2015 has arrived, and we expect it is going to be an exciting year for us all. By looking at previous yearly trends, it’s clear to see that app marketing in 2015 is going to follow a steady growth, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be any road bumps along the way.
In this article, we’re looking at some of the challenges app marketers may face in 2015, and how it may impact marketing campaigns.
Increasing Competition
One thing that is already very clear is that the app market is still not showing any signs of slowing down, and increasing competition will be a thing to look out for in the app store this year. Not only will there be more developers and businesses jumping on the app store bandwagon, but the average app developer is getting smarter about marketing – information, resources and analytics are becoming more freely available, making it easier for the everyday Joe to market his app successfully.
Because of this, you will need to carefully think through your marketing efforts, and ensure that what you’re doing is both effective for your application, and interesting enough to draw in revenue from new users. It won’t be an easy task, but your marketing strategy will be at the forefront of the success of your application, so it’s clear more effort will need to be focused on this area.
Sticking with the Times
While the everyday developer is becoming more accustomed to app marketing in 2015, we’re seeing a shift in direction when it comes to ad platforms and ad formats. Things like real time bidding and programmatic media buying are becoming more common as developers seek to secure a safe, steady return from their marketing budget.
Even things like location based advertising is becoming more apparent lately, so 2015 will be an interesting year of experimentation and discovery in the app marketing space.
Finding the Right Platforms
This leads us on to our next point – with all these new fancy terms and app marketing jargon, it is incredibly easy to get lost within it all, and finding a good ad platform that serves you the best potential is becoming increasingly difficult. Whilst it is fairly easy to slap on a load of technical terms and abbreviations on their splash pages, it doesn’t particularly define how competent an ad platform is for doing so, and unless you delve into the world of app marketing for yourself, and learn each of these terms and their origins, you’re going to have a hard time differentiating between the good networks and the not-so good networks.
If you want to make sure you find the best marketing options for your own app marketing campaign, make sure to do your research – learn about the different types of marketing, and how each one can provide different benefits to your business.
Many of those involved with app marketing like to appear “trendy” or with the times, and it’s important to sift through all the technical jibber-jabber and focus on real facts and statistics when picking out your marketing strategies.
Summary
One huge thing that will become apparent in 2015 is that the key ingredients for developing a successful mobile app are not as you may have first thought. At this point in time, it’s safe to say that playing the app store game successfully is about 90% marketing, and 10% actual development.
That’s not to say that putting extra care into your app development isn’t a good thing, and it will most certainly help, but as an example, a Candy Crush clone with a strong marketing campaign will end up more successful than a brand new out-of-this-world original idea by a developer that has put no thought into their marketing.
Perhaps the biggest challenge for app marketing in 2015 is that most developers are still not aware that marketing is the most important component to the success of most top grossing apps on the app store.
