Guest Post from Micah Adler, CEO for Fiksu on How to Avoid Mobile App Marketing Mistakes

Today’s relevant guest post is called Two Major Mobile App Marketing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

By Micah Adler, CEO and Founder, Fiksu

The mobile app world is still new and constantly changing and even the most experienced marketers agree that app promotion – to improve app store ranking and acquire enough new users to cost-effectively grow their business – can be a serious challenge. This article outlines two of the most common mobile app marketing mistakes, along with proven best practices for avoiding these pitfalls and improving mobile app marketing results.

Mistake #1: Employing Too Few Traffic Sources

One of the most frequent mistakes mobile marketers make is using only one or two traffic sources to acquire new app users. There are numerous sources available across the mobile app ecosystem, and marketers run a considerable risk of achieving subpar results if they do not explore which traffic sources perform best for their specific mobile app.

While site optimizations within key networks and the occasional creative refresh can help drive performance improvements, the single biggest driver of app marketing success is identifying the best-performing mobile traffic sources and exploiting them. If you don’t test a wide variety of sources, you’re unlikely to end up working with the strongest performing networks for advertising your apps.

Additionally, every marketer has to compete with the biggest brand names out there – and by only working with a few sources – you subject yourself to the uncontrollable ebbs and flows of available inventory. For example, executing with any given network today may not necessarily be as effective tomorrow. In order to be successful, it’s important to stay nimble, continuously shifting and re-distributing budgets across other networks to find the best-performing sources.

Successful app marketers have found that working with a large number of traffic sources to identify the most effective can improve performance by up to five times. In addition, by working with a wide range of sources, marketers can avoid audience saturation and maintain a more consistent stream of traffic in the face of inevitable traffic fluctuations.

We recommend that mobile app marketers consider a traffic plan that includes a mix of several mobile app ad networks, real-time bidding platforms and incentive-based download programs.

Mistake #2: Relying on Traditional Agencies or on Direct Interactions with Ad Networks

Marketing a mobile app requires unique approaches that differ greatly from traditional marketing, yet a common mistake marketers make is to rely on traditional ad agencies or marketing firms that may not have specialized expertise in mobile app advertising nuances.

In many cases, traditional agencies will rely on one or two preferred mobile app ad networks rather than trying a broad base of sources to determine which perform best. Even if you sidestep traditional agencies and work directly with ad networks, it is a common mistake to rely too heavily on a single network’s advice. Inherently, the ad networks serve two masters – advertisers and publishers – and cannot focus solely on your needs as an advertiser. It is in the networks’ best interest to give business to each of their publishers, and this could be in direct conflict with your objectives.

While ad networks should be a key part of an advertiser’s marketing mix, it is better to rely on an outside technology expert that specializes in mobile app marketing.  This partner should provide custom-built tracking and optimization technology with the ability to attribute media spend based on conversion performance beyond a download. It is also important to note that the quality in traffic between sources varies dramatically and the propensity to convert will impact the ability to attract loyal users. Also be sure to interview the firm to assess their mobile app marketing best practices and choose one that has experience with organizations similar to yours.

If you’re not using a mobile app marketing platform, strongly consider doing so. Even if your in-house marketing team has the expertise, they probably do not have access to the best ad-optimizing technology available and they may not have the time to manage campaigns the way they’d like to.

It’s true that finding the right mobile app marketing formula takes time and effort, but it doesn’t have to break the bank. By following these proven best practices, you’ll be well on your way to achieving optimal results and acquiring scores of loyal app users.

About Micah Adler, President, CEO, Founder, Fiksu

An academic turned prolific technology entrepreneur, Micah Adler combines rich industry insight with complex technical knowledge as the president, CEO, and founder of Fiksu. Previously, Micah was CEO, president, and co-founder of Adverplex, a search engine marketing (SEM) optimization company. His research in algorithms, probabilistic analysis and combinatorial optimization helped the company develop innovative technology to drive profitability for multi-million dollar SEM campaigns. Micah was also the co-founder, president and board member of CourseAdvisor, which was acquired by the Washington Post Corporation in 2007. He has served on the boards of directors for more than 10 Boston-area startup companies.

Micah was also a tenured professor of Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He has authored more than 50 widely cited publications; holds multiple patents; and has served on numerous academic review committees, program committees and editorial boards. He received his BS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his PhD in theoretical computer science from the University of California, Berkeley