In brief
Define the promotion goal before evaluating distribution, user feedback, partnerships and paid channels; platform and timing advice is historical.
Two parts to app promotion
Low-cost app promotion has two parts: promotion channels and promotion strategies. The original article presents both as practical, specialist guidance.
Launch broadly
The first step is to make the app available. This is the foundation of promotion: seek the widest possible coverage before spending heavily.
Forums, social posts and articles
Mobile-related websites host many industry forums. The article recommends promoting through both official posts and user posts, and contacting forum administrators about joint activities. Maintain posts after publication, respond to users’ questions and collect feedback to improve the next version.
Cross-promotion partnerships
Early cross-promotion often depended on personal relationships and on an app’s ability to recommend other apps or websites. Exchanges were generally one-for-one, without a clear measurement standard. If a partner sent hundreds of users a day while receiving only dozens in return, sustaining the partnership could be difficult. A close partner might still be willing to help.
Paid promotion
Options include paid in-app promotion, volume-based payment and advertising networks. Many startup or independent developers had not yet made their apps profitable and were seeking users before revenue. The author considered large advertising spends unwise in that situation, favouring basic distribution and creative marketing. An app with a strong revenue model could justify more investment; the article describes paid promotion as the fastest channel.
Match tactics to channels
Knowing how to promote an app and where to promote it can improve results. The following strategies concern the promotion goal and app-store presentation.
Decide whether the goal is downloads or exposure
An app should not rely only on app marketplaces for downloads. Beyond the product itself, downloads were central to the article’s approach to app operations. A user might see an app in one store, dismiss it, then recognise it in another store and become interested. This is the role of exposure, particularly a concentrated early campaign that repeatedly puts the app’s name in front of users.
Publishing time and descriptions
The historical article suggests that not every app should be released on a Friday, when many strong apps are updated. It suggests Wednesday or Thursday for smaller developers, while a particularly competitive app could try Friday. It treats the description as less important than the icon but still able to stimulate downloads, and includes an outdated suggestion to exaggerate features in a subtitle. It recommends attractive screenshots without spending excessive time on them. These are preserved historical views, not current publishing recommendations.
Original source reference
The source article cites http://www.hksilicon.com/articles/72018.