There are over a million apps each on the Google Play Store and the Apple Store, so the environment for launching the next great app is more competitive than ever. Because of this, planning out a launch is more important, arguably, than almost anything else besides app development itself. The key to a successful app launch is adoption, and that means knowing how to retain and engage the clients that marketing efforts help create.

1. WHITEPAPERON
Learnmoreathttp://www.dotcominfoway.com
Copyright©2000-2016DotComInfoway
HOWTOCREATEAMARKETING
PLANFORAMOBILEAPPLAUNCH

2. Page2
Learnmoreathttp://www.dotcominfoway.com
Copyright©2000-2016DotComInfoway
2.ENGAGEEARLYTOCREATEASUCCESSFULFEEDBACKLOOP.
Onceinteresthasbeenestablishedandcustomersinvolved,thenextstepistoexternallycontinuemarketingtheappwhileinternallypayingatten-
tiontowhatcustomersaresayingaboutit.Thereareanumberofdifferentbetatestingopportunitiesandapplicationsavailable,whichcanthenbe
usedtocreatebetatestercommunitieswithaslittleasanemaillist.Bycreatingabaseofearlyadoptersprimedforbetatesting,theapphasitsrst
experimentalbasethatcanbeusedtoperfecttheappwhenitisnallyreadyforreleaseintothewild.
Atthispointisitisconsideredasmartpracticetoengagebetauserstoensurethattherearenounexpectedproblemswiththeappbeforeformal
launch.Obviousbugscanbe xedatthispoint(thoughtheremaybesomeuserlossaswell)tohelpmakeforanappthatisverypolishedbythe
timeitisreleased.
BBesideslisteningtocustomerconcerns,itisagoodideatoincentivizebothuseoftheappandspreadinginterestinit.Doingsobuildsamoreexcit-
edbaseandallowsexistinguserstoknowthatgoodthingsarehappeningwiththeapp,andthatearlyadoptionhasitsbenets.Goodexamples
areappsthatgiveusersbenetsforlikingthemonsocialmedia(asimple“like”buttondoesn’tworkanymore)whichgivestheenduserthesatisfac-
tionofknowingtheygetarewardforcontinuinguseoftheappandexpressingthatsatisfactionpublicly.
3.DON’TFORGETTRADITIONALMARKETINGCHANNELSSUCHASEMAIL.
Whilefocusingsolelyontheuserbaseisimportant,it’sjustasimportantnottoneglectchannelssuchasemailindealingwithnewacquisitionsand
betatesters.Email,forexample,helpsprepareclientsforanapplaunchinanumberofways.
-Emailscanbespread.Emailsremainoneofthemoststraightforwardwaystogetinformationouttoothers,andthisiseventruewithapp
updates.
-Emailsareverytrackable:withemailreportingprogramsandmetricssuchasbouncerate,marketerscangetaverygoodideaofwhatworksand
whatdoesn’twithanappwellinadvanceofitsrelease.
-Emailscancontainasmuchoraslittleinformationasadeveloperwants.Whethertostayintouchwithaclientbaseortogiveadetailedupdate
onanapp’sprogress,developeremailshelppeoplestayintheloopwhenitcomestoanapp’smovementtowardsitsrelease.
AAnytraditionalchannelssuchasemailorevenpaidmarketingeffortswillhaveacost/benetratiotothemthatwillincreasinglydeclineinuse.This
mustbeborneinmindwitheverymarketingeffort--acquisitionofnewclientsmusthaveatangiblebenet,andsoultimatelyevennon-betates-
tersshouldbeencouragedinthatdirectiondependingonwhentheappisbeingreleasedaswellastheoverallresponsebeforelaunch.
ThereareoveramillionappseachontheGooglePlayStoreandtheAppleStore,sotheenvironmentforlaunchingthenextgreatappismorecom-
petitivethanever.Becauseofthis,planningoutalaunchismoreimportant,arguably,thanalmostanythingelsebesidesappdevelopmentitself.The
keytoasuccessfulapplaunchisadoption,andthatmeansknowinghowtoretainandengagetheclientsthatmarketingeffortshelpcreate.
Withthatsaid,creatingamarketingplanforaparticularmobileappcanbebrokendowninto vebasicsteps,eventhougheachofthosestepsis
itselfratherinvolved.However,byfollowingstraightforwardguidelinesandtailoringthemtoyourspecicsituation,developerscancreateamarket-
inglaunchforyourappwhichwillhelpensurebetteruseracquisitionandretentionratesthansimply“puttingitup”.
1.MARKETINGBEGINSWITHAPPDEVELOPMENT.
MManyappdevelopersoftendevelop rst,advertiselater.Thisisaprettypoorstrategy,andispartofthereasonthatsomanyappshavepooradop-
tionandretentionratesintheGoogleAppStore,forexample;theaveragedeathspiralforanappfromappstoreplacementtoanegativeuseracqui-
sitionrateusuallyhoversaroundaweek.Tocounteractthis,itisimportantthatmarketinganappbeginsearlyinthedevelopmentphase.Bycreating
buzzaroundtheapp rst,developerscanbegintocollectadatabaseofuserswhowillbeprimedfortheappearlyon(“earlyadopters”).
Invitingearlyinterestaroundanapphasasecondadvantageinthatitalsocreatesanestofbetausersoutsidethedevelopmentgroup,andmore
specicallyonethatisactuallyclosertotheuserbasethatadeveloperisaimingfor.Onewaytoknowwhatkindofmarketisatplayhereistotake
sometimeoutformarketresearchanddeterminethemostsuccessfulplayersinabasicniche.Lookatwhatcompetitorsdocorrectly,andtakesome
timetoreadbothpositiveandnegativeuserfeedbackintheirrespectivecomments.Bydoingbasicmarketresearch,developerscanpreparethem-
selselvestodifferentiatewithinaspecicmarketnicheandbuildinterestinwhatmakesaspecicappdifferentbeforeitisevenreleased.Bynotdoing
this,developersruntheriskofnotsuccessfullydifferentiatingthemselves.
Finally,it’simportanttotaketoasmanychannelsaspossiblewhereinterestinaspecicappmightndoverlapandcreateengagementtobegin
buildingatestercommunity.

3. Page3
Learnmoreathttp://www.dotcominfoway.com
Copyright©2000-2016DotComInfoway
4.THEAPPISTHEEVENT.
Intheend,itistheformalreleaseofanappthatwillmakeallthedifferenceinhowitgetsadoptedbythemasses.Thisisalsowhereadevelopercan
unleashanarmyofdevotedbetatesterswholovetheappupontheworld.Donecorrectly,theformalreleasewillrevealtothemobilecommunity
whataselectgroupofusershavealreadyknown,lovedandhelpedbuild.Inshort,theappisthelaststeptoanyinitialmarketingeffort.
TTheuntestedusermarketatapplaunchisverydifferentfromtheusermarketwhenthereisapre-launchcommunity.Thoseengageduserswill
becomethe rstofficialdownloadersofthenewapp(whetherpaidorfree)andthereforewillbecomethebaseofadeveloper’sinitialdownload
community.Becausetheyhavealreadytestedtheapp,usedit,commentedonitandmore,thatsenseofinvestmentwilltranslateintomoreloyal
users.Afterthat,theapphasabaseofpublicusers,whocanalsoprovidefeedbackanddevelopinterestamonguserswhohaveneverheardofthe
appbefore.
BBypre-shiftingthelauncheventtoonewithusersalreadyprepared,interestedin,andengagedwithanapp,developershaveapredictivemodel
thattheycanuseforpredictingusercommunitygrowthaswellascustomerlifetimevalue(CLTV).Thiscanhelpdevelopersdeterminehowtheirapp
stacksupagainstothersintherespectiveappstores:ifthepre-launchfollowedthestepsabove,thefeedbackloopwillbedeterminateinshowing
theadvantageofoneparticularappoverothersinthesameniche.
5.FOLLOWUP:KEEPENGAGEDTHROUGHFEEDBACKANDUSETOOLSLIKEPUSH
NOTIFICATIONSWISELY.
FFinally,itisoftheutmostimportanceonceanappisdevelopedtonotalienateusers.Thereareafewwaysthatthiscanhappen,butthetwomost
commonwaysarefailingtofollowthroughwithfeedbackandoveruseofcontacttoolssuchaspushnotications.
FFeedbackisanimportantpartofcommunityacquisitionandretentionaswellasawaytodeterminewhereanappmightbelacking.Whileitis
impossibletocreateanappthatmakeseveryonehappy,itispossibletomakeachangewhennoticingthattherearepotentiallyproblematic
commonthreads.Inthiscase,wherepossible,itisbesttorespondtotheclientsothattheydon’tfeelleftoutandtakenoteoftheirconcern.Obvi-
ously,noteverychangecanbemadetoanappimmediately,butafewcomplaintsaboutthesamethingmightmeanthatthereareotherclients
whoareuninterestedincomplaining--andwilljustuninstalltheappfromtheirdevice.
Eitherway,notrespondingisalostuser.
OnOntheotherhand,thereissuchthingastoomuchengagement,particularlyifitisunsolicited.Nothingisworsethanlosingaclientsolelybecause
adeveloperhadtonotifycustomersofeverysingleupgrade,asmuchasdailyinsomecases.Andyetthisisthe ipsideofengagement;itisimport-
anttoaddressclientswhohaveaconcern,anditisalsosmarttoletclientswhohaveforgottenanappknowaboutnewfeatures(oneofmanysmart
usesofpushnotiers)butconstantnoticationswilleventuallyturnusersofftotheproduct.Itisbettertoengageclientswhoarepleasedwitha
pproductsparinglywhileensuringthattheyknowtheycanreachsomeonewhenpossible.Chancesarethatifdevelopersleavetheirinformationfor
theircustomers,customerswithconcernswillreachouttothemwhennecessary.

4. ABOUTDOTCOMINFOWAY
DotComInfoway(DCI)isapremierITcompanylocatedinIndiaproviding
offshoreIToutsourcingsolutionstobusinessesacrosstheglobe.DCIpro-
videsenterprisesolutionsthatincludesoftwaresolutions,websolutions,
mobileapplicationsolutions,InternetmarketingandawholegamutofIT
solutionsandproductstoclients.Leveragingtheinnateoffshorevaluead-
vantageofourdevelopmentcentersinIndia,weprovidecustomized,scal-
ableandcosteffectivesolutionstobusinesses.
Bankingonourrichandversatileindustryintelligenceandexperience,we
providesolutionsthatstreamlinebusinessprocessesandgalvanizeenter-
priseproductivity.Withwell-structureddevelopmentmethodologies,
GlobalDeliveryModelandrigidQAsystems,wedeliverbusiness-critical
solutionson-time,withinbudgetsandwithindesiredlevelsofperfor-
mance
Formoreinformation,pleasecontactask@dotcominfoway.com
Page4
Learnmoreathttp://www.dotcominfoway.com
Copyright©2000-2016DotComInfoway