Planning a successful app launch

So, you’ve had a winning idea for an app. Perhaps your app serves as an additional access point for your products or services, or maybe the app is your business. Either way, quality apps are costly and time-consuming to produce. Wise app originators will have conducted in-depth consumer research to inform the scope of the application, and numerous development, testing and review phases will likely be taking place. Perhaps predictably, though, as you begin to see your app take form and find pace now that the finish line is in sight, you find yourself experiencing increasing moments of dread as that intrusive question creeps in.

‘What if the app launch is a flop?’

After all, you don’t hear about the slow-burners. You hear about the record downloads and apps that ‘everyone is talking about.’ So, whilst your long-term marketing plan for your app will go way beyond launch day, you know it’s still important to plan a successful app launch.

In this guide, we will break down the steps, share insights and ideas, and help you build a buzz around your app launch.

Audience and market

Two things you must understand, both when creating and when promoting your app, is your audience and the market. These are not the same.

Understanding the market means you’ll know whether your product or service is required or desired. Furthermore, you’ll have assessed the competition and be confident that you have a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Keeping up with the market enables you to separate trends from change, track supply and demand, and be responsive. The state of the marketplace will determine how you might pitch your product and where you show up.

Knowing your ideal audience is crucial. Especially when investing time and/or funds into getting eyes on your app. Few businesses will have the resources or ability to expose their product to the mass market, so spend some time thinking about who will most benefit from your app. Be clear about the purpose of your app, whether that’s to educate, to entertain, to assist, etc, and consider who your customers will be and why they need your app.

Once you understand your target consumers, you can start planning where you’ll reach them.

For some organisations, their app users may be existing customers, in which case, you’ll be reaching them more directly, harnessing existing communications. If your users are unlikely to be existing contacts, then you’ll be looking to build a new community, and this should be done ahead of launch.

Seed marketing

A few weeks before launch, put your attraction marketing into action.

Rather than reveal too much about your app, it’s a good idea to focus on the problem it solves.

Let’s look at an example: A wellness app seeking to educate and inspire users to make daily decisions that prioritise wellbeing does not need to announce itself at this point. Instead, the business can spark discussions around the struggles of maintaining a healthy lifestyle in the modern world. They may benefit from sharing some top tips, research and data, to provide proof of expertise. Increasing awareness but also raising questions, is important at this point for attracting and engaging the right audience. Phrases that begin with ‘what if you could…’, ‘imagine if…’, or ‘did you know…’ can plant seeds for the solutions your product is poised to provide. It’s enticing, but it’s also constructive in pulling in an audience most likely to invest in and benefit from your app, and this approach is effective for a multitude of products and services.

Attraction marketing brings people in by highlighting USPs (unique selling points), focusing on the wider purpose of a product, and hinting at an impending announcement or product drop.

Make your app launch an event

Some businesses will opt to pair their app launch with a physical or digital event, which can be a great way to turn interest into downloads. However, when we talk about making your app launch an event, we mean marketing it as if it were an event, because it kind of is. After all, you need people to turn up on the day, ready to play.

So, now you’ve planted seeds and are building a following, you need a plan for staying in touch with your audience and keeping them engaged, up until your launch day.There are a few smart ways of inspiring consumers to subscribe, including:

• Offering exclusive previews

• Inviting them to a digital or physical launch event

• Discounting subscription purchase for early adopters or giving out product discount codes

Building a subscription list is highly valuable as it enables continued access to your audience, giving you the opportunity to send them lead-up reminders and nudge them to download your app on launch day.

Another popular way to keep engaging with your attracted audience is through social media, where you can share behind-the-scenes content and release teasers to keep your followers intrigued. To boost your following, consider partnering with influencers or collaborators (such as podcasters) who can introduce you to their audiences. Physical pop-ups in busy locations can also help to create excitement around your impending launch and win you new subscribers, whilst increasing your content portfolio.

How to launch your app

It’s not necessarily productive to invest all your energy into coming up with a totally original and creative app launch idea. Sometimes, simple is best. Whilst innovative methods of announcing an app drop might create industry buzz, if it also creates barriers to sales (making it unnecessarily complex for consumers to access your app), then you won’t reach your launch day download goals. Ultimately, if your app downloads are low, it won’t matter how ‘cool’ your launch was, because it won’t be talked about anyway.

Going live for an app launch is usually a great idea. This allows your audience to connect with you on a more personal level as you share the anticipation and keep them updated in real time. Social media is a great avenue for doing this and you may choose to feature an introduction from the founder, live chats with early access users and beta testers (sharing their insights on the app), or even a virtual tour of the app prior to, or shortly after, going live.

Lastly, however you launch, ensure that you’re creating great visuals and communicating in your brand voice, because your app launch is also another great opportunity to build brand identity.

A big budget is not required to appear professional, but pre-planning and testing is, so be thorough in your preparation and consider a practice run through.

Final tips on making your app launch succesful

One of the most important ways to ensure a successful app launch is to test your app rigorously before you launch. Launching an app with teething problems can be fatal for the product. It’s far easier to convince audiences to try a product than to return to a product that either failed to live up to the hype or had technical issues. First impressions count, so make your user experience flawless before you launch.

Everything we have focused on so far leads your target users from point of interest to point of purchase, specifically on the launch day. However, as much as you’ll love having immediately high downloads, it’s also important to have a plan for your marketing beyond this point. Those who have missed your marketing communications or have not been sufficiently persuaded to purchase on release day may still be reached.

Make sure you have a "Stage Two" marketing plan to build brand awareness and continue customer acquisition. Crucially, this should be informed by the data you now have. What has earned you followers, what has successfully converted them, and what hasn’t worked? Analyse your efforts so far and seek to tighten up communications and methods of outreach.