quality ads that keep your brand and app top-of-mind among users.
5. Content Marketing
Content marketing is another great way to connect with your audience, as mobile app content gives some value to the audience as they search for more information. Additionally, creating content for your website can help increase your website’s SEO rankings, ensuring that people find you on Google and other search engines. Make sure all content you create is of consistently high quality and engages readers and viewers. When approached the right way, content marketing can significantly increase trust in your brand and encourage people to download and use your app.
There are many ways you can approach content marketing. For example, blog posts can educate readers about your app, with details about how developers got inspired to create it along with how-to guides for users. Meanwhile, you can also have a YouTube channel featuring regular video updates that further engage users and continue to provide more information about your brand and app. The more high-quality content your website and other platforms contain, the more helpful your brand will appear while getting more people to try your app.
Conclusion
Ultimately, you will need to use a variety of app distribution channels when promoting a mobile app of any kind. From social media and advertising to content marketing and TV commercials, there’s no shortage of methods to reach your audiences. However, you need to decide on the right channels based on your audience’s specific wants, needs, and user behavior. You can also learn more about how to get the most from your campaigns by reading our article discussing the best distribution channels for app marketing.
App Samurai can also help you get the results you want as a powerful AI-driven mobile growth platform. To learn more about App Samurai and its capabilities, contact us today.
