You’ve just watched the final cut of your app’s demo video…
Now what?
Video is a great way to build a potential customer’s trust and confidence in your app, and using a video in your marketing can have a direct effect on sales: studies have shown that 74% of potential customers who watched a video about a product subsequently bought it.
You need to make sure that your potential customers see your video. One way to accomplish this is by directly reaching out to them through social media and Email. Another is to ensure your video can be easily found on the internet, preferably in multiple locations.
While every company’s marketing plan will be different, we offer up the following suggestions for how you can put your video to work for you in helping you market your app.
Reviews and Press
You can generate interest and buzz for your app before it even launches. Seek out websites that review apps and technology, and send them your press kit along with a request for a review. Reviewers and bloggers love including video in posts, so sending one to them could make them much more likely to feature your app. Good reviews about your app are free advertising, and can drive traffic to your website and app store listing.
Company Website
A Google survey found that 24% of users discovered apps via a company’s website, so be sure to give your video a prominent place on your website. The home page is best—particularly in the first few months after the app is launched—but the app’s information page is also a good location, and a professional video will continue to pay dividends long after the initial launch frenzy has subsided.
Social Media
People spend a great deal of time on social media platforms; nearly 30% of online time is spent on social media — that’s nearly two hours each day. You can’t afford not to be making use of social media in your marketing efforts.
Facebook, Google+, and Instagram are all excellent venues for video, and can act as gateways to your company website. Sponsored content can increase visibility and ads can be targeted to those you know are likely to find your app useful, but also give you the opportunity to reach out to new audiences and demographics.
Twitter is sometimes less-considered when it comes to sharing video, but we’d encourage you to include the platform in your social media marketing. Twitter does have the ability to display embedded video and there are many ways you can help grow your app’s Twitter audience.
Email Campaigns
People who have visited your website and signed up for future information have given a clear signal that they are interested in your app, and including video in your Email campaigns to your Email list can increase your open rates by 5.6% and click-through-rates by 96%.
Avoid lengthy explanations in the Email; in particular, keep verbiage to a sentence or two of introduction before the embedded video so that when the Email is opened, the video is immediately visible. Many people check their Email via their cellphones, and a wall of text may mean they simply close and delete your Email.
Email campaigns are most effective when done as part of the initial launch of the app. If you can include a special offer of some kind in your Email, that will provide a further incentive for users to click through and purchase your app.
YouTube
Did you know that YouTube is the second-largest search engine after Google? If your company doesn’t yet have its own YouTube channel, we recommend creating one. You can upload all of the demo and tutorial videos you have for your app—which has the additional benefit of making it easy for users to find all of your video content quickly and easily.
App Marketplaces
In most cases, you’ll want to upload a video as part of your app’s listing on your chosen app marketplaces. Screenshots are good and useful, but adding a video can help your app stand out from the competition.
Note: Apple has specific requirements when it comes to videos that are uploaded to its app store. A video created for the Apple App Store may not be optimal for other uses. We work with our clients to ensure maximum ROI for their video.
Your video is the best way to show your app to potential customers, and the more avenues you employ in putting it to work, the more success you’ll have with your marketing.
Are you ready to jump-start your marketing efforts by creating a demo video? Get in touch with us today; we’d love the chance to talk with you about your needs and how we can help.