Mobile app promotion №17. Promotion in mass media

Alexander Sergeev

wrote this on Май 14, 2015

One of the channels of traffic attraction is reviews in mass media. Somebody may think it’s a waste of time and efforts but in reality it gives a lot of installs if treated wisely. More information is in this article.

Preparing a press kit and other content

The first thing you should do is to create a press release. You should list main advantages of your app there. In order to make the task easier you can make up a list of all the pros and arrange them according to their value. The TOP of the list should be included to the press release.
Besides, think of a text structure so you could add the most important information in its tough frame. There’s a good example of how to do it:

• write about the most unique possibility which your app provides in the first paragraph.
• then list other advantages starting from the most important in descending order.
• further on, gradually move to describing minor details.
• don’t go in for technical information, try to make the text as easy to perception as possible.

It’s a mistake to think that if you place the press releases on several tens of websites, you’ll get torrents of traffic. Their efficiency in this sense is doubtful. They are necessary so that authors of future reviews could get acquainted with your product.
As for reviews, everything depends on the platform you want to place them. They have various requirements, some don’t use strangers’ texts but write them themselves. Learn all the conditions attentively and try to follow them in your materials.
Also, texts depend largely on the tasks you set. There are 3 totally different directions:

1. For user attraction. In this case you can tell a story of creation from an idea to realization apart from listing all the advantages. It’s a great method which both potential users and mass media like. They even often accept such material for publication for free.
2. For investor attraction. Here you can boast of good indices and achieved success. Tell about how good you’re doing.
3. For employee attraction. Tell about good working conditions. For example, if you have an office in Thailand, mention it. Suchlike articles may contain photos of your employees with laptops on the beach.

 

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Communication with mass media

How to make mass media publish your material? It’s simple: communicate with their representatives. But tactics of simple press release sending won’t give you much of success. Try to interest editors. Write them covering letters with exciting details about your app. Or use an intrigue.
There are several simple tips which will help you to publish a review:

• communicate personally with a definite author, search for the contacts. All means are good here: from search in LinkedIn and Facebook to personal communication, for example, on exhibitions and conferences. Besides, choose the ones who may be the most interested in your product.
• make yourself visible on their website beforehand. For example, leave comments to the articles and take part in discussions.
• don’t limit yourself to boring listing of all the possibilities of your app in the text. Make it in a form of a breathtaking story. Journalists publish material which will be interesting to the readers.
• provide authors promocodes for app testing. Firstly, they will be able to get acquainted with your app, secondly, it will increase the trust level.

 

 

Choosing a platform

First of all, pay attention to specialized resources devoted to mobile apps. It’s the most evident way. The review efficiency depends on many factors on such a website (time and place of publication, period of time it’s on the website, character of the material, etc). Somebody could attract a thousand of installs, somebody else couldn’t get 50 installs.
While working with such platforms you should take into consideration several moments:

• if you write texts by yourself, adapt it to a definite platform.
• don’t skimp on paid publications. In many cases it’s more profitable and gives more installs. Though, it would be better to calculate beforehand approximate economic efficiency of such a decision.
• keep an eye on your competitors on the platform. There’s no sense to publish your article under a huge banner of your competitor.
• don’t place information about absolutely niche products on such websites. There’s little chance that many target users will visit it.
• add enough graphics and even video to the article. Long “sheets” of text are boring.

Secondly, think of a possibility to publish your article with the help of bloggers or let’splayers. They are usually not bound with journalist frames and can place reviews of different character and any format. You don’t have to search for specialized blogs. It’s more efficient to publish your material in popular blogs.
If you promote a mobile game, there’s a sense to turn to let’splayers. Many of them are ready to publish reviews for free and the other half will do it for a low price. Take into the consideration the fact that their audience is quite young, i.e. insolvent. But there are giants among let’splayers. For example, Felix Shellburg, known at YouTube as PewDiePie, has more than 32 million of subscribers. A scandalous Flappy Bird game has become immensely popular due to his review.

Besides, you can search for the place with your target audience (forums, communities in social networks, specialized portals and many other resources). If you promote a niche product, oriented to a very narrow audience, it’s the only right way.

 

Work methods

You can use any method, but it’s essential to record all your actions and run analytics. Create a table or a text file and add there everything you do: from lists of potential platforms for reviews to authors’ contacts and results of communication with them.
It will make your work easier and won’t let you miss a detail. Have you negotiated that the editor will look through you press release and discuss in skype publication possibility? Write it down it in your “journal”.

Compile a base of platforms and authors as it has a great value. It will be of a great use in future. It will be easier to promote next app.

 

Conclusion

Review publication in mass media is an important part of campaign on promoting mobile apps. If you act wisely, you can attract more traffic for minimum money. But don’t hope that work with mass media ends up in writing a press release and sending it. Use an individual approach and think over each step you take. Thus, the time you spend will pay off in future.
A typical algorithm of actions while promoting an app in mass media looks like this:

• preparing a press release and other initial materials.
• compiling a base of platforms for placing a review.
• contacting editors directly through communication with them.
• searching for alternative platforms (from communities in social networks to TOP bloggers and let’splayers).
• placing reviews and mentions on the resources where your target audience dwells.