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Big things are happening in the tech world this week:

  • Google debuted an early prototype of its augmented reality device “Glass” (which look close enough to regular eyeglasses, but doesn’t actually contain any glass) at Diane Von Furstenberg’s runway show during New York’s Fashion Week. On September 13, we’ll be able to see a YouTube video captured from the Glass device from the perspectives of Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, Hanne Gaby Odiele, model, and Diane Von Furstenberg herself. Just in time to steal the attention back from Apple’s iPhone 5 announcement….
  • Amazon announced its Kindle Fire HD. As much as I love shopping on Amazon, I’ll be sticking with my iPad.
  • Uncertainty in the world of mobile privacy continues with the Wall Street Journal reporting that Google “refused to unlock an alleged pimp’s cellphone powered by its Andriod software” even in the face of an FBI warrant. Mobile privacy rights remain a big unknown. Expect a piece on the Third Party Doctrine in the coming weeks (supposedly the Third Party Doctrine deals with mobile privacy rights – we’ll find out soon enough).
  • Forbes reports that Twitter is now twice as big as Facebook. Really?!? At least in terms of mobile ad revenue (which is pretty much all that matters, right?).
  • Founder of LinkedIn reportedly earned a 3,000 percent return on his investment in Facebook. At least someone’s making money on Facebook.

Now for the stuff that’s going to help your app blow up: How to Market Your Mobile App in 3 Easy Steps

1. Build A Professional Website

  • A website is the cornerstone of your online marketing efforts. It’s where you’ll try to drive all your traffic (and then redirect them to the App store). Many prospective app users will check you out before spending any money on your app. A website also provides a great opportunity to open a forum, where current users can post comments, suggestions, and complaints (and you can answer their concerns). You’ll also want to have a blog for SEO purposes. Do some keyword research to hit the most popular search terms related to your app, and you’ll start generating “free” traffic to your site. That was easy!

2.    Get Social

  • Social media is a great tool for spreading the news about your app. The trick is you can’t be too spammy about it. Twitter is more about sharing useful information than it is hard selling, and Facebook is about bribing people to follow your brand (think of all the “Like this new gimmick and get a chance to win an all inclusive 5 day cruise” – yeah, I’m not buying it). That said, you can certainly drop info about your new upcoming product to reach additional customers. Bonus points: offer your friends and followers a discount or free coupon code for a limited time and combine it with analytics to see the breadth of your reach.

3.    Contact the Media

  • Press releases are a quick, effective, and relatively cheap way to get the word out about your app. If you don’t want to release a formal press release, you can also try contacting the editors at popular tech websites, like TechCrunch for example. You may even find contacts through Twitter…. Help them out, and write the story for them. Everyone loves a freebie, and you can influence the tone of the article though expect some revisions.

There you have it: three easy steps for marketing your app. Of course, there are a lot more methods and more advanced techniques to market your app than the quickies mentioned above; however, these should be good to get the brain juices flowing. How do youspread the word about your new app? Share your stories in the comments below.

 

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