Mobile apps have become a lucrative industry, with Apple reporting $25 billion in revenue from app stores in 2015. There are three main components to mobile app marketing: 1) social media and online engagement through accounts like Twitter and Facebook, blogs, and media coverage; 2) paid campaigning techniques like ads on Facebook, Twitter, and Google; and 3) organic growth tactics focusing on user retention and word-of-mouth through push notifications, sharing features, and reviews. While there is no single formula for success, combining paid campaigns with social media involvement and local marketing events helps drive downloads and exposure for new apps.

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MOBILE APP MARKETING
AmandaNuttall
Chillin’LLC
In 2015 Apple reported cumulative revenue
earningsof $25 billionfromthe sale of appsand
gamesin the AppStore.Mobile apps are quickly
becoming a lucrative industry in a society of
mobile device users. In this briefing I will break
down the mobile app marketing dynamic into
three main components (a) social media and
online engagement (b) paid campaigning
techniques(c) organicgrowthtactics.
Social Mediaand Online Engagement
Social Network Accounts
Social Media is a key component in helping the
spread of a new app become viral. Creating
profiles on relevant social media accounts like
Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and
Googlehelps users engage with the target
audience. Publishing relevant content on social
media accounts also boosts online presence.
Social media platforms are built for sharing app
news, displaying appropriate and exemplary
usage situations, and encouraging participation
and sharingfromcustomers (Gauchet1).
Blogs/ Media Coverage
Intandemwithfrequentsocialmediaposts,blog
creation and interaction is also crucial. Blogs
provide a useful landing page for reviews and
app mentions from other sites. When usersare
brought to the corresponding blog page of an
app they are investigating, they can gain quick
access to favorable app reviews and ratings.
Mediacoverage of anykind isa marketing-must,
especially during the beginning stages of app
launch: Figure 1 illustrates the essential local
buzz app creators should focus on gaining.
Community spotlight bears equal weight in
terms of news interviews, contests, and blog
mentions. The difference then comes in
frequency, being featured more often in more
placesdrivesdownloads(see Figure 1).
Community spotlight can be narrowed down to three essential
components interviews, contests, andfeatures (Botelho 5).
Paid Campaigning Techniques
BusinessInsider showsthe annual trend
of mobile app advertising spend. People are
responding to mobile app advertisements, and
responding well. The consistent increase in
consumer sales attributed to in app advertising
makesclearthatmobile device usersdotake the
time to view, analyze, and take action on ads
that appeal totheirinterest (See Figure2).
Figure 2. Sales in millions of spending due to mobile app
advertisements (Hoelze 3).
Getting noticed in the sea of over 1.5 million
available apps is no easy task, “Paid acquisition
campaigns will get your app the exposure and
33%
33%
33%
In App Sharing
News Interviews
Community
Contests
Blog Mentions
/Features
0 20 40 60 80
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Sales in Millions
Sales in Millions

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MOBILE APP MARKETING
awareness that you simply can’t get on your
own” (Marrs 1 ). Mobile ad partners also offer
huge amountsof customerdata worthtracking.
Paid Social Media Campaigns
Paid campaigns and ads are customizable to
specific target audiences. Often user interests,
demographics,andothervaluableinformationis
revealedthroughpaidcampaigning. Toconsider
firstare the three giants- Facebook,Twitter,and
Google. Paid campaigns for these big 3 access a
huge part of the mobile appmarket. Mobile app
marketing needs an external boost from paid
campaigning in order to reach viral amounts of
downloads. Google campaigns consist of the
classic pay per click option, where a pre-set list
of keywords and associated bids determine
where app ads show up and for what types of
searches. Twitter ads provide the convenient
install button to take users straight to an app
store.Facebookprovidesthe mostcustomizable
campaignof the three, allowinguserstonarrow
down the exact demographic age, gender, even
interests of those to whom the ad displays.
Below is a graphic of the benefits of the big 3
social media campaigns and their associated
benefits(see Figure3).
The three largest and most influential social media accounts
to help apps reach and engage their target audience
(Gauchet 4).
Organic GrowthTechniques
Earning app downloads through non-paid-for
effortsmakesup the majorityof downloads.The
first element to focus on is user retention.
Keepingusersactive encourageswordof mouth
sharingwhichisthe mostpowerful andeffective
way to advertise. The “customers selling to
customers” nature of word of mouth sharing
createsthe buzzanyappneedstobecomealocal
hit. To retain users there are a variety of in app
marketingstrategieslike:
(1) Push notifications
(2) Sharefeatures
(3) Reviews
Built in push notifications give users a home
screen reminder to use the app whereas share
feature invites customers to share the app with
friends or post their experience to a personal
social media account (Ghose 19). Reviews are
crucial, users look at app reviews and ratings
before choosing to download a new app. It is
essentialtoformaninteractive relationshipwith
users that lets them provide feedback and
suggestimprovements.Throughoutthelife of an
app offline advertising events like concerts,
parties, and contests can help build excitement
and spark large numbers of downloads. Along
with this, choosing a powerful partner to
promote your app or gets the foot in the door
quickerthanany othertechnique.
Conclusion
In Short, mobile app marketing is best done
througha combinationof paidcampaigningand
social media/ local involvement. Although there
isno secretformulato a viral app seekingmedia
coverage of any kind, engaging in social media
activity,andcreatingcustomizedpaidcampaigns
all helpearn downloads. Local marketingevents
also generate needed buzz and excitement
neededforappmarketing.
Works Cited
Apple. "Apple - Press Info - App Store Rings in 2015 with New
Records."Apple -Press Info - App Store Rings in 2015
with New Records.Apple, 2016.Web. 02Mar. 2016.
Botelho, Stefanie. "Honing App Marketing Strategies."Folio: The
Magazine for Magazine Management. Apr2012Digital
Magazines Supplemen, P14-15. 2p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar.
2016.
Twitter
Favorable
install icon
Google
Keyword
bidding
Facebook
Hyper
Targeted
The Big Three

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MOBILE APP MARKETING
Gauchet, Sylvain. "The IOS App Marketing Strategy
Guide." Apptamin The IOS App Marketing Strategy
Guide Comments. Apptamin, 22 Jan. 2016. Web. 02
Mar. 2016.
Ghose, Anindya, and Sang Pil Han."Estimating Demand for Mobile
Applications in the New Economy." Management
Science. Institute for Operations Research and the
ManagementSciences, June2014.Web. 9 Mar. 2016.
Hoelzel, Mark. "Mobile Advertising Is Exploding and Will Grow
Much Faster than All Other Digital Ad
Categories." Business Insider. Business Insider, Inc, 03
Apr. 2015. Web.02 Mar. 2016.
Marrs, Megan. "16MobileAd AcquisitionPartners For Driving App
Installs." 16MobileAd Acquisition Partners For Driving
App Installs.Localytics,6 Aug.2015.Web.02Mar. 2016.