Fahad Al Roomi
Marketing has evolved tremendously over the past few decades. Gone are the days when we used newspapers or print media to promote products and services instead we have “social media” today. Social Media is where people are today – be it Facebook or Instagram, the only way to reach masses today is through Social Media. If we look at the stats:
- In 2017, the daily usage of social media by internet users has been recorded to 135 minutes per day.
- By 2018, the number of worldwide social media users is estimated to reach 2.5 billion.
The above stats clearly shows that social media is becoming an integral part of people’s lives and even business. Businesses and web marketers have been using social media platforms to attract users and gain website traffic where:
- Around 32.9 billion U.S. dollars were spent on social media advertisements in the year 2016.
- 61% of start-ups use social media for marketing.
- The marketing budget is expected to double over the next five years (11% to 24%) by 2020.
This clearly shows that social media has penetrated globally where heavy investments can be expected in the near future (the numbers can reach 17.34 billion U.S. dollars by 2019).
Moreover, as more and more people are getting onto the social media platforms app developers and Appreneurs can easily spread a word about their products & services through such platforms. Hence, if you are an app iPhone app developer in Kuwait who is developing his very first app or are already developing an iPhone app then below are some strategies you can follow to create a solid social media presence for marketing your apps:
1) Build your Social media presence
There are many social media platforms in the market today – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Linked In to name a few. It is essential to establish an effective presence online to market your application.
Facebook: Facebook is one of the most popular social media platforms today with a whopping 2.07 billion users (monthly). It has the most number of users when compared to other social media websites. Facebook allows you to promote your application just by creating a fan-page of your product. You can post any marketing content related to your product including video, images, GIF or even a web link.
Twitter: Twitter has about 328 million users. You can keep your users updated about your products and services with short messages that you tweet. In Twitter, you can build a strong user base that trusts and respects your brand by instantly replying to your followers. Having a Twitter account can really turn out to be helpful in creating a solid social media presence.
Instagram: Posters are the oldest medium of advertising and marketing. Instagram is the integrated version of posters regarded as the most effective social media platform for sharing visual contents. It has over 800 million monthly users. You can share your eye pleasing marketing posts and be received by millions. Not a bad way to establish your social media presence.
All the above social media websites have a massive user base, which allows companies to build their online presence effectively.
2) Use User-generated content
As the name suggests, user-generated content is any content created by the user (here by a user it means the follower of your product on social media). Any insightful or appealing content can regulate conversation among users, and more the conversations, the more users can engage with your brand. These conversations are one type of user-generated content only.
Moreover, there are other ways to obtain user-generated content. You can ask your users to share their user experience openly on social media. Content is king in social media, therefore iPhone app developers should give more priority to user-generated content as it promises more user engagement for your application.
3) Avoid auto-marketing tools
You can quickly spread your app marketing message to millions of people using automated marketing tool. But the posts you share will feel machine-generated unless you see how your posts are perceived by your audience. People are interested to connect with real people on social media. If you use automated tools for marketing, your audience might feel like you are spamming your posts which can eventually annoy them. So, it is critical that you maintain a human tone in your posts.
4) Use visuals aids to demo the app
A picture is worth a thousand words, and apparently, videos are worth more. Images are easier to perceive than videos. Posting screenshots of your application can help you attract more audience. You can easily convey new offers and features using engaging images. Videos can offer the user a glimpse of your application. Present the user with an answer as to why they need to use your application (using the video). Prompt your users to comment and review your app as this valuable feedback would help you a great deal for the future versions of your application.
To conclude, social media marketing has become a battleground for different companies as they are always looking to gain an upper hand over their competitors. Keeping up with the competition demands a robust relationship with the audience and this can be achieved through happy and satisfied customers. Know which marketing platforms work best for you and promote your services and products accordingly.
