The web app industry is doing record business.
If you’re in the web app industry you have a great opportunity, but there is also a growing competitive climate.
In order for your web app to stand out from the competition you’ll need to be different.
If you’re looking to market your web app or if you will be in the future we’ve put together some strategies that allow you to do just that.
1. Partner With Complementary Companies
I’m really liking this way of marketing lately. You look for companies that have the same target customer as you and you look for ways to partner with them. You could offer them free access to your app as long as they promote the app to their existing customer base.
There are lots of potential ways to partner. Look for ways that offer value to both you and the other company. The more you can make it worth their while the more likely you are to get access to their waiting list of customers.
2. Email Key Users In Your Industry
Sometimes all it takes to get the word out about your app is to email a few key users in the industry.
Be specific with each person. Relate to something they care about. Find a parallel between you and them. Be honest in the email with them about your intentions.
Don’t ask for much. Simply alert them to the new app and then let the app do the talking. If you’ve done a good job on the app then you’ll get a few people to share it with their audiences.
3. Provide Access To Leaders
People like to form groups. There are all kinds of groups out there including groups of people that include your target audience.
Find these groups online and find the leaders within the group.
Make these leaders an offer to use your app. Again, be honest with them about what you’re doing and find a connection between them and your new app.
If you’ve created a great app then the chances are good that they’ll want to share it with the rest of the group.
4. Offer A Beta Program
Beta programs have a few levels of value for your company. You can get feedback to improve your app, but you can also get some great content that you can use as marketing material on your website and on other publications.
Offer a few select potential customers the opportunity to help you in the beta program. Ask for their permission to use their positive feedback as reviews and share that insight where others can see.
This is a great way to show the value of your app without coming across as braggadocio about your company (not sure if I used that word correctly, but it sounds sweet).
5. Blogging // Content Marketing
In just about every case we would recommend blogging or content marketing to a web app company. It’s really a perfect marriage of product and promotion.
Web app customers are usually using the web (duh) so you know those people are also reading online content.
The key to a good blogging strategy is to take the common questions your target customers have and provide answers with each blog post.
For an analytics web app you would want to write about the analytics questions your prospects would have. Help them figure out ways to use data to improve their company.
Those topics will directly relate to your app, but also look to help your clients in general. Their core issue is getting more customers or growing their business. Help them with any type of issue they have achieving that goal.
Take that approach and you’ll find that your customers will discover your content through search and social.
Hopefully these strategies can get you started with your web app marketing.
We’re always looking to help companies grow.
The web app industry is an exciting one. We’re involved with it at GBW with a few partners and it’s always interesting to see the ones that find their way to the top.
Image: Flickr