So you just got an app for your business, now what?

Congratulations, you just got an app for your business. Now what? “If you build it they will come” may have worked for Kevin Costner, but it wont work for apps; you have to promote it, the good news is, its fun, easy, inexpensive and can prove to be very effective.

Here are 5 quick tips on how you can promote your app, build your audience and start to see some ROI.

1)   Share you app – this may seem like a no brainer, but so many businesses make the mistake of forgetting to share their app. A mobile app is the most consistent connection between you and your customers, and they’ll always want a convenient way to access your deals. Use your Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn profiles to promote your app as often as possible.

2)   Write your local Press- Neil Patel says: "Press is the best way to kick start your startup, and the best way to get it is to manually reach out to journalists."

3)   Dedicate a page – Make your app a big deal on your web site by dedicating one page to it. This page should have a few app screen shots, some quick benefit information and a link so they can download it. And you’re done!

4)   Run a contest- For example; if you own a food truck, have your customers take a selfie with your food. The best picture can win a prize of you choice

5)   Cross promote- Get other businesses involved by promoting their coupons in your app. If you’re a real estate agent, invite a local contractors or electricians to promote their businesses with you. By doing that you’ll gain two businesses promoting your services and your app becomes a needed resource.

Start putting these practices into action and you’ll see your downloads jump right away.   

The Mobile Millennial take over

We're in the age of MOBILE MILLENNIALS. Corporate influence is shifting younger and younger as newer companies continue to pop up. A new study conducted by Google and ,research house, Millward Brown Digital, showed millennial influence is growing rapidly. According to the study 46% of potential B2B buyers are millennials. That’s a 27% increase from 2012. This change in buying power makes Millennia’s the biggest generational group researching B2B products for potential purchase.

Google’s director of business and industrial markets, Mike Miller, said “We saw a big shift in a two-year time span in the number of millennial that are in the B2B purchase path.” With baby boomers closing in on retirement and younger generations holding leadership positions, millennial influence is growing FAST. 

In studying the digital behaviors of those who participated in B2B buying decisions, Google found a shift in mobile usage. According to the survey, 34% of people involved in B2B buying decisions last year used their mobile devices in every stage of the transaction. That’s up from 18% in 2012. Miller suggested that the increase indicates that more B2B marketers are buying on their mobile devices, instead of just conducting research. This reflects on the enormous mobile market that continues to grow and impact everyday life.

Smart phones have out grown being used for just social interaction; it significantly impacts businesses decisions made everyday. Consumers are using mobile devices everyday for price comparisons, research and buying from retailers. Businesses and buyers are no different; mobile devices allow for research in any environment and instantaneous research and information.

Step Aside Hollywood, Mobile Apps Are Making Paper

Mobile app revenue is off the charts! According to a recent study performed by Asymco, revenue for mobile apps is bigger than all of the combined domestic (US) box office of Hollywood movie studios.

How? Well, these figures seem to be incredibly indicative of the world we live in. Less and less people are going to the movies, preferring to wait or torrent them instead. Meanwhile, the mobile app industry continues to grow exponentially.

Hollywood is now focusing on the international market in an effort to increase release profits. Now, summer blockbusters can take in as much as 70% of their worldwide total from international releases. There’s a reason Transformers 4 took place in and was focused on China.

The recent box office records we’ve seen are largely because of the international markets.
Last year Apple paid out $10 billion to developers and Google paid out $3 billion. Apps on iOS employ 627,000 jobs in the US versus 374,000 in Hollywood. Please take a moment to re-read those two sentences.

To be fair, these data points don’t give a full picture of the wider movie industry and don’t account for movie theaters, video sales, or merchandise. Then again, these are only numbers for Apple and don’t even get into money made off of apps that don’t go through Apple like advertising, subscriptions and merchandise. Clash of Clans, the gaming app, has daily revenue hovering around $1.6 million! Obviously, big films make much more than that in an opening weekend but we’re talking about the industry as a whole. Apps are usable by everyone everyday, unlike films that are rarely seen more than once in theaters and only make six to eight week long runs in theaters.
Now is the time to get into the mobile industry, as it does not appear that this freight train has any indication of slowing down.

For more information on how to get involved fell fee to contact us.