Here’s new insight on how to market and monetize your apps on a greater scale
As the app market continues to grow, challenges and opportunities remain for developers and marketers of apps for a mobile world.
A new whitepaper, sponsored by appScatter, the leading app distribution and management platform, offers perspective on the exploding market for app marketing and distribution, which currently includes approximately 20bn devices and 10m apps.
“It is predicted by 2020 there will be 33bn devices and 25m apps,” said Philip Marcella, CEO of appScatter. “The growing number of apps on offer means developers and publishers require optimized marketing strategies driven by sophisticated analytics. This whitepaper explains the areas that developers and publishers can look to for opportunity.”
An insightful look at today’s current app market, the research reveals several themes that represent both a challenge and an opportunity for developers and marketers of apps for mobile devices. Some of these themes include:
App inventory continues to grow exponentially
Despite the seemingly infinite amount of apps currently available, there is no end in sight for this pace to slow down any time soon. According to Pocketgamer, in January more than 800 apps were submitted per day, equaling more than 25,000 new apps in the month alone.
Demand for new apps continues to grow
Despite large inventories, the market’s appetite for new apps remains consistent. According to 451 Research, there are currently 2.64bn active mobile app users globally with expectations for that number to grow to more than 3.13bn by the end of 2018.
There IS choice in the market
While names like Google and Apple come to mind most often as the sources for new apps, the amount of app stores continues to flourish. Today there are more than 300 app stores and growing worldwide. This widening channel offers app developers the ability to target the distribution of their apps specifically by demographic, geography and interests.
Discovery is key
While an expanding channel increases the path to market significantly, it also presents challenges in terms of being found amidst a sea of potential options. Makers and distributors of apps need to focus on making consumers aware of their offering. According to Tune, a survey of more than 2,000 mobile users revealed that 67 per cent of new app installs occurred after an app store search, as opposed to via a direct link to the app.
Complexity reigns: It isn’t easy to manage and track apps
While the opportunity presented by an expanding channel and supported by continued consumer demand bodes well for app makers, managing the performance and adoption of apps across multiple stores is a complex and time-consuming task. App marketers should look for solutions capable of providing visibility of apps across multiple stores.
“As difficult as it can be to market and ‘break through,’ app publishers know the reward is significant,” says Marcella. “According to Connected Marketer, ‘in-app’ will be our collective default state as we reach to mobile apps for advice, assistance, and of course entertainment, on every step of our daily journey.”
For more information visit appScatter.com and follow the company on Twitter @appScatter.