How to Promote an App Through Media Publications on TechCrunch or TechInsider

How to promote an app? When we purchase our smartphones, they come preloaded with various applications. Daily, we interact with at least 10 apps, ranging from online banking and email to messaging platforms, social networks like Facebook, and many others tailored to individual needs. However, priority is given only to the most essential and desirable applications. Achieving this status is a “5-star” challenge, making the developer’s task increasingly complex. With user expectations constantly growing, only the strongest apps succeed.

In this article, we’ve compiled the most effective tips to help you elevate your application to the top of the download charts!

Defining App’s Promotion

But first, let’s define app promotion.

App promotion or mobile marketing is primarily the process of promoting or advertising your app. This can be achieved through various channels, including websites, social media platforms, search advertising, app store optimization (ASO), collaborations with influencers, public relations efforts, and even traditional methods like radio broadcasting. The primary goals of app promotion are to engage potential users across multiple touchpoints, boost brand awareness, and foster a community around your application. Traditional advertising is a thing of the past. Modern app promotion involves a combination of advanced tactics designed to make your app stand out in crowded app stores and capture the attention of potential users.

Reaching your target audience can be challenging, as the process begins before the app launches. The developer is responsible for generating buzz and excitement pre-launch, maintaining that momentum, and providing ongoing support post-release. Let’s consider the three stages of app promotion:

Pre-launch buzz and excitement: Effective app promotion starts with thorough market and competitor research, creating detailed user personas, and developing a compelling website or landing page. Additionally, crafting a robust content marketing and social media strategy is crucial to demonstrate why users need your app and how they can easily access it.
Acquisition: This is the stage where you dive deeper into the process, engaging users more effectively. This can be achieved through app store optimization (ASO) and various paid advertising strategies.
Withholding: The final step is to retain users using push notifications, regular communication, surveys, loyalty programs, and in-app messaging.

IOS and Android Comparison

Focusing on just one operating system is a mistake. According to statistics, there are 1.46 billion active iPhone users worldwide and 3.9 billion Android smartphone users, making it essential to target both platforms. Let’s compare and look at the key differences between both platforms.

iOS:

iOS is generally preferred for its seamless integration, security, and premium user experience.
iOS apps are generally more sophisticated and subject to stricter requirements, ensuring higher quality.
iOS is more secure due to its controlled ecosystem and stricter app review processes, offering features like App Tracking Transparency.
Smooth and stable performance on Apple devices thanks to tight hardware and software integration.
iOS regularly receives timely software updates directly from Apple, ensuring users can access the latest features and security patches.

Android:

Android has a larger global user base with many devices available in all price ranges, making it more accessible to different income groups.
Android offers extensive customization options, allowing users to personalize almost every aspect of their device, from home screens to default apps.
The Google Play Store for Android is more open, allowing for a wider range of apps, including those from third-party sources.
Android is more vulnerable to malware, especially when installing third-party apps.
Android updates are more fragmented as they depend on the device manufacturer and carrier, which results in delayed updates for some users.

Each platform has its strengths and caters to different user needs. iOS is ideal for those seeking a more refined, secure, and consistent experience, while Android offers greater flexibility, customization, and a broader selection of devices. However, developers should understand the nuances of both platforms to better tailor their applications and optimize them for each environment.

9 Ways To Promote Your App

Our 9 best practices cover every aspect of app promotion, from boosting your app’s visibility to fostering meaningful engagement with your audience. We’ll start with the technical aspects, like App Store optimization, and move on to more interactive and creative methods, like engaging with social media and partnering with influencers. We’re pleased to share that each technique can be tailored to suit your app’s unique needs and objectives. When exploring these strategies, it’s advisable to use a combination, as the most effective app promotion campaigns often integrate multiple approaches to achieve well-rounded results.

App Store Optimization (ASO)

According to App Radar statistics, many app searches are done on Google Play (53%) or the Apple Store (47%). App Store Optimization (ASO) is essential for any successful app promotion strategy. The search engine optimization (SEO) for websites, ASO focuses on enhancing your app’s visibility in app store search results.

What’s essential for ASO? A compelling app name, a thoughtfully crafted description incorporating relevant keywords, and high-quality visuals, such as screenshots and videos. Additionally, encouraging users to leave positive reviews and ratings is critical, as these factors heavily influence your app’s ranking in the store.

What else can enhance ASO? Regularly updating your app’s description and visuals in the app store keeps it fresh and appealing to potential users. Additionally, leveraging tools that analyze popular keywords, trends, and relevant app categories can significantly improve your optimization efforts, ensuring your app remains competitive and visible.

Creating a High-Impact Landing Page

Developing a landing page for your app is essential for converting visitors into users and driving mobile app marketing success.

What are the key requirements? A landing page should highlight your app’s features, benefits, and unique selling points that distinguish it from competitors. It must also be optimized for conversions, with prominently placed call-to-action (CTA) buttons encouraging visitors to download your app. Mobile optimization is crucial, along with ensuring fast and seamless page loading. These factors play a significant role in enhancing user engagement and boosting conversion rates.

Why is this important? A landing page offers a greater opportunity to effectively communicate your app’s benefits, stay connected with your target audience, and address any questions they may have. Adding testimonials can also help build trust with potential users. Additionally, improved search engine visibility can serve as a valuable source of leads.

How to optimize further: Conduct A/B testing on various elements of your landing page, such as headlines, calls to action, images, and layout, to identify the most effective combinations for driving downloads. You have access to a wide range of marketing channels, including social media, Google Ads, organic search traffic, email, and more, all of which can significantly contribute to your app’s growth and success.

Social Media Marketing

Social media promotion has long been a powerful tool, providing a direct channel for engaging with a wide audience. You can confidently tap into platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, creating content tailored to each one. This approach will help boost awareness of your app and generate excitement. Social media appeals to all age groups, from teens to adults, making it a trusted and effective platform for reaching potential users.

What should you do? Combine regular posts with paid advertising to expand your reach. Engage with users by sharing updates, behind-the-scenes content, and interactive posts to build a loyal community around your app. Leverage social media analytics, as they offer valuable insights into user preferences and behavior, enabling you to refine and optimize your marketing strategy.

How to attract more users? Don’t be afraid to experiment and adapt. Testing different types of content and publishing schedules will help you identify what resonates most with your audience. Try using a mix of both entertaining and informative formats. The key is to find the content style that best aligns with your brand and effectively promotes your app. It’s possible to build great relationships with your audience, which can provide the opportunity to promote apps without spending a cent.

What should you combine social media marketing with? Combine it with content marketing, which we’ll discuss in the next section.

Content Marketing

Content marketing is a strategic method that produces and shares valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a specific audience. It is one of the most effective ways to foster long-term user engagement.

How does it work? Content marketing, as part of a search engine optimization strategy to drive traffic, aims to convert users from your mobile site to your app. This approach also extends to creating content for social media, further engaging users with your app through deep linking. Educate potential users through long blog posts, shopping guides, e-books, white papers, and infographics. It can be submitted in several formats: X thread (Twitter), Instagram post/story, Pinterest pin, infographic, LinkedIn post, and YouTube video (if you have video snippets).

How to make it more effective? Incorporate user-generated content (UGC) into your strategy to enhance authenticity and build a sense of community. UGC can strengthen the emotional connection with your audience. Conduct surveys, engage with your users, gather feedback on your efforts, create helpful guides, and highlight key features to further connect with your audience.

Combining Social Media and Content Marketing: Use many specific content for each platform (e.g., visual content for Instagram, informative posts for LinkedIn, videos for TikTok and YouTube). Create a content plan that combines both regular posts and paid ads. Posting regularly will ensure consistent engagement and maintenance of interest in your brand. Create content that aligns with your marketing goals – anything from promotional posts to ordinary posts that drive awareness of your app or service.

Email Marketing

Email marketing is an incredibly effective tool for app promotion, providing direct communication with potential and existing users. By building a mailing list and sending regular newsletters, updates, or exclusive offers, you can engage your audience and gather valuable feedback about your app.

How to personalize and optimize? Segmenting your email list according to user behavior and preferences makes the process seamless, enhancing the chances of user engagement and boosting app downloads. Optimizing your email campaigns with compelling subject lines, visually appealing content, and clear calls to action (CTAs) will motivate readers to download your app or visit its landing page.

Email Marketing and Newsletters: Newsletters are an important component of this strategy. Brand newsletters can be sent weekly or daily, at the same time and day each week. This consistency helps promote your app by ensuring potential users are always the first to know about new updates and features.

Paid Advertising for User Acquisition

Paid user acquisition is a straightforward and efficient way to promote your app to a broad audience. This method helps to quickly increase visibility and drive app downloads, especially when combined with other marketing tactics.

What does it look like? Platforms like Google UAC, Facebook Ads, and Instagram offer targeted advertising options, enabling you to reach potential users based on demographics, interests, and behaviors. These ads can be presented as banners, videos, or native ads that integrate seamlessly into a user’s browser.

Why can it help? Using paid ads can help you increase instant app downloads and increase visibility. This simplifies the process by consolidating everything in one place.

Where should you focus? Your main focus should be on crafting a clear and compelling message that emphasizes the unique features and benefits of your app.

Feature Articles About Your App on Trusted Websites

Media exposure is a great strategic approach to building brand awareness and trust for your app.

How it works: Featuring your app on blogs, magazines, podcasts, and influential websites boosts awareness of your brand and your development efforts. Potential users who come across your app on reputable sites like Forbes are more likely to remember and download it.

Where to start? Identify media outlets and influencers that align with your app’s niche and target audience. Craft a compelling story or overview of your app, highlighting its unique features, benefits, and notable user experiences or achievements to attract more potential users.

How to make this process more effective? Personalize your outreach to journalists and bloggers. Tailored pitches are more likely to result in reviews, interviews, and features of your app. This approach enhances your visibility, boosts the legitimacy of your app, and makes it more attractive to potential users.

Who should you reach out to? If you are looking for the perfect platform to promote your unique story on world-renowned platforms and increase your visibility, PRNEWS.IO is here for you. We work with over 1000 different platforms across all continents, helping companies gain media coverage through publications on platforms like Vogue, The Economist, The Times, etc. We help with everything – all you need to do is contact us.

Make a Promotional Video

No mobile app promotion is complete without a video that introduces the app and demonstrates its functionality, briefly showcasing the features that are most likely to appeal to users.

Why is it crucial? The first thing users encounter when they visit your app’s page is the demo video. Statistics show that 80% of consumers are more likely to download a mobile app after watching a video that demonstrates how it works, while 73% consider video the most effective tool for learning about a product or service. This not only saves time for both parties but also serves as one of the most essential methods for promoting an app.

How to create a quality demo? Focus on strong visuals and use colors creatively while maintaining your brand identity. The demo should include your logo and developer name. Keep the video concise: for iPhone apps, aim for a maximum of 30 seconds; for Apple Watch apps, no more than 15 seconds; and for Android apps, up to 2 minutes. Remember, the shorter, the better. App Store supports MOV, M4V, or MP format, Google Play supports MP4.

Key restrictions: Must not contain graphic overlays, device frames, or frames that may obscure the app’s user interface. Refrain from using copyrighted material without the necessary permission.

Referral and Loyalty Programs

Users love rewards and they are more likely to use an app where they can store something. Loyalty programs and referral programs are included in this list.

How it works: A loyalty program is an important process for every app as it encourages people to use it consistently. Referral programs with a reward system will help you attract more users, as existing users will share your program with potential ones, and you can reward them with points, cashback, or a discount on a subscription.

Benefit: A successful referral program not only helps attract new users but also increases the loyalty of existing ones.

Why it matters: An easy-to-use and shareable referral program, with clear instructions and enticing rewards, motivates users to participate. Regularly update, monitor, and analyze the program’s performance to identify what works best. For example, track the number of referrals, the conversion rate of referred users, and user feedback about the program. Use this data to continually enhance and optimize the program, making it more appealing and effective.

Now you know these 9 ways to promote your app, you’re ready to choose the best one to start your journey to increasing your app’s visibility and building a lasting connection with your audience. We recommend combining these methods for the best results.

Importance of Promoting Your App Through Media

Promoting your app through media outlets can provide several benefits, including:

Increased visibility and exposure for your app
Credibility and legitimacy for your app
The potential to reach a wider audience and increase downloads
The opportunity to connect with journalists and influencers in your industry

Of course, nothing can guarantee success. Equally, you will be able to cite certain examples of apps that didn’t get coverage on TechCrunch and still went on to be extremely successful. Flipboard, for example, is a social magazine app that is used by millions every day and is well-known for being a great way of reading, sharing, and collecting stories about your own areas of interest. It was awarded Apple’s iPad App of the Year in 2010 — a fantastic feat.

Flipboard didn’t get covered on TechCrunch. But this is an isolated exception to the rule…

If you want your app to be successful, you really want to get it featured on TechCrunch, TechInsider, and Engadget.

So here’s how you do it…

Understanding the Media Outlets Your Target Audience Consumes

To effectively promote your app through media publications, it’s important to identify the media outlets your target audience consumes. For example, if your app is targeted at teenagers, you might consider pitching to publications that cater to that demographic, such as Seventeen or Teen Vogue. Similarly, if your app is aimed at professionals, you might target business or trade publications such as Forbes or Harvard Business Review.

There are several methods you can use to research and analyze your target audience, including:

Surveys: Conducting surveys can provide valuable insights into your target audience’s preferences, interests, and behaviors. You can use online tools such as SurveyMonkey, SurveyMonkey alternatives or Google Forms to create and distribute surveys.
Analytics: Analyzing your app’s usage data can provide valuable insights into your target audience’s behavior, including their demographics, geographic location, and usage patterns.
Social Media: Monitoring social media conversations and engagement related to your app or your industry can help you identify your target audience’s interests and preferences.

The importance of having a compelling story for your app

To successfully promote your app through media publications, you need to have a compelling story that will grab the attention of journalists and their readers. A compelling story can make your app stand out from the thousands of other apps vying for media coverage and increase the chances of your app being featured in a publication.

To craft a compelling story, you need to identify your app’s unique features that set it apart from other apps in your category. Consider what makes your app different, innovative, or valuable to users. This could be a unique feature or functionality, a specific problem it solves, or a target audience it caters to.

To craft a compelling story for your app, consider the following tips:

Keep it concise and clear: Your story should be easy to understand and communicate the key benefits of your app in a concise manner.
Use data and evidence: Use data and evidence to back up your claims and demonstrate the value of your app.
Highlight your unique features: Focus on the features that make your app unique and valuable to users.
Make it relatable: Use relatable examples or anecdotes that resonate with your target audience to make your story more engaging.
Incorporate visuals: Use visuals such as screenshots or videos to illustrate your app’s features and functionality.

Exclusivity and Exposure

TechCrunch prides itself on breaking tech news, profiling startups, and reviewing new apps, but they really like to be the ones breaking the story. If you offer an exclusive, you are much more likely to get your app featured in TechCrunch and similar sites!

If you can trust people to embargo, getting people to write about the app in 3 or 4 blogs — all posted at the same time — will do your chances a great deal of good.

Finally, consider writing a blog post of your own that explains the technology behind the app. This gives people something to link to. It’s a great way of spreading the word about your app too.

How to Write an Effective Press Release for Your App

A press release is a written announcement that provides newsworthy information about your app to journalists and media outlets. It typically includes key information such as the app’s name, description, features, launch date, and target audience. The goal of a press release is to generate media coverage for your app and increase its visibility.

To write an effective press release for your app, follow these steps:

Start with a compelling headline: Your headline should grab the attention of journalists and make them want to read more.
Write a concise introduction: Your introduction should summarize the key information about your app and why it’s newsworthy.
Include key details: Provide key details such as the app’s name, description, features, launch date, and target audience.
Use quotes: Include quotes from your team or key stakeholders to provide additional context and credibility.
Provide contact information: Include contact information for your team or PR agency so journalists can reach out for additional information or to schedule an interview.

For more detailed information on how to write a perfect press release, check out PRNEWS.IO’s guide on press release format. By following these tips and guidelines, you can create a press release that effectively promotes your app and generates media coverage.

Pitch Your App to Relevant Media Outlets

To effectively promote your app through media publications, it’s important to identify media outlets that cater to your target audience. Successful media outreach for app promotion often involves targeting niche media outlets and journalists who cover your app’s category or topic. For example, if your app is a fitness app, you could pitch it to health and wellness publications or journalists who cover fitness and nutrition. By targeting the right media outlets and journalists and tailoring your pitch to their interests, you can increase your chances of getting featured and reaching your target audience.

To pitch your app effectively to media outlets, consider the following tips:

Personalize your pitch: Personalize your pitch to each journalist and publication you’re reaching out to. Reference their previous work or interests to show that you’ve done your research.
Keep it concise: Keep your pitch short and to the point, highlighting the key benefits and unique features of your app.
Use data and evidence: Use data and evidence to back up your claims and demonstrate the value of your app.
Include visuals: Incorporate visuals such as screenshots or videos to showcase your app’s features and functionality.
Follow up: Follow up with journalists after you’ve sent your pitch to increase your chances of getting a response.

As we’ve already said, there can never be any guarantees, but if you follow the tips above you will find that your app has much more chance of being featured on the leading platforms such as TechCrunch and TechInsider.

If you want to guarantee a publication in media for your app, PRNEWS.IO can help. PRNEWS.IO offers clear costs and timing, so you can easily plan your media outreach strategy.

With PRNEWS.IO, you don’t need to spend time reaching out to journalists – instead, they take care of everything, from writing the press release to distributing it to relevant media outlets. This can save you time and effort, and increase your chances of getting featured in the media.