How to Make Your App Launch a Guaranteed Success

When you have a great app idea, it can be very easy to forget that the launch of your app is where it really counts.

Once you’ve put your app together (or hired our dedicated team at EL Passion to create it for you) you’ll need to get people to download it. But how will you garner their interest? How will you make them choose your app over everybody else’s?

A successful app launch can make a big impact and get you the attention you need.

Define a ‘Successful App Launch’

Before you make any preparations, you need to define what makes a ‘successful app launch’.

For many people ‘a high rate of downloads’ will denote success but for others, lots of referrals will be the goal. Success may even be defined by what people are saying about the app and if they rate it highly.

Knowing what success is to you is one of the founding pillars of any app launch as it helps you tailor the rest of your plans around it.

Building Your Brand

With your goals for success in mind, the next step is building your brand. If you came up with the name of your startup then this part should be easy. If not then the following bullet points should help:

• The Name — In your market, do professional and informational names work better? Or do you need to go for something that’s wacky and stands out? A fantastic example is ‘Google’ which comes from the word ‘googol’. A googol is the number 1 followed by a hundred zeroes and so ‘Google’ represents the infinite amount of information available on the web.
• The Message — What does your app stand for and what is its aim? If you’ve made an app that tracks nutrition, explain why you think healthy eating is important. If your app aids with study, highlight the struggles of getting an education and why you want to solve these problems.
• The Logo — Once you have a name and a message you’ll need to combine these in a visually appealing logo. Colour, size and shape will all need to be considered as your logo will be the ‘face’ of your brand. Consider your key demo and what would resonate with your audience.

Go Social

Once you’ve put together a name, a message and a logo, it’s time to stamp that on everything.

You’ll need to establish your web presence using Twitter, Facebook and even your company’s website as each of these can be used to get the word out about your app and get some early momentum going.

The fans and followers you gather here can be your very first customers. If they like your app, they will talk about it too.

What’s Your USP?

Consider your app launch as your fresh-faced baby steps into the mobile market. Few people will know your name and so you’ll have to come out the gate with a strong start.

One of the best ways to do this? Pre-define what your app is best at and what it can offer people over your competitors.

If you’ve made your app easier to use than others on market, say it. If your app offers better, more useful features than any other app out there, highlight them.

Figure out your app’s USP (Unique Selling Point) and harness it. It’s one of the most powerful tools in your arsenal.

Choosing the Right App Store and the Right Price

You know your app is good and now your fans, followers and friends know it too. However, none of this matters if you release your app in the wrong way.

It’s recommended that your app launch begins in one place and one place only. If you have an iOS app then the App Store is the way to go but with an Android app there are a lot more places to try out.

Each app marketplace will offer different benefits and downsides. For example Google Play has the most users but the highest competition whilst Samsung Apps has less competition but fewer users.

The reason this is so important is because focusing on one place will let you keep track of data, stats and reviews better than if your app is all over the map. For smaller teams it means that you won’t have to spread yourself too thin in an effort to be everywhere.

Furthermore, price is an important thing to consider. Look at the numbers; what’s the minimum you need to earn back from your app?

You need to make a profit but you don’t want to hurt your customers’ wallets. Look at your competitors’ pricing and figure out a good ball park for yours — remember, people love discounts but raising the price of something after release will turn some away.

Getting the Word Out

A price, a name and a plan for publishing are all in order so the next step is to get the word out even more.

There are a variety of ways of doing this, from cold-calling (and emailing) websites and blogs yourself to hiring a PR firm to do it for you. Either way, getting your app mentioned in publications and on websites is one of the most important parts of an app launch.

Even if you have done your bit getting Twitter followers and Facebook likes, there’s still an untapped audience out there who will have never heard of you.

Know who your demographic is and pitch to sites appropriately. Every blogger or writer you speak to should know why your app is useful to them and their readers within seconds of reading your pitch.

Feedback, the Future and Beyond

With all this said, there’s an entire other side of an app’s launch that you need to take into consideration. Post-launch support.

You need to keep an eye on feedback from users as they will notice bugs and request new features and fixes. Failing to implement these will turn them away and potentially turn away new users too.

Fix those bugs and listen to your users, and this might turn out to be your biggest advantage to competitors.

Hopefully everything mentioned above will ultimately benefit your you and your customers, making your app launch a certified success.