How-to-Market-and-Promote-Your-App

Create a mobile brand for even make it fun and hold a logo design contest.. Send Email Announcements Multiple email blasts targeted to different groups of users, such as prospective stud

20 Winning Strategies for

a Successful Mobile App

Launch

1 Build Anticipation

Don’t wait until your app is live to get

people excited Let potential users know it’s

coming and how it will enhance the campus

experience, for instance, by placing news

articles or pre-announcements on your

website or portal

2 Create a Mobile Brand

Treat the launch of your app like you would

any new product Create a mobile brand for

even make it fun and hold a logo design contest

3 Generate a QR Code

Creating a QR code for your app is a great way to encourage downloads: with a quick scan, users are taken directly to the app store It’s easy to

create a QR code using one of many free

QR code generation websites

Your app looks great and is ready to go live But getting users to download the

app is just as important as developing it So how do you get your students to

download it and keep using it over time? Here are 20 winning strategies to get

you started.

4 Make a Website Landing Page

Create a landing page dedicated to your

mobile app and drive all communications

here Add links to the app stores for

downloads Feature the app on the

university homepage and link to the landing

page from the main website navigation

California State University, Northridge, Del

Mar College, and the College of William &

Mary have great examples of landing pages.

5 Promote it on Your Portal

What site do your students and employees visit most frequently? It’s probably your university portal Make sure you promote the app and its features here

6 Send Email Announcements

Multiple email blasts targeted to different groups of users, such as prospective students, current students, and alumni, are an effective way to introduce users to your new app and its audience-specific features such as Admissions modules for prospective students, or Donation and Networking modules for alumni

7 Hang up Posters, Banners and Other

Displays

Simple to create and distribute, posters,

banners, and tabletop displays are an

old-fashioned but still extremely effective way

to announce your new app Post them at

reception, in the cafeteria, at transit stops,

on campus shuttles, in dorms, the library,

on napkin holders—and anywhere else

students congregate

8 Advertise in Print

Place ads in the campus newspaper, alumni magazines, and sports programs with a short link for easy download Don’t forget to include the QR code to make it even easier

9 Advertise Online

Create banner ads for your university website or the digital editions of the campus paper or alumni magazine Link through

to your landing page with links to the app stores

10 Share a Video

In the age of YouTube, Snapchat, and Vine,

videos are critical medium for introduce

your app to students Videos don’t have to

be expensive to create—enlist students to

help create them!

Watch videos from these schools to get

inspired:

• University of Notre Dame »

• Portland State University »

• Colgate University »

11 Spread the News at Live Events

Set up information tables in the lobby, dining hall, at orientation or other events Give a personal demo and get users to download the app on the spot You might even consider a “reward” for downloading the app, like a branded t-shirt or sunglasses And don’t underestimate the power of free food, especially on university campuses

12 Get Some PR

Make sure the editors of your student

newspaper are aware of the app launch

and plan to run articles on the app and its

many benefits Syracuse University and

the College of William & Mary both had

informative write-ups in their school papers

13 Share on Social

Media

Which social media

channels do you

students use? Twitter,

YouTube, Snapchat,

Vine, Facebook, and

14 Create Information Cards or Postcards

Printed information cards are easy to develop and distribute in key locations throughout campus

15 Enlist Mobile Ambassadors

Staff and volunteers can be valuable ambassadors for your mobile app At

William & Mary, mobile staff held trainings

where they introduced all Residence Life and Orientation staff and volunteers to the app and its benefits They also provided them with information cards to hand out to

16 Start Outreach Early

Target users early so that using your app

becomes routine

Georgetown University

requests that new

students download

their app before they

even arrive on campus,

which in turn fosters

lifelong usage The

University of North

Carolina at Chapel Hill

uses signage at New

Student Orientation

to promote the app its

newest students

17 Create Special Event Modules

Guarantee that users keep coming back to your app by creating modules for special events and programs

Colgate University, for

examples, provides

a reason for users to return by continuously updating its modules

They begin the school year with a New Student Orientation Module,

which is replaced by Homecoming, and followed by Spring Party Weekend, Commencement, and more throughout the year

18 Encourage Any Department or Student

Group to Create their Own Modules

You can also encourage any department,

student or activity group to fully engage

to create an app that provides valuable information about living on a budget at Harvard Today this is easier than ever as new tools allow non-developers to create new modules from scratch without any coding

Other ideas for special modules include:

• Academic Advising and Support

• Career Advising, Career Fairs and Campus Recruiting

• Greek Life

• International Groups

• Religious Life and Societies

• Student Organizations and Fairs

19 Use Push Notifications to Introduce

New Modules and Onboard Users

According to Localytics, users who opted in

to push messages averaged 3x more app

launches than those

who opted out

Use this powerful

engagement

method to alert

users to new

modules and

features - keeping

them returning to

the app over time

Push Notifications

can also be used to

onboard new users,

orienting them to all your app has to offer

20 Keep Gathering Feedback

Gather feedback through surveys and focus groups to make sure your app continues to meet

user expectations, even long after your launch Cal State Northridge uses a Feedback button in their app that takes users to a quick survey directly within their app

ABOUT MODO LABS

Modo Labs’ Kurogo Mobile Campus powers the mobile presence of a broad and growing range of institutions, from top universities to Fortune 500 companies The platform enables organizations to quickly create powerful multi-site and multi-role apps that work seamlessly with any data source on any device And best of all, non-technical staff can

REFERENCES

http://info.localytics.com/blog/2015-the-year-that-push-notifications-grew-up