Selling Apps through Content: Five Fantastic Suggestions

Native Advertising works well because the sale of a product is embedded within a piece of content. People get engaged, they feel a connection, and pass it forward. Sometimes they know the piece is meant to work like an advertisement while other times it’s done so well that the product pitch works in a subliminal nature.

Distribution of content is relatively easy: find the right audience, pitch the idea, create the content, and repeat to the point you’re able to saturate the marketplace so the brand and app becomes known.

However, you can’t just rush a piece of content that does nothing more than act like a long-form of advertising; it needs to create engagement and stand-alone as if the product wasn’t included this way people are likely to give it a read, watch, or listen (and then pass it on).

Here are some of the key points you’ll want to check off if content marketing is one of your main forms of app marketing:

Know what you plan to offer

When you set out to promote (and sell) your app through content it’s vital that you solidify you decision on what you plan to offer the community. On the upper-level of the decision making process you should consider the pros and cons of free vs paid apps.

An app given away freely while being encircled with helpful content that could work like a tutorial, best practices guide, game-play examples, or whatever compliments your app will make the entire piece easier to sell because there is no up-front monetary commitment.

An app that is paid will naturally create resistance so it’s important to select the right type of content that will encourage the individual to make the connection to its value and complete the transaction; this content should chip away at the barriers and points of resistance.

Pick a platform that works for you

Will it be through social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook? Do you wish to create in-depth articles that are shared on your blog (or used for guest posting)? Is video the right platform knowing that YouTube has such a mass of audience?

The platform that works is the one that works for you.

It would be within your best interest to give a shot at each of these. Share content through social media feeds, take time to write articles, record videos, publish ebooks or whitepapers, distribute audio, and all other content that you feel will best tell the message.

Within time you’ll have enough data to pin-point which of the platforms show the greater return on investment; it’s at that moment you double down on your efforts and maximize the platform in your favor.

Pair it with a promotion

Many services can handle promotions, contests, and other forms of giveaways with ease and come at a very manageable cost. When you wrap content around the promotion it gives individuals something more to engage with than a simple “like to be entered in the raffle” or something akin to that idea.

Let’s use an example as if you sold a fishing game as your app:

At the center of the attention is the app (obviously) but content that surrounds the app can be such things as a real-time high score leaderboard of the top players; the promotion could go along with this like a contest and whomever lands in the top 10 in the leaderboard could earn a prize such as additional credits in the game, an actual fishing trip, or fishing related items.

The idea is to create an ecosystem with the content and leverage the promotion to keep people coming back for more – and to encourage them to share the promotion and event with others.

Treat your email marketing as a separate content machine

Building a great email list will keep users active with your app but far too many businesses seem to only use their email for updates or some form of reminder that a person hasn’t used the app in X amount of time which really is a waste for the platform.

Email should be great content. The email should be something exciting to read even if you have no plans to actually use the app that day (or even previously uninstalled it); it’s there to engage users that want this great information to come to them versus digging around the Web trying to find the gems.

Create a content ecosystem

As noted (above) – the type of content you create will depend on your style but there are always freelancers and other individuals that can contribute to the content (even your app users).

Instead of using your site as some funnel to push people to one of the app stores you should make it whole by creating a massive amount of content and community activity.

• On a regular basis you should consider publishing highly specific tutorials on using a particular element of your app.
• You could interview app users and let them tell about their experience to others in the community.
• Video and interactive forms of media could be used to show tutorials, tips, tricks, strategies, and secrets about the app which will give users additional value and understanding.
• A community board where users can post suggestions, submit bug reports, or even help contribute to the code or design gives them a better sense of inclusion.

Look at your content not just as a way to push the app but to bring people together and really build a passionate community that’s always wanting to learn and do more with what you offer.

What content marketing and native advertising methods do you employ to get your apps found?

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