Congratulations on having the foresight and good business sense to integrate an App into your business marketing strategy.

Smart marketers know that smart phones and apps are changing the face of marketing for small businesses.  Being able to put your business into your customers’ pocket 24/7 and having the ability to send out unlimited push notifications free of charge is a game changer.  Never before have businesses had such a direct means of communicating with, and marketing to, their customers. 

And the use of mobile apps is only going to grow. 

So, it’s great to see that you’ve embraced the latest digital marketing opportunities and added an app to your business toolkit but what next? 

Like all things, it’s no good having an amazing business app if no-one knows about it so your focus now is to ensure that your existing and potential customers know all about it and, more importantly, download it to their phone. 

At this point, you should remember the following points:

• Mobile apps can increase overall brand exposure and make you more competitive against other businesses in your industry.
• Mobile apps can increase foot traffic and revenue for your business, i.e. using push messages to entice customers during quiet periods in the working week.
• Mobile apps can help you introduce loyalty schemes such as QR Coupons/ Stamping Card to reward repeat business. 

As you can see, your business can benefit from your app in a variety of ways due to the range of features it can offer.  But what can you do to ensure that your customers and supporters get it on their phone?

Build hype

An innovative way that you could build anticipation for your app is to “hype” its arrival. You could include a section on your website called “Mobile App - Coming Soon” and detail the type of features that customers can expect (e.g. ordering your food directly through the app). You could also mention the arrival of the new app on promotional literature within the premises, on Facebook/Twitter or even on till receipts for instance. 

The whole purpose of this exercise is to build a sense of expectation and interest for the app. Once customers are thinking of or are aware of the app, the easier it is to direct them to download the app when it goes live.

How do I get people to download my app?

The following sections focus on strategies a business can employ to get customers to download their app. We have formulated a number of strategies to achieve this, however it must be stressed that the following is not an exhaustive list.

Advertise your business app

Even the best apps in the world will be useless if no one knows they exist. Don’t let your business fall into this situation by not emphasising the importance of advertising the app. One of the best ways to advertise your business app is to have it displayed on a poster within your business. 

Display a large poster in the shop window saying “Download our new app today and receive £5 off your next purchase” or just simply “Our app is now available for download”. It is crucial to build awareness for the app as that will ensure maximum exposure and downloads. In addition you could also run adverts in the local press, on radio and TV, to build awareness for the app. 

The key things to remember when advertising the app is to, where possible, incentivise the download. Simply directing customers to download the app will not be as effective as throwing in a free offer to sweeten the experience. This is not always necessary, but our research has shown that by incentivising the download in this way, customers are more likely to engage with the business. 

Incentivise the download of your app

Following on from the point above, it is imperative to incentivise the download process for your app. For example, if a customer calls your business to book an appointment/meeting; you could say “download our app today and present this when you visit us to receive £10 off your treatment”. By incentivising the download, you are giving your customers a reason to download the app. You can also offer other incentives such as entering a prize draw for example, to facilitate as many downloads as possible. 

It is always worth reminding yourself that incentivising the app download is the most popular way to grab customers’ attention and maximise the amount of downloads possible.

QR codes

Publishing QR codes are a fantastic way for businesses to direct their customers to download their app. QR codes can be displayed on promotional literature such as leaflets, business cards and posters with the aim of getting customers to scan and download. 

You could take this a step further and have QR codes printed on till receipts, plastic shopping bags or even on t-shirts that members of staff are wearing. Basically, you should try and make it as easy and simple as you can for your customers to download the app.

Your employees

Business employees are a cost effective and sure fire way to build awareness for the app. Since employees communicate with customers on a daily basis, it makes perfect business sense for them to promote your app. For example, try to ensure employees mention the app and potential discounts they could receive today if they download the app. 

Your business has daily opportunities to get customers downloading your app as long as you are creative with your awareness strategy. 

Social Media

Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram are fantastic for increasing your profile and exposure amongst customers. However, it also serves as a powerful medium to building awareness for your app. 

You could run a Facebook competition whereby every person that downloads your app is entered into a prize draw to win a free prize. You could take this a step further by publicising this on Twitter and redirecting customers to your Facebook page. 

Other activities could include things such as updating your Facebook status or tweeting on Twitter each time you update your app. By initiating these strategies, you will always maintain a prominent social media profile amongst your target audience.

Newsletters

Newsletters are a great way for you to promote your app to customers. By promoting your app through newsletters, you can build awareness and also include links for downloading the app. Again, incentivise the download by mentioning special offers/ prize draws for customers who download the app. Your aim here is to ensure that the app should retain high visibility in all marketing/promotional activities.

Text messaging

Do you have a database of stored customer telephone numbers that you have gathered through previous marketing initiatives? If the answer is yes, utilise this powerful medium by sending out a text message containing a link to download the app. Ensure that you add a free loyalty voucher or discount code to maximise the download rate. 

Once customers have downloaded the app, you can effectively save money by utilising the power of push notifications to promote special offers/events. We can’t emphasise strongly enough the cost savings generated by free, unlimited push messages over traditional text message marketing.

Website visibility

Using your website and social media channels (Facebook, Twitter etc.) for promoting your app are essential. It is imperative that you reserve some space on your website to promote your new app. Include app download links on the homepage of your website and direct as much traffic as possible to take advantage of this app. 

As mentioned with other elements within this section, these strategies should be used in conjunction with incentives so that customers have a reason for downloading the app and engaging with your business.

Run campaigns with other businesses

It is always worth trying to think outside the box when faced with the dilemma of getting customers to download your app. If there is a business in a similar industry with significant downloads, pay them a small fee to send out a push notification to their users advertising your app. This is an excellent referral technique as it opens up your app downloads to customers that are already mobile and comfortable with downloading/using apps.

Positive reviews of your app

Another fantastic way to add credibility to your business app is to use the power of testimonials. Nothing is more positive for your app than a whole host of positive recommendations and testimonials for your app. As soon as your customers download your app, incentivise them to leave a positive review, either on the app, on your social media channels or the app stores themselves (for native apps). 

The advantage of this to your business is twofold. Firstly, positive testimonials will generate more credibility and encourage more customers to download your app. The more customers that have downloaded your app, the more engagement you can have with your customer base. Secondly, positive reviews will help place your app higher in the search listings which will make it easier for customers to find your app. Rather than search through dozens of search results to find your app, your customers will find it relatively easy to locate exactly what they are looking for. 

The key thing to remember with your business app is to make it as quick and easy for your customers to locate your app. The harder it is for your customers to find your app, the less likely they will be to proceed with the download.

How to increase your social profile by leveraging your app

An app is a fantastic way for you to increase your social media profile and leverage your app. In the modern world, consumers are technologically savvy and judge a business based on their social media profile. 

With that being said, it’s critically important that you keep your social profile updated and create a buzz around your business. Publicise any special offers and events on Facebook and get customers to comment/”like” your Facebook page directly through the app. You could even offer customers a discount when they visit your business premises if they “like” their Facebook page before paying for items. This will ensure that your social profile remains high and also increases the chances of customers referring your business to family and friends. 

Twitter is another way that you can leverage your app and increase your social profile. Since the app allows customers to follow tweets directly through the app, tweet about upcoming events or promotions. This in turn will generate re-tweets from customers and allow them to engage with your business. 

Blogs are another way that you can increase your social profile via the app. For example, the blogs you produce can be integrated within the app. This then allows your customers to access this information directly through the app and leave comments. By doing this, you are giving customers a reason to interact with your business and keep it at the front of their mind. 

Establishing an up to date YouTube channel is another powerful method of increasing your social profile. For instance, if you organised a special event, why not upload the video to YouTube and get customers talking/commenting on the video. This is a great way for you to get customers commenting on content directly through the app. 

Another area you should consider is Flickr and the benefits this has for leveraging your app. Images of your venue/events can be used to populate Flickr galleries and get customers viewing and commenting. 

By employing some of the techniques mentioned above, you can transform your app into a powerful social media tool that can be utilised to create a buzz around your business. The key thing to remember is that the app facilitates interaction between your business and your customer base. 

Using the QR Coupon effectively

QR coupons are a brilliant way for you to reward loyal customers. You should focus your attention on utilising QR coupons to offer special deals or give more information about a product for instance. By utilising QR coupons, you are encouraging customers to visit your business and to unlock deals and therefore increasing foot traffic.

When using QR coupons you should display these in prominent locations within the business. Some ideas to get you started include keeping the QR coupon behind the counter and offering customers the chance to scan them when they are about to complete the transaction. Moreover, you could display QR coupons on promotional literature to give more information about products or even on the clothing of employees (e.g. t-shirts) for instance. 

QR coupons are seen as a fun way for customers to interact with your business and provide a good source of word of mouth testimonials. If you generally offer deals then QR coupons are a great way to incorporate this in a fun and engaging manner.

Promoting your app in the media

Advising your app through the media is another powerful technique in building awareness. For example, you could advertise in the local newspaper. Within this advert include a QR code which directs readers to download the app. 

If you advertise on local radio/TV then include your app within this. By making the app visible on every place where your business name is advertised, you can guarantee maximum exposure for your app. 

Another interesting way to promote your app is by sponsoring a local sporting team or charity for instance. Linking your business to a good cause is an excellent way to build a positive image of your business and encourage more awareness for the app. 

There are a variety of ways that the app can be promoted in the media, with the above just being a few ideas to get you started. As long as you focus on generating positive publicity for your business and app, you should ensure that your business has significant exposure in the local community.

Guidelines on push notifications

Push notifications is the crown jewel amongst your arsenal of features contained within your app. Push notifications/ messages essentially allow you to contact your customers quickly, effectively and most importantly – cost free. 

In the past you may have engaged in text message marketing to raise awareness for your business/ products/services or special events. The major drawback of text message marketing is the cost involved- often as much as 3-4p per message. So if you have a database of 10,000 customers that you would usually target with text message marketing, the cost involved could range from £300-£400 per campaign. 

The alternative is push notifications, which are simple and unlimited, incurring no cost. The real beauty of push messages is the fact that they allow you to send out special offers, promote special events or even direct traffic to your business during quiet periods in the working week. Push messages can also be adapted to include loyalty codes that encourage customers to visit your business and take advantage of discounts. 

The cost savings from push messages alone for the average business can pay for the cost of an app for an entire year. This is a crucial feature within your app and you should aim to use push messages on a regular basis to maintain your business profile. 

Push messages are also very simple to send out from the client dashboard/platform and can be scheduled in advance or sent instantly. This really allows you to have total flexibility when interacting with customers that have downloaded the app.

 Looking into the future, push messages will be seen as the primary method for mobile marketing on the move. Indeed, research already shows that people are more receptive to getting value from businesses through their phone. 

Once you truly understand and appreciate the true power of push notifications, your app will then be the centre of all your marketing activities.

Using offers to encourage downloads

Offers are a great way for you to encourage downloads of your app, as they incentivise the process. As mentioned earlier in this document, you could offer discounts on the final bill if a customer downloads the app whilst still in the premises and presents this at the till. 

Alternatively, you could also run monthly prize draws directly through the app and encourage customers to download the app and enter for free. The benefit of using offers to encourage downloads is that the customer is essentially receiving something (discount, prize etc.) from your business for free.

Another way that you could use offers to encourage downloads is to reward customers that refer a friend. For example, you could offer existing customers a discount/entry into a competition if they refer a friend to download the app.

Using printed materials and leaflets to promote your app

Printed materials and leaflets are a good method for promoting your app. A simple mail drop to customers around the vicinity of your business can prove to be a useful strategy to obtaining downloads. Ensuring that the app is contained within any leaflets for instance, should build awareness for your app. 

As mentioned throughout this document, the amount of promotion and the level of customer downloads of the app will correlate with the incentives offered by your business. If you devise clever offers and rewards for downloading the app, you should achieve a significant number of app downloads within the first few months of the app going live. 

By having a significant number of downloads, your business can then utilise powerful functions such as push messages and loyalty schemes to increase profitability and build your brand.

Summary

As this document has illustrated, your role is crucial in effectively marketing your business app to your customers.  By employing some of the strategies outlined in this document, you can ensure that your app has the best possible chance of maximising app downloads. 

This document is by no means exhaustive; it is purely there to act as a reference point to give you some ideas when dealing with your customers.  We are, of course, happy to offer further advice and wish you all the very best in using your app to transform your business. 

Good Luck.