2 Pieces of Advice for Using paid Advertising to Promote Your New App

There’s nothing more exciting as an app developer or business owner than seeing your new app go live and eagerly sitting and watching for downloads pour in. There is also nothing more demoralising than releasing a new app and effectively not seeing the downloads pour in. It’s common practise for app developers and app owners to use paid advertising alongside other methods to help promote their app and get it recognised.

Don’t give in to your overexcitement or distress when it comes to paid app promotion. Like any form of advertising, in order to be effective you have to play smart and ensure your approach is considered before you dive in and risk spending a lot of money very quickly without the results you want.

Here are two big tips to follow:

Be Aware of Timing

As with all advertising, timing can make or break your campaigns. Yes, your app is new and shiny and exciting for you, but the wider app user audience won’t be in the same mood. App downloads peak around certain times of the year in a similar fashion to retail spikes. One of the most common spikes in the app download calendar is centred around the release of major mobile handsets for example.

Your iOS developed app is more likely to see attention and download demand when a new mobile phone is launched, and users are loading their new device with essential apps and new things to play with. You’ll also want to pay attention to your app’s own industry spikes. When is the industry your app serves most in demand or are there any major events which may spark increased interest? Timing your paid activity around these times will prove highly effective vs a finger in the wind approach.

Align Your Channels with Each Other

It’s a well-known attribute of app downloads that reaching a prominent position within the app charts particularly on the Apple Store feeds additional download potential. Having a high-ranking increases exposure for free, so you’ll want to do your best to try and achieve this.

Seeing as most of these rankings are based on frequency of recent downloads, what you’re looking for in terms of achieving these chart positions is a high feedback score for the app but most of all, a big spike in downloads in a short space of time. To set yourself up for the best chance at achieving this you’ll want to align all your channel activity to coincide with each other, creating maximum awareness and encourage maximum downloads from various sources all at once.

So, if you’re going to launch a PR or you know you’re going to be featured in a prominent blog or piece of media, align your paid activity like PPC, social ads or display advertising to run alongside the release of this. Not only will you get more eyeballs on your app at the same time but you’re also more likely to make an impression on the same consumer more than once, increasing the chances of a download.