This post is created by Dave Bell, Gummicube Co-Founder & CEO.
An App Store or Google Play Store video is a powerful marketing tool. It can either boost user engagement and installs or destroy all your efforts.
The great news is that you can learn to understand what goes into creating an effective app video. Today, we are sharing the main things that you should consider when building your application’s marketing strategy.
App Marketing Ideas – Target Your Audience
Targeting ensures that the people who may be interested in your creation will see it. Of course, a single style of video won’t appeal to all audiences. Do the research to find out what trends work best for both your targeted audience and the geography. Perform competitive analysis and take your competitors’ strategy into consideration.
If you succeed, the video can potentially improve conversions by 13%.
Audience Targeting
Put the interests of your audience first. If your app is a mobile game for families and kids, perhaps a colorful and energetic video filled with gameplay will perform well. On the other hand, a business application targeted at professionals might require a clip that clearly explains its uses and benefits.
If you target the wrong audience, the users that you have managed to acquire will soon figure out that the app isn’t right for them and leave.
Convey Functionality
Before coming up with marketing ideas, think about the features and functions of your app that the audience would love. Make it clear why users should install it. Does your application make their life easier? Does it solve a problem that the users have? The promo video has to prove that the app is worth installing.
What is the key value you want to illustrate? How does the application resonate with your audience? If the users can’t see what they will be getting from your app, why should they even download it?
Keyword Integration
Keyword targeting is important as it determines what searches your application will appear in.
Including keywords directly in the video will not help with your search indexation. However, this trick can help gain installs. Users are more likely to download an app if it relates to their search queries. Thus, including the terms they tend to search for in your video can be beneficial.
To choose the right keywords, you may, once again, have a look at what your competitors are doing. Always consider how relevant the keywords are to the app and their search volume. If your app is a mobile game, for example, you can include a section in your video where you call the application a “hit roleplaying game,” or, perhaps, an “MMORPG”.
App Marketing Ideas for Different Stores
Both App Store and Google Play Store have certain guidelines that you would have to follow when creating a preview video. You might even have to create two different clips.
App Store Guidelines
The App Store uses Preview Videos and there are some strict guidelines on what videos can and cannot include. The application will be rejected if you fail to adhere to the rules.
- Videos can be in either landscape or portrait mode. When searching for your app, people will see the portrait mode version with the first two screenshots, while landscape videos will be displayed on their own.
- The video can be up to 30 seconds long.
- All footage used in the video must be available in the app. In other words, don’t show any features that the application doesn’t actually have.
- The developer must legally own all artistic elements in order to use them (like music).
Google Play Store Guidelines
Google Play has slightly different rules and restrictions for its videos and, basically, provides more space for creativity.
- Outside footage is allowed if you are willing to illustrate the benefits or the use of the app.
- The videos are taken directly from YouTube. Don’t forget to ensure that it’s available for public viewing. The video should not be monetized.
- On Google Play, videos are always in landscape mode. If you have a vertical clip, you might want to add a framing effect, otherwise, there will be dark bars on both sides of the video.
- The clip will automatically roll on Google Play. Make sure to include an image for the loading screen.
Follow the guidelines to a T, if you don’t want all the time and resources invested into creating the clip to go to waste.
App Marketing Ideas – Find the Right Partner
If you are not a video editor and making a clip on your own is not an option, then you can find a partner to work with on the production process. Perfomante has plenty of experience in the mobile app industry and creating videos for the app stores, so you’ll be in good hands 🙂
The right partner has to be familiar with the nuances that come with making a preview video for the App Store, Play Store, and Facebook. This will help decrease your chance of getting rejected since they know what does and doesn’t make the cut. The team should also have an understanding of the popular and current trends that can contribute to a higher conversion rate.
Why It Matters
The video you use can help you get to a higher position in the store’s app list. A well-made clip can boost your installs and the CTR and that, in its turn, influences the search rankings. The higher the rank, the easier it is for users to discover your app.
About Gummicube
Gummicube is a global company specializing in App Store Optimization with more than 11 years of experience. It offers the leading enterprise ASO technology and agency services, providing support to clients around the world. Gummicube is trusted by Microsoft, LinkedIn, Bethesda, SWEAT, GrubHub, McAfee, and many others.
