It is certain that app marketing is not just advertising, even though our core business is to offer app advertising solutions. All of us know how it is hard to create a reliable app. It requires laytime, effort, patience, and heart on the table. In acknowledgement of these, it is your right to expect users as much as possible to use and get happy with your app. However, your job doesn’t end when development is okay. Now, it is time to promote your app. We dig the internet and explore the top 100 app promotion websites just for you to promote your app!

Let’s schedule a demo and talk about your app marketing strategy to boost your app to the next level.

 Let’s get it started.

App Directories – Free App Promotion Sites

One of the places you can promote your app is app directories. If you are satisfied with your app or if you want to collect feedback for your app in beta, submitting to app directories is really useful. They could bring you, new users, raise your brand awareness, get links and let you gain inspiration on the basis of feedbacks.

I compiled this list from various resources; Sixteen Ventures, TimeCamp, and Justin McGill.

Check out ”20 Creative Ways To Promote Your App For Free” to see how to handle mobile app promotion for free.

App Promotion Sites for Android and iOS

• AppAddict ask for making an inquiry.
• alternativeTo
• AlphaDigits has more than 6,5 million users.
• apps400.com is one of the best app review sites that lets you add your app for free reviews and featured (paid) reviews.  You can check the other popular app review sites from here.
• AppStorm
• AppsToUse just send the link of your app store to promote your app.
• AppVita
• BetaList
• BoogarLists
• Capterra
• CloudSurfing
• CloudXL
• cnet’s Download.com
• Crunchbase lets you discover tech companies and also list yours.
• ErliBird lets you make beta tests with real users for desktop apps as well as Android, iOS apps.
• FeedMyApp is the easy way to submit your app and collect app review.
• Geekopedia is not only for apps but for also companies.
• GeekWire
• GetApp is an another app marketing website that has more than 240,000 app reviews of 7,000+ apps.
• G2 Crowd is one of the leading software review sites with over 420,000 reviews
• Killer Startups lets you reach 6,000 potential customers.
• Launching Next is free, but you can pay $49 to publish within 1-day.
• Mevvy
• MoMB is currently listing more than 12,000 sites.
• MobileAppDaily  a portal that fetches you news on mobile apps, mobile app review and global tech events. It also covers the success stories of companies and app enthusiasts in the featured section.
• Netted
• New Start Ups
• OnTheApp
• Paggu is an mobile app promotion website that writes a review by visiting your website or app.
• Product Hunt publishes new products every day.
• Rate My Startup
• RomanianStartups
• SociableBlog
• Springwise lets you feature your business
• Stack Share
• Startup Book
• Startup Sea
• StartupBooster
• StartUpLift
• StartupsFM
• TechPluto
• The Startup Pitch
• The Tech Panda asks for answering specific questions to submit your business.
• TrustRadius
• Vator
• Venture Beat Profiles
• Venturebin
• WebAppRater publishes your app review on their site forever.
• webdev 2.0
• Webrazzi

Click here to learn more about ‘’Proven Strategy to Increase Your App Store Ranking”

App Promotion Sites for Android

These app directories are just for Android apps.

• Life of Android
• Android Cowboy
• AndroidGuys
• AndroidPIT
• Android Police
• Android Rundown
• Android Authority
• Android App Reviews
• Android appDictions
• 100 Best Android Apps

Free App Promotion Sites for iOS

These app directories are just for iOS apps.

• The iPhone App Review
• Best Apps For Kids
• What’s On Iphone
• iPhone Life
• iPhone In Canada
• iPhoneGlance
• iPhone Gamer
• iPhone Captain
• iPhone Apps Review Online
• iPhone App Reviews
• Insanely Great (IGM)
• iLounge
• Fresh Apps
• AppSafari
• Touch Arcade
• TheAppleGoogle
• iPhone Insight
• iPad Insight
• AppShoper
• AppAdvice

Above is the listing that includes free ones as well as paid ones, for live apps as well as in beta. If you seek more and more websites to promote your app free, you can view BuildFire list.

Business Listing

You need to create a page for listing yourself as local or global in social platforms even if you are a virtual company. It’s one of the easiest types of free promotion you can use. These pages let you be active where your potential customers are and reach more users.

• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Google+ Pages
• Yahoo Local Basic Listings
• Bing

App Stores

There are two main app stores which are Google Play and iOS App Store. However, it would be on behalf of your app to benefit from alternative app stores. If you are looking for app promotion ideas I compiled app store I listed below from Moby Affiliates and Sixteen Ventures.

For Android Apps

Beside Google Play which is the main Android store, there are lots of choices you can upload your Android app.
Amazon: It is one of the largest alternative app store launched in 2011. Its reward program called Appstore Developer Select offers free add impressions through Amazon coins and offers 25% credit back when purchasing Amazon Web Services products.
SlideMe: It was founded in 2008 in Seattle. There is no setup fee for developers, no country restrictions and custom distribution channels.
1Mobile: It has over 60,000 apps which focuses on providing a selection of quality apps to its users.
Android Freeware: As it is understood from its name, you can upload and promote your Android app free on Android Freeware.
CodeNgo: By filling a form, your app gets distributed to more than 30 stores.
AppBrain: It was founded in 2009. Your app is displayed via search, categories, and rankings. It has more than 1 million apps.
AppsLib: It has approximately 40,000 Android-tablet-specific apps.
Aptoide: Now, it has 199k stores and over 700,000 apps.
Appszoom: You can see the apps used by your friends and experts you follow.
Mobogenie: It offers not only apps but also wallpapers and ringtones.

For iOS Apps

Cydia: It offers both free and paid apps reaching 4,5 million users weekly.

Cross-Platform App Stores for Free App Promotion

Besides Google Play and App Store which are the main Android and iOS store, there are several options that give you a chance to add your app (either Android or iOS) and boost your downloads.
GetJar: It has more than 2 billion apps and 395,000 developers. Founded in 2004, it claims to reach over 200 million app users.
Opera Mobile Store: It supports many app formats; Android, iOS, Java and more. It provides 170,000 apps and games for 6,000 different mobile phone formats being distributed to 230 countries.
neXva: It offers an app store for mobile operators and OEMs.
Kongregate: It focuses on video games reaching over 6 million mobile and desktop gamers.
Mobango: It is an app store as well as a sharing zone of photos, ringtones, and videos.
Appland: It is both app store and app-store manager.
Itch.io: It is free and paid-for indie game stores.
Mobile9: It offers apps as well as ringtones and wallpapers.

Online Communities

As well as creating a page in social channels, it is beneficial to join and create online communities. It is time to listen to pains and solve them. It is a good way to demonstrate you are here for problem-solving, not to spam.

LinkedIn Groups
Facebook Groups
Reddit: It offers the latest digital trends and news by gathering individuals and communities in the same zone.
Quora: It is an interactive platform that you can ask and answer any question, publish a post, ask specific person anything. That is, you can create your own community.
Forums: Search for forums related to your business and try to be active

After joining them, your next responsibility is to be active. Actively answer questions and engage with others. If you just promote your app, you couldn’t make a good impression. Therefore, you can give links to your app as well as talk about daily things and give advice about things not related to your app.

• Let’s schedule a demo and talk about your app marketing strategy to boost your app to the next level.

Guest Posting

It is another good way to promote your app for free. You can find niche websites in accordance with your app and ask for writing a guest post. There are many blogs that would accept you as a guest writer.
You can view this list prepared by izideo to get inspired. It includes more than 1500 quality blogs that accept guest posts.
Options are not limited to the above ones I have listed. App promotion ideas are limitless!  You can choose the best place to promote your Android app and iOS app. You can increase them by making a simple search on Google like “app directories”, “review sites for apps” etc. Free mobile app submission sites may be good options for you. You may choose the best app promotion agency for your app. Just remember that your job will never finish. Developing, promoting, updating, promoting, promoting…

Good luck with your app!

The post 100 Websites for Mobile App (App Store & Google Play) first appeared on AppSamurai.

Do you think reviews like these affect ASO negatively? 

Most people would say yes because Jibreel gave a 2-star rating. However, there’s a twist to it. 

Some apps might get even more rankings and some may go down. 

To find out how to let’s see how app reviews impact ASO. 

2 Ways App Reviews Impact ASO 

1. Negative Reviews & Ratings Affect App’s Conversion Rates

Be it a free or paid app, poor ratings make it hard to accept. 

When an app gets negative reviews, its rating declines which further decreases the conversion.

The above graph shows Rating Vs Percentage downloads of worldwide apps.

When ratings go from 5 to 4 stars, the download count doesn’t change much. 

But when ratings drop from 4 to 3, your install rate reduces by 50%. 

Resetting your app reviews with every update is a great idea. But that’s the luxury only iOS app developers can afford. 

It’s impossible to reset user reviews on Playstore. In this case, beta testing your updates is important. 

This way you can get an idea of your app before launching it for everyone. 

In case you don’t know what beta testing is, make sure you at least read this beta testing guide once. 

2. Effect of App Ratings & Reviews On App Store’s Search Visibility

Ratings and reviews play a key role in changing search visibility.

An app with tons of positive reviews has more chances to rank on top. 

Let’s look at an example to give you a clear understanding:

When you search ‘insurance’ on PlayStore, you will see a bunch of apps.

Almost every app in here has a rating of 4 or above. Yes, there are some apps that still rank high, even with low ratings. 

It’s because ASO isn’t about just getting positive reviews; several other factors are involved. 

An app with a 3-3.5 rating ranks because of proper optimization. 

Another factor that might boost search visibility is getting keywords in reviews.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a negative or a positive review, but if the user types in keywords while writing a review, it’s a big plus for visibility. 

4 Factors for Getting Good Reviews and Ratings for Your App

1. App’s Performance: No one likes an app that crashes or lags and this would lead to negative reviews. 

2. User Experience: Modern users ask for an epic user experience; poor quality graphics, high loading time, poor interface, etc. might just push users away. 

3. Updation Frequency: Without proper updates and modern solutions, your app is just dead because competitors do this regularly. 

4. Downtime: Limit the no. of times you put your app under maintenance, otherwise users won’t hesitate scrutinising it in the review section. 

How to Get Great Reviews & Ratings for Your App

    1. Make it Easy to Review Your App 

Finding a review button becomes a task in itself. Make sure users can reach out to it easily. 

There are 3 possible cases when a user might be searching for a review button:

1. Being super impressed by the app and wants to commend it

       2. They just want to tell you about a bug or just some wish

3. Might have a major issue and want to leave a negative review

To make it easy for users to review, place your button in 4 places: 

1. Main menu
2. Header
3. Footer
4. Ask for it using pop-ups 

Find A Way by Unity is a great example. As you open the game, you see a screen like this:

When you click on the heart button, it redirects you to the review page. 

As easy as it looks, in 2 easy steps users can review. You can also Implement the same technique to get effective reviews for your app. 

     2. Provide Exceptional Customer Service to Get Great Reviews

Solving user problems should be your first priority. You should be available for them all the time. 

Just in case users face issues, leaving is the last thing they would consider. 

To solve a user’s problem quickly and easily, have a plugin like Helpshift.

Here’s an example of what happened when David was facing an issue:

Getting a warm message such as the one above might’ve made David happy. 

There’s a high chance he would’ve left a positive review for the app later.

          3. Timing Plays A Vital Role When You Ask for A Review

Timing your review prompts properly is super crucial. 

Asking users to review your app right at the start won’t work. They will never write it and you might even lose users because of it.

The best way to do this is to keep a goal set. Whenever a user reaches some level, you can prompt a review message.

The game Dungeon Keeper leverages this right. As soon as you achieve a milestone, it pops up a review prompt: 

Now, this pause doesn’t hamper the user experience much. In fact, this gives a positive review because winning feels great. 

         4. Offer Incentives for Reviewing Your App

Running a contest where you incentivize users for review can be a great idea. 

Rewarding app users makes them happy. And guess what? A happy user implies positive reviews. 

Toucharcade is one such place where contests are held regularly. You can gift your users Amazon, ITunes, Walmart gift cards, etc. 

Google and iOS have been deranking and banning apps that force users for 5 stars. 

So never push users to spread positivity, otherwise you’ll violate the terms and conditions.

The post How Do App Ratings and Reviews Affect ASO & its Best Practices? first appeared on AppSamurai.

So what to do to promote your apps? Well, the best solution is to create the app install campaigns by using the most effective tool Google Ads.

Similarly, this is also an ideal solution if your app downloads are stuck on or you want to increase downloads.

Many of you will be thinking, why not use Google’s AdMob? This is because Google’s Admob is only recommended for mobile app marketing, while Adwords is the perfect choice for all advertising types, including ads for mobile applications.

Moreover, app install campaigns using AdMob will be more limited compared to AdWords.

You might be aware of Google Ads’ effectiveness for various websites. The platform is equally efficient for driving mobile application installs.

So without a further ado, let’s learn how to create app install campaigns via Google Ads.

Set Up Mobile App Conversion Tracking

Firstly, you need to properly set up conversion tracking for your new mobile application.

Then, you need to sign in to your Google AdWords account and look for “Tools” and “Conversions” options, respectively.

Next, you will see a new screen; click on the “+ Conversion.”

After that, click on the “Apps.”

Now there is a bit of difference between a Google Play and an App Store.

There is no need to set up or install any code inside your app for Google Play Store to track growth and conversions. Google will automatically track your conversions, and you can easily access them.

For Apple’s App Store, ensure that you have the required code or app installed in your application that allows you to record or monitor conversions.

Then, you need to pick “First Opens” and “app installs” after choosing the “Apps” option. Things might get a bit confusing for iOs apps.

After that, the process is simple and exact, as the Android apps procedure.

Create a New Campaign

You can create mobile app install campaigns in different ways, and we will show you how. The three methods are:

• Search Network
• Display Network
• YouTube Network

Remember that when you create ads, they are shown anywhere on the wide Google network. And during the course of that time, your mobile application install campaigns will be flying in the air so high. The things you will need to start the campaign are basic ad copy and targeting information. Send this info to Google, and it will automatically display them as per your defined budget.

Search Network App Install Campaigns

Do you know about the Google search app install campaign? If not, we will show you. In simple words, it means that your ads will be displayed through the Google Search app and Google Play Store (for Android smartphone users and on the apps). To create a search network mobile application install campaign, you will have to:

Select Campaign Type and App Type

First, select your campaign type with the app type.

Now, sign in to your Google AdWords account and navigate to the ‘Campaign’ in your dashboard.

Then click on the ‘+Campaign’ button.

Next, choose the ‘Search Network only’ option.

Now enter the name of your new search campaign and choose “mobile app installs” as an app type and your preferred language.

Bid Strategy, Budget, and Location Settings

Next, you need to go on to the bidding stage. Here the first thing to do is set your budget, and you should know how much you want to pay for one installation.

In this case, you will have to face these scenarios:

If you are working on the Android mobile app install campaign, look for the ‘Target CPA’ option.

If you are working on the Apple App Store mobile application install campaign, look for the ‘Maximize clicks’ option.

You can play with it and experiment with ad bids. In the end, it all comes down what is your budget and how much you want to spend on your campaign per day.

Create the First Ad Group

Now, it’s time to focus on drafting the fabulous ad copy. Please don’t mix it up with general web content writing; here, you will have to craft an engaging ad copy for your search ad.

Then, find the relevant keywords for your ad campaign. Do some research and ensure that you choose the right and profitable keywords for the campaign.

If you are running a campaign for the first time, we will advise you to set your keyword criteria as “Exact Match.” After some time and with experience, you can move on to the “Broad Match” category.

Display Network App Install Campaigns

The display network is the platform that allows you to advertise your app within other apps, also known as in-app advertising. This is another effective way to run the app install campaign.

Select Campaign Type

The first step is to choose the “Display Network only” option instead of using the “Search Network only” feature.

Next, give your app install campaign an appropriate name, and choose the “mobile app installs” option, app type, and preferred language.

Customize Device Targeting

If you are promoting an Android phone app, you will have to select the “Android option” and its details.

If you are promoting an iOs application, choose the relevant details as per iOs.

The process is simple and the same as the above one (search network).

At this stage, you will see a new feature, “Operators and Wi-Fi.” If your mobile application is a large file, we recommend you opt for the Wi-Fi option. It means that your ad will only be advertised when other users are connected to Wi-Fi.

Bid Strategy, Budget, and Location Settings

Moving on to the bid and location stage, you need to set your budget, and you must know how much you can pay for one installation.

Again if you are creating an Android mobile application install campaign, go to the ‘Target CPA’ option like you did in the previously discussed Search network campaign.

However, if you are creating an App Store mobile application install campaign, go to the ‘Manual CPA’ option.

Create the First Ad Group

Then, you need to select a maximum CPC and your desired targeting options from the available options.

There are many notable things here, such as “Interests and Remarketing” and “Design your ad.”

Here we will advise you to target “installed app categories” as chances are higher that your app will be downloaded by users who are already downloading the apps from a specific category.

YouTube Network App Install Campaign

Select Your Campaign Type

First, navigate to the ‘Campaign’ dashboard, click on the ‘+Campaign,’ button, and choose ‘Video.’

Now you can enter the name of your new app install campaign, then click on the “mobile app installs,” and select app type and preferred language.

Customize Device Targeting

Next, select your mobile app. As done in previous methods, you will have to choose between the Google Play Store and the App Store.

Bid Strategy, Budget, and Location Settings

This time, you will be creating either an Android app install campaign or an App store app install campaign, so you need to target the relevant apps as per “Target CPA.”

Then, move on to select the location and language. As done in Display network campaign, you can also choose devices connected to the Wi-Fi option for this campaign.

Create the First Ad Group

Now, you will need to submit your YouTube Video for the mobile app install ad campaign, and you can set a Target CPA bid that you will have to pay for the ads.

Then, finalize your targeting options. If you are a beginner, we will recommend you to select “Placements – meaning that you choose specific videos that will show your ad, if they have active monetization.”

Then, you can select an ad format for the campaign. In-stream ad formats are the best in which your mobile app install ads will appear at the start or during a YouTube video.

Video discovery ad format is also decent, but in it, the text redirects a user to a standard YouTube video.

 Then, you will be asked about conversion tracking if you have not addressed it earlier.

Now, wait till your ad gets approved by the authorities.

How to track conversion for Google app install campaigns via Google analytics?

To ensure that you achieve the ultimate goal of driving as many apps install as possible, Google Ads will ask for the data of existing users driving the revenue.

Remember that with Artificial Intelligence’s power, Google will keep a thorough record of all actions that users perform on your application and through it.

Google will also develop an extensive database containing all user actions on your app, especially for your convenience. Later on, Google Ads will automatically optimize this information and integrate the same in your app action goals for tracking.

You can also track user engagements and app usage by using Google Analytics.

This is an entirely free feature that can help you track the app usage data and show you real-time user engagement. The tool also offers you detailed reports and analytics of in-app events.

Besides, you have the option to categorize or segment your users as per their specific behavior, and then you can approach or target each cluster to provoke more user responses.

Furthermore, Google recommends setting up a campaigning budget at least ten times compared to your target CPA.

For example, if you have a targeted CPA of around 50$, you should allocate a budget of around 500$ to get the best results.

Suppose ten different consumers from different locations worldwide perform any specific action on your app. If any of their actions didn’t meet your needs or preferences, it would be better to utilize an app action that provides adequate results.

With each campaign, Google suggests that you give time for at least 100 to 200 conversions before making any adjustments or changes to the campaign.

Lastly, Google also allows you to run multiple app install campaigns with different budgets and target audiences. And you can also run various campaigns for different products and goals. It is advisable to design a new campaign instead of polishing or optimizing your current campaign if you have new or other plans.

Final Thoughts

Using the Google Ads app install campaign, you can easily create a campaign that brings the maximum and your desired results. Unlike other in-app advertising and marketing platforms, Google App Campaigns allow you to show related ads across all popular Google platforms.

Another great thing about this efficient platform is that you can effortlessly target all these properties from a single location and display your best-performing apps in front of millions. And during the process, we ensure you high conversions via tailored bids and less spending.

Want to see more downloads on your app? AdWords is the way forward! So, get started immediately as now you know how to Create App Install Campaigns By Using Google Ads, and you could be that much closer to achieving a higher number of downloads and installs.

The post Creating App Install Campaigns and Promotions Through Google Ads first appeared on AppSamurai.

But a perfect video at hand is only half of the journey. You need to find the proper video marketing channels to post your video and promote your app. You will therefore have to be very specific on the video marketing channel to use to promote your app. Video marketing has become a popular marketing strategy known to help boost engagements, attract more users and generate more leads. It has overtaken SMS marketing, Email marketing, and even word-of-mouth marketing.

If you are jogging your mind on what video marketing channel to use for app promotion, read on to get some insight. This article will guide you on the best video marketing channels and the best videos to use to get the best out of every marketing channel.

1.    Video on App Stores

App stores are common marketing channels since they reach a global audience and do not require a budget. App stores are a marketplace for every mobile app, where consumers can browse and install the app of their choice. There are various mobile app stores, and you should consider marketing your app with some of them to make sure they reach as large an audience as possible. Types of app stores to use include:

A.    Apple App Store

The Apple app store is designed for iPhone and iPad users. It was introduced at WWDC14 and is also famous as app preview. The app preview allows you to make 30 seconds app- preview videos for your mobile app. 

However, your app preview video should follow the following guidelines:

–    It should be device-specific.

–    It should be composed of device captured footage.

–    Strictly 30 seconds.

–    It shouldn’t look like an ad.

–    Only one language should be used in one iTunes entry.

B.    Google Play

This is designed for android phones and allows adding a promotional app video URL which can be played by just tapping the button on the mobile. The plus side of using google play promotional videos for your app is that you can:

–    Localize your videos in different foreign languages to target a global market.

–    Have transcripts based on user-language settings displayed for them.

–    Get a YouTube view for every google play store view you get.

C.    Alternative App Stores

Other app stores are also a good fit for app promotion. Stores like Amazon, Socio, and AppBrain.com are a good fit since they offer less competition, better visibility, and higher monetization benefits.

2.    Social Media

Social media is a growing trend in-app marketing since it’s a free distribution channel. It only requires that you create an account on the various platforms and begin reaching out to potential customers. You will have to get your users more engaged and share relevant industry news, user-generated content, and links to blog posts to reach more people. You can pay for your videos ads to be promoted and get more people.

To optimize social media video ads, you will have to do the following:

–    The video ad should be between 15-30 seconds long.

–    Open on the product early to grab attention.

–    Showcase the product (app) for the majority of the 30 seconds of the video ad.

–    Add a brand link for users to identify the app being advertised.

–    Generate a message that is understandable even without sound.

–    Create a video ad message that is succinct without overloading on the information.

Among the best social media platforms that you can market your app to get a high ROI to include: 

A.    Facebook

Facebook video ads come with an “install now” icon that allows the user to install the app from the apple store or google store if interested in the app. The video ad usually plays without sound till the user taps on “play.”

B.    Instagram

Like Facebook, the video ads on Instagram often play without sound for a while, and for them to capture the user to tap “play,” they must be creative. Linking Facebook and Instagram is a good idea that enables you to share your post from Facebook on Instagram (or vice versa) with a click of a button.

C.    Twitter

Twitter video ads help maximize the ROI of your video app ads by allowing you to target by specific devices, location, mobile carriers and keywords, interests, and followers. This means that if a user is into gaming, they will get video ads on gaming apps to install.  

3.    The App Websites Landing Page

Your app’s landing page is another excellent channel to market your app. The landing page should be user-friendly and contain clear and informative content. Adding a promotional video of your app is a perfect way to give people who land on your page a preview of what the app is all about.

Here are a few more tips to incorporate while using promotional videos on your website landing page.

–    Add a headline plus a short description of your app together with your promo video.

–    Put the video on top of the page or after the CTA.

–    Include a call to action (CTA) that appears severally asking the users to download the app.

–    Provide Social proofs such as reviews, awards, and testimonials.

–    Rather than creating a custom thumbnail, choose a thumbnail that perfectly integrates with the video content.

4.    YouTube

We can’t ignore the power of YouTube when it comes to marketing videos. Youtube is famous primarily for short and long videos, and as the second largest search engine, it’s an effective channel to drive traffic your way. The more views your app marketing video gets on YouTube, the more conversions it generates, and these translate to more downloads for your app.

There are multiple app marketing videos on YouTube, and the following tips can help your video stand out.

–    Including the app name and user-friendly keywords on the title.

–    Including important keywords and a link to your app or website on the description.

–    Customizing a thumbnail 

–    Choosing the right tags and ordering them from the most to the least important.

5.    Tv Ads

Unlike social media and YouTube ads, Tv ads cannot be skipped, making them an effective channel to market your app video. Much as selling your app through a video on tv is more costly; it is known to optimize the ROI, especially when the right audience is targeted. While advertising your app on the TV, be sure to point out the time your advert should air, depending on the audience you want to target.

If an app targets parents or the older generation, prime hours before and after the News section are an excellent time to air the promotional video. An app video that targets children and young folks should air before or between tv programs.

Here are a few other things to do while advertising on tv;

–    Create a cool intro that captures the viewer’s attention.

–    The video advert should be comical or creative to be easily remembered.

–    Consider water-marketing your video. 

–    Create a short video ad, but one that communicates all essential details and provides a CTA.

6.    Reviews by Influencers, Bloggers and Journalists

Most people tend to use popular products or those advertised by the influencers they fancy or trust. Getting bloggers or journalists to promote your app video on their social media channels with positive reviews or doing a short video about your app and posting it can help get traffic. This is because celebrities are believed to be masters of their niche, and people trust that they only endorse the best.

7.    Other Video Platforms

There is an ocean of video apps to choose from while looking to promote your app via video. Some are not as popular but can still help boost your app. Vimeo, Daily Motion, Product Hunt, Quora, and start-up videos are but a few to try.

8.    Emails

Much as email is not a video app, it can be used for video marketing as well. Since email and YouTube are products of Google, they are integrated, and hence one can embed app videos links at the end of an email. The email recipient can therefore get to view your app promotional video on YouTube by simply clicking the link. This will help increase the more awareness and visibility of your app.

We Can Help

At AppSamurai, we make mobile advertising easy for high-growth companies. We create solutions for mobile app marketing while leveraging the data we get from billions of devices and thousands of publishers. We are internationally recognized by publications like WIRED, VentureBeat, and MMA. If you are looking to promote your app or game securely, effortlessly, and efficiently, then AppSamurai is the perfect choice for you. Register today, add your app, and begin getting high-quality users.

The post Best Video Marketing Channels to Promote Your App first appeared on AppSamurai.

• Reach the largest possible target audience
• Target the right users
• Get better ad impressions

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At this point, there are different ways that form “mobile advertising” completely. In this post, I want to explain what are mobile ad formats together with their features in a few words. 

You will find in this blog post (mobile banner ads);

• Mobile banner sizes
• Tablet banner sizes
• Best ad size for mobile and
• In app banner size

Mobile Ad Formats

People of all ages use their mobile devices wherever they go. And the screen size is changeable. In order to offer the best experience, run the best ad campaign, raise the variability, and increase revenue, mobile ads should be placed in optimal sizes.

There are four major and most up-to-date mobile ad types. And all of them have unique features within itself. In this article, you can examine mobile ad formats, learn their features, and ad sizes. Let’s start! What are the current mobile ad formats?

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What are Banner Ads?

It is the most popular mobile ad format. Banner ads appear in the form of bar, column, or box containing relevant text and graphics at the top or bottom of the screen. As being safe and simple, it is preferred by many people because they are affordable and easy to launch. Also, they are universally supported mobile ad formats. Move down to display advertising banner sizes.

Check out ”20 Creative Ways To Promote Your App For Free” to see how to handle mobile app promotion for free.

The Size

Mobile banner ad sizes and tablet banner ad sizes are different from each other. Here is the best ad size for mobile and tablet.

For mobile, 320*50, and 300*50 mobile banner ads perform quite well.
For tablets; 728*90 and 300*250 mobile banner ads perform quite well.

The Features of 320*50 and 300*50 Mobile Banner Ads

• They are leaderboards of mobile.
• They are the most effective mobile ad banners.
• They are popular among mobile websites and apps.
• They can be fitted for wider screens at either the top of the screen or the bottom.
• The thing that should be considered is to make texts and CTA buttons big enough to be readable on a small device.

The Features of 728*90 Banner Ads

• • Known as “leaderboard”

• • They are often placed at the top center of a webpage.

• • They are popular among tablets and desktops as they perform better on them.

• • All graphics don’t fit perfectly within its dimensions. So, create a content that fits perfectly for the wide and short format.
  • The price tends to increase due to its popularity.

The Features of 300*250 Mobile Banner Ads

• • Known as “medium rectangles”
  • They are popular among tablets and desktops and among some apps compatible with tablets.

• • As its shape is like the square, it has more place to fill with the ads.
  • 300*250 banner ads that placed above outperform ads placed below.

Does

While implementing banner ads,

• Allocate space for banner ads in order not to interfere with the rest of app’s content.
• Separate banner ads from app’s elements.
• Put the same ad across several screens to raise the possible click rate.
• Use the animated banner to improve the user experience.
• Determine the refresh rate as around 30 seconds which is the industry average.
• Work with more than one banner ad provider.
• Experiment with different banner options.

Don’ts

While implementing banner ads,

• Don’t ask users to click as it results in getting clicks from users who are not interested in it.
• Don’t place the banner ad near any element which causes accidental clicks, especially avoid places that require users action like “start button”
• Don’t place banner ad on the active gameplay screen. It results in being ignored your banner by users as users focus on playing a game.
• Don’t place the banner ads in non-visible places.
• Don’t place more than one banner on the same screen. It results in getting bad user experience as well as banning from the ad network.

What are Interstitial Ads?

They are interactive ads that cover the full screen. They are displayed at the transition points of an app such as while an app is loading or after an app is closed.

The Size

For mobile; 320*480 (the most popular size) and 480*320 interstitial ads perform quite well.
For tablets; 1024*768 and 768*1024 interstitial ads perform quite well.

The Features

• • It is placed on crucial moments like opening a game.

• • Closing the ad requires user action.

• • Fullscreen on mobile especially grab the attention of users.

• • They are best placed within games with levels, according to experts.

• • It has a larger space and a broader message. Also, they are visually compelling.
  • It requires more design work.

What are Native Ads?

As can be understood from its name, native advertising resemble the organic content of the platform upon which they appear. It is the hottest tactic of mobile advertising. As they don’t look like an ad, it is a great way to get users without disrupting them.
Mobile native ad formats can be delivered in a variety of ways:

• • Publications such as Forbes have sponsored posts

• • Facebook suggested posts

• • Twitter sponsored Tweets

• • Promoted Pins on Pinterest

• • Promoted listings on Foursquare or Yelp
  • Sponsored stories on Buzzfeed, Mashable, Huffington Post, etc.

The Size

They come in various forms and sizes. Your job is just to give the component of the ad. Publisher displays the ad in a way fitting the actual content of its app.

The Features

• • The basic feature is being less distracting than other ads.

• It has a higher CTR(10.6%)  and better ad engagement (14%).

What are Video Ads?

Mobile video ad formats display video content that plays when a user is engaging with an app or s/he opens it knowingly and willfully. It requires a higher budget than others but offers higher engagement.

The Size

You can the size of video ads from the image below.

*Image was taken from Gadmobe.

The Features

• • Users like video.

• • It requires more budget to produce.

• • It can be useless if poor.
  • They should be short (as mentioned in 15 to 30 seconds range).

What are Rich Media Ads?

Rich media ads include advanced features such as video, audio, GPS, or other elements. I mean these ads get benefit from mobile-specific technology.

The Size

You can the size of rich media ads from the image below.

*Image was taken from Gadmobe

The Features

• • Known as “multimedia banner”

• • It is the best format for advertisers with ambitious goals.

• • They are interactive and dynamic.

• • They can be synchronized with technologies like JavaScript & HTML.
  • According to a study by the IAB and comScore, rich media ads result in higher user interaction (79% higher) better brand recall (18% more viewers recalled the brand) and better message recall (23% more users remembered the message of the ad)

What are Mobile Game Ads?

Mobile game ad formats take the best out of the in-app environment: interactivity, commitment, and memorable user experience. In-game advertising can be static and vibrant, including videos or interstitial advertisements.

The Size

The size of mobile game ads can be similar to interstitial and video mobile ad formats.

The Features

• • They are highly interactive and engage more.
  • They are cost-effective.
  • Their mobile ad format is universally supported.

Do you have a game app? You may also want to check this blog to learn what are the best ad format for your mobile game!

Which One is The Best Mobile Ad Format & Which Ones Work for You?

Of course, choosing the most effective ad format is important to generate revenue, it is regarding select good quality ad network and some special dynamics belong to your app and business line as well. You can follow these questions to ask yourself about determining and choosing the most suitable, effective mobile ad format for you:

• Who is the target audience of your app?
• How often and how they interact with mobile apps?
• What will your mobile platforms be and how will you select them?
• For how long do you plan running your ad campaign?
• What is your budget, minimum-maximum?
• Do you have any tool to test and determine the important metrics for ad formats performance?

Please don’t forget that your specific needs, restrictions, and requirements are very important as much as your mobile ad format. Thus, before you choose the mobile ad format to use in your campaigns, you have to undergo an analyzing process to answer these questions.

Final Thoughts 

We explained to you briefly what are mobile ad formats. We hope you create great advertisements using one of these mobile advertising formats.

The post Best Mobile Ad Formats And Mobile Ad Sizes first appeared on AppSamurai.

Important Metrics Related To The Holiday Shopping Season

There are other significant metrics that prove the holiday season is the stellar performance of online shopping. Before discussing what you should do to prepare your app for the holiday season, let’s dig the important data that brighten us how these days are a pot of gold for every brand.

• Two broader peak periods throughout Black Friday are one between 8 am and 10 am and a second from 5 pm to 10 pm. The reason is that shoppers use most of their spare time outside of the work for shopping.
• According to comScore, app users spend 18x more time in-app than on mobile sites in 2015.
• 55% of Black Friday shoppers prefer email promotions, 25% prefer in-app messages and 23% prefer push notifications.
• This rise is not limited with Black Friday. Major retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, and Target reported that mobile traffic and sales were on the rise in Thanksgiving. For example, 60% of Target’s Thanksgiving sales were achieved through mobile devices.
• According to Adobe, Cyber Monday was the largest online shopping day of 2017, accounting for $6.59 billion in sales.
• Similarly, PayPal also saw a 43% increase in PayPal mobile shoppers on Thanksgiving and a 51% increase on Black Friday.
• The highest sales of MasterCard, the second largest weekly growth rate in US retail e-commerce occurred the week of December 17, when sales increased 23.7%. And December 23, a Saturday, was the second highest shopping day of the year. The reason behind this is that digital shoppers are postponing purchases until the eve of Christmas Eve.
• According to Apple, iOS customers spent more than $300 million in apps and games purchases from the App Store on their iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch devices only on New Year’s Day, January 1, 2018, and that they spent over $890 million in App Store purchases during the last week of December 2017 starting Christmas Eve.

What Mobile Apps Should Do?

As you know, the shopping season is very close. And there is no question mobile continues to break records this peak season! If you don’t have any strategy, be quick! The major thing you should do is to ramp up the mobile ad campaigns during Black Friday to see record-breaking app downloads!

Offer Incentives

You need to attract new people to download your app. It is a perfect idea to offer special discounts for first-time downloaders. eMarketer suggests offering 10% off the first purchase or free shipping.

Offer Specific In-App Deals

Actually, it is a must during Black Friday. According to the survey conducted by eMarketer, 68% of the people use apps to receive deals and special offers. It is a huge ratio, right! If you offer incentives available in-app only, you can catch holiday shoppers. Moreover, you can use in-app deals to invite shoppers who abandoned shopping cards to reactivate their abandoned carts and benefit from savings.

Offer Free Of Error Checkout Process

Mobile values more than purchases. 63% of shoppers prefer mobile in order not to wait long lines in-store while 58% prefer mobile to compare prices. As 63% of people run away from long lines, it is important to make the in-app shopping experience easy and short to attract them.

Differentiate Your App

As you know, each day, the number of mobile apps is increasing. It makes necessary to differentiate yourself. In terms of the holiday season, it would be a perfect idea to apply holiday theme or icons, use colors associated with holidays, decorate your screenshots with festive symbols like snowflakes or Santa, add a new Holiday feature.

Incorporating festive attributes to your icon can give up to 47% conversion uplift.

Details are important, too. For example, ‘Action Mouth’ is attributable to Christmas optimization as well. It could give you up to 9% conversion uplift.

I want to remind that new applications and app updates won’t be accepted from 23 to 27 of December. If you are planning to update your app, make it before December 23.

Use Push Notifications

As I said before, 23% of shoppers prefer to push notifications. So, use them! Deliver your special offer, special pricing or an exclusive sale through push notifications.

Show Relevant Ads

88% of the holiday shoppers who start shopping on Black Friday say they want to see ads. Why not you give them what they want. It is a good idea to work with your ad partner to come up with a succeeding advertising strategy when planning the holiday season strategy.

Also, if you have an app different from e-commerce, don’t worry. Because gamers were more engaged on this season last year. Let me explain! What do you prefer to do while you are at home with your family, making a small talk with Grandma, dodging political conversations with Uncle Pet? Also, news apps and fitness apps experienced a lift on Black Friday according to the Leanplum report.
The other additional note is don’t worry if Black Friday or Cyber Monday touch you slightly. And remember MasterCard example!
The last “and” is don’t forget shoppers are most likely to use mobile apps, especially during the Holiday Season if special in-app deals are offered to them.

If you want a successful mobile ad campaign, drop us a line and

Let’s Get Started

The post Holiday Season By The Numbers & Ways To Bring Your App More Revenue first appeared on AppSamurai.