How to Launch a Mobile App in 2022 – Complete Guide

Well, no one is an expert on this globe. There are two ways of completing a task, right and another one is wrong. No one wants to perform any job following a wrong pathway. But, the thing is, we realize at the end whether we were wrong or right.

The same happens with mobile app development. Everyone wants to build the mobile apps perfectly according to their expectations and catch up with enhanced conversions and sales. But, sometimes, their brands face defeat. So, if you want to achieve the outcomes you expect, you need to launch a mobile app in the right way.

Sometimes, mistakes that occur at the start of a process become hard to resolve later. And, no one wants to indulge in any sort of issue. So, we should conduct our mobile app development process in the right way from the beginning only. Be your online business is touching the sky high or facing losses, there’s nothing wrong in taking guidance from the one who is already winning the stage.

Today, we are here with a guide to encourage you towards the path of success. We will talk about the steps that you should follow before and after you launch your mobile app. We hope these steps will let you attain your desired goals. So, let’s start without taking much of your time.

Conduct Deep Market Research To Know Your Competitors

Well, as we know, there are many apps available on App Stores, so you can guess you will have lots of competitors.

Performing deep market research will help you differentiate your mobile app from the others’. You should know the apps in your niche that are ruling the market. Check out the points in which they are losing. Now, use those outlooks to make your mobile app better as compared to theirs’.

Understand Your Audience To Make Your App Meet Their Expectations

Next, you should understand your audience. For that, you should keep your eyes on demographics. It will assist you in better understanding what your audience wants and how your product will meet their needs. Additionally, you will also get to know what they don’t like about the available apps in the market. Next, check their behaviors and reactions and notice those reasons that annoy them. It will help you in developing a mobile app that may attract customers to your product.

Make A Strategic Pricing Approach To Build Your Audience

Today, in the app store, monetization may lead to distinct purchase patterns.

Well, you can make your app free to download by using the subscription pricing model. You can offer the users an initial download cost or a sequence of in-app purchases. But, do remember that such pricing models arrive with pros and cons also.

Today, most Successful apps utilize ‘freemium,’ or we can say a “free” approach to build their audience before starting selling.

So, if you are planning to launch your mobile app that may reach millions of users, then opt for the freemium pricing model, as it increases the chances of adoption. Besides, if you are attempting hard to connect with your niche audience to resolve their pain points, the subscription or paid model may work best. Everything just depends on your objective.

Success Criteria To Measure Your Success Ahead

Before you launch a successful mobile app, you should define your success criteria.

First, set some measurable goals surrounding your launch. You may measure your success surrounding your active install rate, which tells you the retention rate or the number of users who install your mobile app but don’t use it. Moreover, you should keep an eye on the number of ratings you got, your average rating in the mobile app marketplace, and revenue generated from it if you are selling your mobile app.

The free mobile apps hold a higher active install rate in the first month, approximately 50%, which helps set standards. Ahead, it falls to 30%. Apart from that, the average app store rating is around 3-4 (out of 5), for which you need to work harder to maintain a healthy and expected active install rate.

Cross-Platform & Browser Versions Of The App

You shouldn’t stick to just one platform like Android or iOS. You need to be available across various platforms to enhance your reach.

As recorded at the start of the year 2020, the market share between mobile OS was around 74.3% for Android, for iOS, it was 24.76%, and the rest 2% was for the other OS.

Apart from that, the best way to increase cross-platform development is cost-effective when it comes to top-rated IDE software. Such software assists in accelerating app development. Various IDE software even allows you to develop web browser versions of your apps that offer a different way for the users to use your mobile app across any device. Cross-platform compatibility also depends on the chosen tech stack for a mobile app.

Prepare Launch Activities

Post you have done the market research, it’s time to target the execution of an actual app launch. To attain a successful launch, you should craft a better marketing plan to make sure that you build and execute each step correctly and in time.

Create & Promote Your Content To Explain Your App’s Process

Next, you should take your time and create good content that may explain the process of using your app. This content can be social media content, press releases, email marketing copy, blog post, and website copy.

On your launch day, you can even go live by pre-scheduling all such content. However, it will demand regular checks on social media in the launch week to offer real-time updates that help in supporting reviews, issues and respond to user recommendations.

Next, you should make a list of marketing campaigns that may include early access for the bloggers, social media advertising, website design, and traditional advertising.

Identify Key Influencers To Promote Your App

Next, you should identify critical influencers who engage actively in the conversations related to your industry or talk about other mobile apps relevant to your target users and industry. Connect with such people, either via networking events or social networks. Emerge with a compelling pitch that may convince influencers to promote your application.

Record A Demo Video To Showcase Values Of Your App

Next, it’s time to create a video that may show how to use a mobile app. You can do this easily using a user-friendly program that may permit you to capture the screen and voiceover recording.

Your video should clearly explain how your app performs and how it would be helpful in real-life scenarios.

Again, you know there are uncountable mobile apps in the market, so you need to emerge with clear communication regarding your marketing materials to differentiate your app. So, a short video demo would be the best way to showcase how useful your mobile app is.

Claim Your Social Media Accounts To Get Feedback & Ideas

Before you launch your mobile app, you need to claim your social media accounts and actively use them to raise interest.

Besides, social media accounts may help you showcase your mobile app while under development and ask for ideas and feedback from your future users. When you launch your app, make sure that you change the link in the biography on your social media and direct it to the app store download. Don’t forget, your target is to drive downloads, not the site traffic.

Additionally, don’t offer discounts to new social networks like Pinterest for your mobile launch. An ideal place to showcase your product to other mobile app developers in its final stages is the social network only that may attract great suggestions for UX/UI enhancements.

Furthermore, you can customize a page to generate some pre-release buzz that may allow people to sign up for a notification when your app launches.

Launch A Dedicated Site Or Page To Enhance Your Reach

Next, you can launch a website for your app or may just craft a page for your app on your site. Most companies choose the latter option.

To make your social media efforts a success, you need to launch such pages even if your app is far from hitting the market. Moreover, try directing the users to this page of your website and allow them to view your demo video. Additionally, make them sign up for a download notification email after your app enters the market.

Create A Press Kit Including Your Assets For App Promotion

Suppose you want to increase the possibility of your app getting press coverage. In that case, you should stack up all your assets lying in an online directory so they can get easy access to the information you want for your app promotion. You may include the below in your press kit:

• Contact information
• Your app description
• Creatives and graphics
• Website links
• Social media accounts and more

Choose A Product Curation Site Suiting Your Mobile App

Various websites curate the new products, and on the other side, startups also may help you create some promotional. Different online sites have an upvote/downvote or a review section. You should be ready with an MVP when it comes to rating systems. So, you should pick a product curation website that suits our mobile app and target market best. Let’s check out some similar websites:

• Beta List
• CrunchBase
• Product Hunt
• Hacker News

Use ASO (App Store Optimization) To Let Your App Discovered

Let you know that ASO and SEO are both different, especially in the app stores that you choose.

Optimizing your app’s title with a related keyword is the best practice. Also, while submitting your mobile app to these app stores, remember to fill all the categories related to your app. This way, when users browse through the classes, they are likely to find your app.

Also, you may include screenshots within the page of your app development that may display the standard use cases of your mobile app.

Pitch Your App To Let Users Know The Capabilities Of Your App

Next, it’s time to pitch your mobile app story to mobile, tech, and industry bloggers and journalists. Get ready with the video demo you created above and offer them a free download of your mobile app. It will let them know the interface and capabilities of your app. Moreover, be all set to answer the queries and consider the bugs they find and their UX/UI recommendations.

You should start with this at least a few weeks before launching your mobile app. You will get some time to experiment with your mobile app and craft a compelling story with no rush.

Paid Advertising To Increase Search Presence Of Your App

You may get some organic search tractions at the launch of your mobile app because of the freshness update of the Google algorithm. You can enhance that search presence during the launch week with some paid advertisement.

Besides, you can set targeted, paid ads on Facebook to attract users to your Fan Page. Here, you can greet them with your welcome screen, making them sign up.

Or, you can redirect the users directly to your app download page so they can easily install it on their mobile phones.

You can pick any approach according to your app.

Launch A Beta Version Of Your App To Get Feedback

Before you make your app live publically, launch an invite-only beta. Some successful websites, such as Pinterest and Google+, use such tactics. Apart from generating buzz around your product, it lets you get feedback from your trusted networks. This way, you can fix those bugs and UX/UI issues before launching your app.

Partner With Affiliates To Increase Your Mobile Downloads & Purchases

You can create an affiliate program to encourage more downloads and purchases. Moreover, you can give your influencers a unique link that can track downloads and purchases. This way, they can get instant awards automatically when their audience performs the desired action.

Put Your App Download Links To Ease Your App Users

So, you are all set to launch your mobile app. You should put its download links on your blog, your site’s home page, your marketing emails, and your social media accounts. Besides, you can add a mobile tab also on your Facebook page.

Throw A Launch Party To Spread Your Mobile App

Well, a launch party should not be big. You can have a launch party through a webinar also. You may invite influencers, early adopters, tech journalists, and more people to participate in a quick launch.

Apart from that, you can also announce special launch perks or discounts while giving the participants all the related details they need to spread your app to the world and download it.

Encourage Reviews & Monitor Feedback To Increase User Experience

Now, at last, you should monitor users’ feedback about your app and encourage them to post reviews.

Besides, you should get more downloads and visibility. This process will assist you in identifying bugs of which you are not aware and make swift changes to enhance the user experience and make it more engaging.

Make your users know about your progress on their feedback and reviews so that they may see that you listen to them and respond to their queries and feedback.

Time To Launch Your Mobile App

Now, you can finally submit your mobile app to App Stores. You should know the submission guidelines that your mobile app needs to fulfill before offering your app in this step.

Post Launch Steps

As per a report, about 21% of users abandon a mobile app after one use only. As acquiring users and driving downloads is essential, it’s vital to retain those users if you want to attain long-term success. That’s why the first impression of your app must be better in the first few days of the launch. It is the right time to target highlighting the app’s value to optimize the onboarding procedure. Altogether, if you want your users to show interest in your app, your app should impress your new users.

Measure Your Success As Per Your Success Criteria

Post you launch your mobile app, you should consider measuring your success. For that, you can access what was up to the mark and what is demanding improvement. You may include customer engagement, satisfaction, and retention rates. Besides, customer reviews and feedback will assist you in deciding whether you have reached the success criteria you previously defined. Usually, users’ lack of interest, changing needs, and bad user experience make users abandon a mobile app. So, you should keep up with the changing marketing demands and adapt to them as per user expectations.

Consider Feedback & Update Your App To Let Users Know That You Listen To Them

Transparency means a lot to the consumers. That’s why to be more transparent about your mobile app with your users is to keep them updated with the features and changes. You can easily do this using an update log. You need to send these update logs to your app store pages. Moreover, you should also have a dedicated update log page on your site for your users to witness the changes easily that you have implemented in the last several weeks.

By keeping your mobile app users updated with your app’s features and changes, you can increase the retention rates as users will witness the updates they have been expecting.

Keep A Hub of ‘Coming Soon,’ and ‘Wishlist’ Features To Instill Excitement Among Your App Users

If you want to make your users know you listen to their feedback and suggestions, you can craft a hub of wishlist or ‘Coming Soon’ features.

You can create a page or a button on your app that may let the users submit their requests or feedback for new features. After they offer their thoughts and recommendations, you may send them to this hub of Coming Soon so they may know that their feedback and exciting things are in progress. You may see them waiting on board to witness these features coming into use. Soon, your retention rates will go high, along with customer loyalty.

Try Methods To Boost Retention & User Engagement

There are several ways that you can opt to enhance customer retention and user engagement. You can offer your app users an incentive that can be anything according to your choices, like specialized content access, mobile-specific rewards, special promotions, coupons, and other offers. This way, users will get a reason to pick your mobile app over another and will also help in boosting engagement and drive conversions.

Also Read: What Is App Testing?

Wrapping Up

We all know that launching a mobile app is not a one-time task. You will always get room for improvement that makes the mobile app launch a cyclical process that needs reassessment with the changing market demands. Also, remember to update and relaunch your launched mobile app to keep your users engaged through new features and updates.

An app launch strategy should build various touchpoints for potential users before making the product available for download and attaining the best results. Building awareness before launching will offer users an idea related to the benefits and purposes of the app. So, when they come to app store listing, your product should appear uniquely and offer a remarkable first impression.