Effective app Marketing isn’t rocket science, but it isn’t far off. Millions of apps are now available, making it extremely hard to stand out. And there seems to be just as much app marketing as apps themselves. Consequently, lots of apps get lost on their debut then drift off into obscurity.

There is no universal answer to the question of how to promote an app. However, there are best practices, along with common and preventable pitfalls. They don’t guarantee success, but they do put an app on the right path. With that in mind, follow these essential tips as you craft your marketing strategy.

Build the Best Product Possible

Apps that are poorly designed quickly get deleted. Great marketing may obscure these flaws at first, but over time all bad apps fail. Before planning any aspect of marketing, make sure you’re offering users the very best product possible.

Study Your Competitors

Unless your app is completely novel, you’re likely competing against many similar products. Study these competitors to discover their strengths and weaknesses. This includes the design of the app itself, along with their marketing strategies. Use those insights to differentiate your app and create a unique value proposition for potential users. You might also discover that your app is superior to theirs, however, you are losing ground due to inefficient marketing.

Devise a Marketing Strategy

Marketing must be organized to be effective. Plan out a detailed marketing plan that includes your budget, target users, creative approach, and ad distribution strategy. It should also identify what metrics and benchmarks define success.

Practice App Store Optimization

Ranking as high as possible in the app store is a major priority. App store optimization (ASO) is a complex process, but the smart use of keywords is essential. Figure out how your target audience is searching, then include those terms in your title and description.

Make a Great Landing Page

As potential users move down the advertising funnel they should arrive at a professional landing page. Perfect the design and copy to clearly state why a download is a great idea. Make sure you’re also checking that every feature of the landing page works properly. Some app marketers find great success with videos or screenshots explain how the app works and what it provides. Be sure to explore varying techniques until you find which types of landing page content best resonates with your target audience.

Produce a Video

A short video explaining your apps three to five best features is ideal for sharing across social media. Video is also a great addition to your branding strategy. Strive to grab people’s attention in the first 5 seconds. At the conclusion, include a clear call-to-action and appropriate links.

Try Content Marketing 

A lot of apps are hard to describe in just a few sentences. Content marketing is a way to explain your app in-depth and build interest across channels. Just a few posts a month does a lot to increase engagement and complement the rest of your marketing efforts.

Get Programmatic

Effective app marketing requires scale, but it takes a ton of work to do this manually. Programmatic marketing relies on AI and machine learning to automatically place ads in front of the right people for the right price. It does the heavy lifting so that marketers and developers can focus elsewhere.

Support the Product 

Building buzz is an achievement, but effective app marketing is about long-term engagement. In order to keep the users you have and bring in new ones the app needs to work great. Be proactive about supporting users after launch, and work hard to expand and improve the app continually.

Use Retargeting

Just because someone declined to download the first time around doesn’t mean they will the second time. Retargeting is a way to reach out to users who have previously expressed interest. Picking the right time, place, and message to retarget users transforms their hesitation into enthusiasm.

The single most important lesson in app marketing is to be realistic. Be honest about what you have, and equally honest about what you need. Then bridge the gap between the two, and your app is set for success.