Using Apps for Marketing Purposes

It seems these days that the world is run by applications, or apps for short. It used to be that in order to install new software on a computer, you had to buy disks and go through a lengthy install process. Now, a new app is just a click away. Whether you are downloading a mobile app for your smartphone or an app for your PC, you can have it up and running in just seconds without even getting out of your chair. In this world of app ubiquity, it is important to leverage this trend to increase the marketing presence of your business. This is true here in College Station or just about anywhere else in the world. Here are just a couple of ways to use apps to market your business.

Pop-up Ads

The first and most obvious way to use apps to market your business is to buy advertising space in existing apps. Many apps exist in both a paid and free version. Sometimes this means the paid version offers a more robust feature set, but it often means the free version is subject to advertisements while the paid version is not. This is particularly true of gaming apps. After completing their “turn”, many apps require the user to click through an advertisement to return to game play. Most consumers view this as the “price” of a free game and have a generally favorable view towards the app an advertisement. If you do use a pop-up add, choose to market through a game that fits your target audience, and design an ad that’s appealing and engaging. Most users will only see it for a second or two, so for it to work, it needs to be compelling.

Service-based Apps

The other, and perhaps stronger alternative is to create a service-based app that actually markets your business effectively. There are a few important things to remember if you choose this approach. Whether your business offers printing in College Station, or any other service, it’s possible to design an app that appeals to consumers and advertises your business at the same time.
In order to do this successfully, you’ll need to create an app that fills a need and appeals to a consumer. If you have such an idea, getting it made in to an app is actually the easy part. There are for-hire designers who can take your idea and create your app. These services are often surprisingly affordable.
A good example of this type of app as create by Target for the holiday season. They created a “gift finder” app where you provided some basic information and the app used some fun animations to generate potential gift ideas for hard to shop for family members. The app was not covered in Target ads, but did include links to buy the items online or to reserve them in a target store. This app proved to be more successful than Target’s standard mobile app during the holidays. If you can successfully fill a need with your app it is bound to be successful in advertising your business.