There is an increasing number of apps on the market today. Many businesses invest in apps to help their customers get easy access to their products or services. If you are planning to create an app then you are going to be planning different aspects of it. Which will include app development, branding, promotion, budget etc. Once you create an app, you will need a promotion plan in place to introduce your app to the target audience. Promotion plays an important part in making your app successful. Marketing and advertising can make or break your app. But this also comes with a cost, as you will be investing money into it. That is why you need an app promotion budget plan.
This plan can help you assess how much money you will need to successfully promote your app in the market. It can also allow you to understand your customers better and show you which type of promotional activities you need to invest in. The amount of money you want to spend on promotion depends on you. But with the budget plan you can use it more efficiently. Every business will have a different looking budget plan. In this article we discuss which areas you can expect to spend on.
Let’s take a look at how you can start building your app promotion budget plan.
Market Research
Any business venture be it product development, market expansion, advertising, branding or marketing campaigns require market research. Many marketers think that they know and understand their audience, but they don’t have enough proof to validate that. This usually leads to problems as they miss out on targeting the right audience. Before starting off with any initiative related to your app, it is imperative to invest in market research. Market Research will be a foundation to all the important business decisions you make.
There are two types of research methodologies, Primary and Secondary research. You can use either one of them or a combination of both. What type of research methodology you choose is determined by your business model and goals. Secondary research is mainly about analysing research that is already gathered. This can include market research reports, company websites, studies, data, articles etc. You can do the research yourself or hire a firm to do it for you. This will only cost you if you are taking help from other businesses to do the research or if you are buying access, reports or any online tools related to the study.
Primary research does entail some costs depending on how much you are willing to spend. Here, you gather the data yourself with the help of surveys, interviews, focus groups, observation etc. Depending on the sample size or travel involved you can estimate the incentives you will be giving to the individuals who are participating. If you are conducting interviews, then you will be paying the participants per interview an estimated amount of US $300 plus incentives. Online surveys can also cost you depending on the sample size and extent of studies.
Research can sometimes be a big investment, but you can save some money when you use your budget efficiently.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV)
Customer Lifetime Value is an important metric that can help you estimate the total revenue a single customer can potentially bring to the business. CLTV can show the company how much revenue a customer can generate throughout the course of their relationship. CLTV goes along with another metric called Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC). CAC estimates the amount you spend on acquiring new customers. Together these metrics can help you come up with a number that you will be investing to retain or acquire customers. This number can give you an idea on how much you need to invest in your app promotion including marketing and advertising campaigns.
The CAC cost should be less than the CLTV cost. For example, if the CLTV cost of a customer is $1000 and the cost of acquiring that customer was more than that, then your business might be operating at a loss. If you are spending on marketing, advertising, special discounts etc. make sure that you calculate the CLTV. It will help you plan the budget for your promotional activities, so that you do not overspend on a customer.
Cost Per Install
Cost Per Install or CPI is one of the metrics used to measure the advertising budget. CPI is calculated by dividing the ad expenditure by the total number of installs. CPI is similar to the CAC metric discussed above but more specific to apps. CPI is used along with another metric called Average Revenue Per User. ARPU is calculated by dividing total revenue by active users in a specific time period. Both these metrics help you determine if your revenue is more than the expenditure to acquire users.
If you want to know more about app analytics read our blog on How To Measure App Analytics Success.
App Store Optimization
There are numerous types of apps out there which have increased competition. Therefore, it’s important that your apps have visibility in the app store. App Store Optimization or ASO is the process of optimizing your app so that it ranks better in the app store search results page. It is similar to the Search Engine Optimization process for a website. The important aspects of app store optimization are title, keywords, description, app previews, reviews and ratings. They help you in meeting the right criteria for higher ranking in the app store.
ASO can be done by brands in different ways depending on their business and budget. It can be done internally or by hiring a marketing agency. If you are hiring someone to do this for your company or if you use certain online tools, it will include costs. It is important to take the cost of ASO in your budget as it is an important step to make your app more visible.
App Advertisements
Advertisements are important to help you reach more people. You can use different types of ads like search ads or display ads in order to reach the right customers. Google App Campaigns can help you promote your ads across Google search, Google Play, YouTube and across Google Display Network. You can create multiple ads in different formats to feature across networks. To create these ads, you will have to provide text, keywords and other details like location for your ads. You will also need to consider how much you are willing to spend a day on these ads.
Social media is another important tool you will be using in advertising. Social media has various platforms that you can utilize to promote your app. It is important to research about which platform has a majority of your target audience. This could help you focus on a single platform and advertise on it if you are restricted by budget. For example, LinkedIn ads are more expensive in comparison to Facebook or Google Ads. LinkedIn is best for B2B businesses and they can get more quality leads. Once you decide on a budget you can choose if you want to advertise on a single platform or multiple platforms. It is important to look at your goals when it comes to advertising and set a budget accordingly.
Need an app marketing strategy? Take a look at our blog on How To Build A Strong App Marketing Strategy.
Website
Any app that you are launching will need a website to create an online presence. Users who download your app will also want to see your website to explore more. You can also add your website page as a final landing page for your ads and users can download the app from there. If you don’t already have a website, you might want to create one before you launch your app. Websites can also help you get more traffic and lead visitors to download your app. Website entails its own cost. You can give your website to a web developer and pay them. Or if you choose to create your own website you can use various platforms which will require you to pay a subscription amount.
App Launch
Once your app is ready to launch you can set up various ad campaigns or promotions on social media to introduce people to your apps. Prior to the launch you can also give a sneak peek into your app and its features. Your budget for the app launch depends on your promotion campaigns and how much you are willing to spend. One of the areas you can expect to spend on is Press Release. You can write a press release and pitch the story to online publications in order to get the word out. Some online platforms do charge a subscription fee. You can also hire a PR agency to carry out your PR activities in a more sophisticated manner.
Many businesses also collaborate with influencers so that they can reach more audiences. The cost of an influencer could vary depending on the number of audiences that follow them and their online presence. Whatever promotional campaigns you do for your launch you need to allocate a separate budget for the launch as this is a significant event.
Different businesses will have different budget requirements depending on the size of their business and business goals. It is important to plan and research the type of promotions you want to do that are suitable for your app. Taking into consideration all the aspects we discussed above is a good start to create your app promotion budget plan. It will also help you estimate how efficiently you can use your money.
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