How a Personalized App can Help Your Marketing Strategy

With the rise in popularity of mobile apps for business, more companies are seeking out personalization as a key to success in their mobile marketing strategy. Today, there is no reason that you cannot use a personalized application in your marketing strategy; it is simply a matter of finding the right company to work with and doing the necessary research to determine which type of application will best help you in achieving your goals.

Personalization Can Attract Customers

Personalization is often confused with personality. While impersonal marketing strategies have been around for a while, personalization has only recently become the industry standard, so to speak. A more fitting comparison for this type of personalization is to think about how your company would like to be perceived through a company's chosen applications, instead of what you might imagine your employees would think.

Personalization can take many forms. For example, you may use your company's logo, or perhaps an image, as part of your application design. You could use personal photos of your employees and customers or even promotional items, such as T-shirts, to enhance your branding efforts. This is a great way to show your appreciation to loyal customers and clients without being overly pushy.

You can easily find an app maker that will help you create the perfect level of personalization.

Get Your Customers Involved

Another advantage of personalization is that it allows your customers to get involved in your marketing process by being able to easily access your information, whether that is through text messages emails, or other forms of communication. As a result, you can easily create a more interactive marketing strategy with your customers and encourage them to be engaged in the decision-making process and provide feedback on your product or service.

However, personalization can also come with some potential pitfalls. Many apps for business include features that could potentially invade a customer's privacy, such as tracking their location and/or allowing advertisers to target their marketing messages to specific users.

Another common problem with personalization comes with the user agreement and terms of service (TOS) agreements. If a customer signs up for your app after downloading it from the company website, he or she has to agree that he or she will not use the app to violate the agreement that the company created for them and agrees to comply with all regulations and rules that may come about from using the app.

Let Customers Make Suggestions

There are also apps for business, that allow customers to make suggestions on what should be offered and included in the application. This feature, along with the ability to track a customer's activity through the application, can lead to some unpleasant scenarios for companies that want to increase customer loyalty, such as those that may want to send spam messages, which could be perceived as annoying and intrusive.

Know What Information to Provide

It may also be difficult to control the information that a person has access to via a personalized app, including what can be shared with outside parties. That said, the benefits of personalization far outweigh these potential problems and are a great way for businesses to build a closer relationship with their customers and build their brand name as a trusted entity in their market.

The great thing about having an app for business is that it allows you to reach your customers in a more personal fashion. When a customer opens up an app to see if they can download something, they usually have much more time to do so instead of simply clicking on a link, as it is typically easier to use and gives them something that they can actually enjoy.

Personalized apps are also a great way for businesses to test various marketing strategies to find out what works for them. Whether it is a new promotion plan or simply a small change in how a customer is treated, an app can help you see results in less time than it would take to test something with the traditional methods.

It will Build Your Customer Base

Finally, personalization can help you build your customer base and improve the level of trust they have in your company. This in turn leads to loyalty and retention of customers, which is one of the most important factors when trying to determine what type of business model works best for your organization.

It is always important to keep in mind that customer loyalty means more than just making them feel appreciated and making them feel special. A personalized app can allow you to offer unique and meaningful experiences to your clients and can help you create a relationship that will last much longer than any other marketing approach.

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This article was taken from PromotionWorld’s website.

7 Benefits of Motion Graphics Videos for Businesses

Did you notice how much emotionally and mentally engaged you are while watching motion graphics videos?!

Motion graphics are the combination of different content formats (Text – Numbers – Voiceover – Sounds – Animation) that capture the attention of viewers and simplify the delivered message to add value to viewers and encourage them to perform desired conversions.

80% of content consumed nowadays is video and taking advantage of video marketing enables businesses to stand out from the competition with an appealing engaging content that drives more and more conversions “46% of consumers made a purchasing decision after watching an online video about the product”.

Different techniques and technologies can be used when producing motion graphics videos including 2D & 3D animation, 360-degree videos, AR and VR experiences and traditional hand drawing techniques to create appealing content that dliver the desired results.

We will discuss the main advantages and benefits of using professional motion graphics videos and also the main types of motion graphics videos to guide you to a suitable decision about your next marketing campaign.

Motion Graphics Videos Benefits

The uses and advantages of using motion graphics are only limited to your imagination and the skills and experiences that you possess to produce professional motion graphics content suitable for the campaign goals, chosen platforms and the targeted audience.

The main advantages of using motion graphics include:

#1. Effective Branding Solution

Branding is all about establishing a positive image in the minds of the targeted audience about your brand and associated products and services with the use of effective branding solutions.

Motion graphics videos have proved their efficiency as a branding solution as they attract the attention of audiences in a world of limited attention span effectively and engage them emotionally and mentally with your brand message.

Whether you’re increasing awareness about your brand, launching new products or services, targeting new customers’ segments or improving the brand reputation, motion graphics content will be the winning card with appealing visual and audio content that demonstrates your brand message efficiently.

Higher engagement level is guaranteed with the easily-shared content and real-time feedback about the brand and available products or services perception and performance from the targeted audience that enables businesses to evaluate and improve their position within the competition.

Motion graphics content can be customized to fit the brand visual identity (Color scheme – Fonts – Typography), the brand voice & tone and the targeted audience preferences & interests with a formal refined appearance and increased control over the content style better than live-action videos.

#2. Simplifying Complex Topics

One of the main advantages of using motion graphics videos is that you can simplify complex ideas and topics to viewers and add the expected value with engaging visuals (illustrations – diagrams – characters) that can be consumed quicker within a minute or two rather than writing a lengthy blog post that consumes more valuable time.

Statistics, data visualization, chemistry, physics, internet of things “IOT” and all complex and sometimes boring topics can be simplified and educated to viewers with ease in a short period suitable for their limited attention span and time as human brain process visual date 60,000 times faster than data in a text format.

You can explain the competitive advantage of your business products and solution and how they can handle the targeted audience “potential customers” needs and problems as we did with our client “Telehealth Solutions” to illustrate their innovative medical solutions.

#3. Highly-engaged & Effortlessly-consumed

Video marketing content receives 12x engagement over other types of content published online on social media platforms of comments and shares from active social media users on different social media channels regardless of the demographics and interests of active users.

Your business message can go viral through engaging motion graphics videos that are effortlessly consumed by the audience within seconds with no need to waste effort or time with a simplified message with outstanding presentation with the combination of content elements included.

Motion graphics content is memorable by 80% of viewers up to 30 days and retains 95% of the information presented visually compared to 10% when using a text format, so imagine the value-added to your business marketing campaigns from an engaging effortlessly-consumed memorable content marketing solution.

#4. Multi-Sensory Experience

The targeted audiences differentiate based on their favorite content format and how they prefer to receive information either by reading a detailed text content, listening to audio content, viewing an infographic or a video.

As we mentioned, motion graphics videos are a combination of different content formats (Illustrations – Animation – Text & Numbers – Voiceover) “multi-sensory experience” that enable you to address different audiences and increase engagement and the added value with their favorite content format included.

#5. Time & Cost-Effective

Graphic designs and illustrations are effective marketing solutions that increase engagement and drive the desired conversions from targeted audience on chosen platforms to publish the content.

Motion graphics videos consist of designs, illustrations and audio content that drives higher conversion rate (Website Traffic – Completed Purchases) by 20% than other content marketing formats with higher ROI achieved using a highly-persuasive marketing solution.   

Despite the fact that humans spend 6 hours at least weekly watching videos, the available time for your business to attract and engage them with your content is limited and decreasing every day with millions of video content pieces produced daily. 

Motion graphics content is efficient in taking advantage of available limited time for viewers to watch and interact with your content on different devices responsively and different traditional and online platforms.

#6. Suitable for Different Platforms & Goals

Regardless of the platform chosen to publish the content, motion graphics videos are customizable and effective for different marketing, advertising, and branding goals and platforms with different formats available to produce including:

• Products & Services Promotional Videos

• Business & Sales Presentations

• Marketing & Branding Events

• Traditional & Online Ads

• Social Media Content (All Platforms)

• Email Marketing Campaigns

• Educational & Explainer Videos (How-to Tutorials)

• Product Reviews & Testimonials

• Brand & Company Info Videos

There is an endless pool of opportunities to take advantage of with customized professional motion graphics content and the choice is all yours when to start creating and integrating motion graphics content in your business marketing campaigns but hurry up to avoid missing profitable business opportunities.

#7. Improves SEO performance

Engaging motion graphics videos embedded on business and e-commerce platforms increases dwell time (period spent by the user on your website) significantly, increases the average visited pages per session by 260% and reduces the bounce rate.

All mentioned advantages are positive indicators for search engines about your website content quality and the user experience which improves overall search engine optimization (SEO) activities performance.

The positive result of SEO activities will enable your business website to reach higher ranking in related search results generating more profitable traffic from potential customers who searched online about related products or solutions to what your business is offering.

The Takeaway

It’s all clear now how much value can be added to your business by using motion graphics videos but prior to choosing a suitable type of motion graphics content, you should define your business goals out of the produced content and targeted audience demographics, interests and suitable targeting platforms then you should carefully select a professional marketing agency specialized in providing motion graphics and media production solutions to produce the suitable content for your campaigns.

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Source: Sendian Creations website

6 Mobile App Marketing Mistakes You Should Avoid At All Costs (And What To Do Instead)

When you’re building an app, marketing mistakes can cost you big time.

How?

Well, your pre-launch marketing will determine the overall opinion and popularity of your app when it launches, which can dictate how many people decide to download it. And even after your app is launched, you need to continue marketing in it a way that entices people to download it. Otherwise, you could see a sales slump and a bad overall return on your investment.

Don’t let that happen. Instead, take a look at the following 6 mobile marketing mistakes you should avoid at all costs, and you’ll learn what you should do instead to successfully market your app.

1. Not setting the right expectations for your app

You’ve probably heard the saying “under-promise and over-deliver.” That definitely applies when you’re marketing an app.

Think about it – if you market your app as the greatest in the world but can’t back up your claims, you’ll disappoint the people who download it. That means they might end up leaving negative reviews like this:

…Ouch.

That being said, don’t sell yourself short. Talk about the benefits of your app and highlight its unique selling points, but don’t exaggerate. That way, your customers know exactly what they’re getting when they download your app.

You may also want to include screenshots of your app, like Whatsapp does:

Doing so allows people who are interested your app to see exactly what it looks like and how it is used before they commit to downloading it.

2. Failing to optimize your app for the app store

You’ve probably heard of SEO (search engine optimization), but have you heard of ASO (app store optimization)?

If not, it’s time to start learning. Take a look at this data and you’ll see why:

That’s right – most people discover apps simply from browsing the app store. So, if you haven’t optimized your app in a way that allows it to be found easily, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on lots of sales.

Now, before you start optimizing your app, make sure you have a deep understanding of your target audience and how they’re likely to search when looking for apps similar to yours. After all, if you optimize for the wrong key words, you won’t see the results you’re looking for.

Once you’ve chosen the best key words, here are a few ASO steps you’ll want to take:

• Place the key word with the most search traffic in the app title. Make sure you perform extensive research to determine the best key word before you do this. You don’t want to have to change the title later because that will make your app more difficult for people to find.

• Market your brand and app. The total number of times your app has been downloaded will affect its ranking in the app store, so prioritize marketing and make sure you’re building a strong social media presence.

• Try to get good reviews for your app. Add an app review plugin to your app to automatically ask people for reviews. (I’ll talk more in-depth about this later in this post.)

Tip: Use the tools listed here for help deciding on app key words, improving your app search ranking, and more.

3. Failing to drive mobile app reviews

Regardless of what kind of app you’re creating, you’ll probably find that you’ve got lots of competitors. One way to make your target audience choose you over the competition is to get lots of good reviews.

Why?

Because social proof plays a huge role in app purchasing decisions, and high ratings will give your app a better ranking in the app store.

Bottom line: the more positive reviews you can get for your app, the better.

Now, you’re probably wondering how you can encourage users to review your app. One of the easiest ways is to use an app review plugin like Appirater. When you do, users will be prompted to review your app, like this:

A word of warning: avoid giving users incentives for positive reviews – Apple has started to remove apps that do this.

4. Not creating a microsite for your app

A microsite is a web page or group of web pages that exists independently from your main company web site. Typically, microsites are used to promote one specific product or service.

You don’t have to create a microsite to promote your mobile app, but doing so could definitely help your overall mobile marketing strategy. Plus, if you decide to pitch your app to blogs and other media outlets, your microsite can help them quickly understand what your app does and why people would want to use it.

Take a look at this microsite developed to advertise the Shyp app:

Visit the site here, and you’ll notice several things:

• The design is simple and draws attention to the main benefits of the app.

• The page includes links to the Shyp social media accounts so people who are interested in it can connect with the brand.

• The green “sign up” button is immediately visible above the fold when the site loads, making it easy for people who are interested in the app to sign up quickly.

Pretty effective, if you ask me.

When creating your microsite, you should follow Shyp’s example and use a simple, intuitive design that makes it easy for potential customers to connect with your brand and sign up to use your app.

Here are a few things you may also want to include in your microsite:

• A video that advertises your app

• Plenty of information about what the app does and how it works

• App screenshots

• App store download links

Remember, your microsite design should be easy to use and your copy should be broken up with plenty of white space and images – no one wants to spend time trying to figure out a difficult site or reading giant walls of text.

5. Failing to use social networks to promote your app

You’re probably already using social media to connect with your target audience, but have you considered creating a separate social media marketing strategy for your app?

If not, you should. Here are a few tips for promoting your app on social media:

• Give people an incentive to connect with you and download your app. For example, if your app is a game, you could offer extra lives/levels. Think about which in-app purchases you could temporarily give away for free to get people to download your app or follow one of your social media pages.

• Write in a human voice in all of your social media posts. When you’re writing, consider your target audience and use a tone that you think will attract them. Whatever you do, avoid writing in a robotic tone – no one wants to read something written that way.

• Schedule your social media posts to save time. Posting to social media can be time-consuming, so it’s best to automate using Hootsuite or a similar tool.

You can also use Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram ads to spread the word about your app. Figure out which social network is most popular with your ideal customers, and spend most of your time creating ads for that social network.

6. Not getting your app featured on a high-quality blog

The harsh truth is that not many people will care about your app when it has just been released. That’s largely because your app probably won’t have been talked about by credible bloggers and news outlets.

The obvious solution? Reach out to editors to see if they’d be willing to feature your app in a post/article.

But you can’t just email an editor on a whim and expect them to be thrilled about featuring your app. You’ve got to take specific steps while pitching your app if you want to increase your likelihood of hearing back from them, including:

• Get to the point quickly. Editors are busy people, so try to keep your email as brief as possible without excluding necessary information.

• Give them a reason to want to work with you. For example, if you have built a following of people who are eagerly anticipating your app release date (if it hasn’t been released yet), let the editor know.

• Give them a sneak peek of your app. If you’re still beta testing your app, send the editor the beta version so they can take a firsthand look at how it works.

• Avoid being overly sales-y. No one likes to be sold to. While you should talk about what makes your app awesome, also try to focus on making a real connection with the editor. After all, editors are people too!

And, if possible, try to get a referral. Think about your network – if someone you know could introduce you to the editor you’re emailing, you’re much more likely to see positive results from your email.

In Conclusion

When you’re creating an app, make sure your app idea is marketable to begin with – otherwise, the tips I’ve outlined here may not help you.

On top of that, your app should offer the user something that retains value for a long time to keep them from deleting it within a few months. Apptentive data shows that over 90% of people who download an app delete it within 6 months, so really think about the value of your app before you spend lots of time and money developing and marketing it.

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This article was written by Ian Blair. Source: www.buildfire.com

Why Mobile Marketing Is So Important For Your App?

by Seyhmus Olker

You are an app owner. You built a flawless app. A great mobile designer helped you with the UX. It is now an extraordinary app. What’s next? Being such an amazing app it will definitely rock the world. Well, things don’t usually work that way. You missed one more step. You didn’t figure out the way you will present it to your audience. How they will find it? “I have a billion-dollar app, it will promote itself”, you will say, but how do you plan to convince users to pay that money? The answer is “Mobile Marketing” and we will discuss further the reasons why it is mandatory to understand the opportunities you have for making your app visible in front of your customers. We will focus our demonstration on mobile apps but the following statements are available for all types of products because we reached an era where everything is related to the mobile ecosystem.

Image Source: https://www.slideshare.net/ScottValentine1/big-brand-strategies-for-mobile-app-marketing

Before we start, let’s answer the two most important questions:

What is mobile app marketing?

Mobile app marketing is a marketing strategy that involves interacting with your users through their entire lifecycle, starting when they first hear about your app in order to promote your mobile app and increase its downloads and other important mobile apps KPI’s.

What’s the difference between mobile app marketing and mobile marketing?

Mobile app marketing focuses on app promotion, whereas mobile marketing is a broader term that can mean any marketing activity occurring on a mobile device.

Reasons Why Mobile Marketing Is So Important

Do you really need mobile marketing for reaching success? Let’s see.

Study The Statistics

We will start with the numbers. Mobile Marketing Statistics Compilation published by Smart Insights a few months ago is the best way to understand how customers’ behavior influences the trajectory of every business (big or small). Did you know that more than 90% of the time on mobile is spent in apps?

At the same time it is equally important to analyze the best moment when your customers are available and what devices they are using like it is shown in this chart. This way you will discover how to approach them.

http://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile-marketing-analytics/mobile-marketing-statistics/

Therefore, taking into account all the variables that play a huge role in the way users interact with your app is proof that you can’t throw your app blindly on the app store and hope for the best. A well-thought mobile application marketing strategy shows its importance here.

We’re talking about 90% of the time spent on mobile devices, the competition is huge! You have to consider a lot of things when developing your mobile app marketing strategy, look at mobile app marketing insights, your competition’s marketing campaigns. You have to decide upon important mobile app marketing KPIs and mobile app marketing budgets, how are you going to market and monetize your mobile app.

There Are Millions Just Like You

You are not alone in this mobile world. Can you see behind the report published by Statista and to observe all the app owners? Just like you, many of them consider that they have the best app on this planet and they invested all their resources in those creations. In fact, some of them did create awarded apps and we share their strategies in our series of Mobile Apps Success Stories which in a certain way is a confirmation of what we are saying today. You probably noticed or you are about to realize that it is impossible to rank higher in app stores without a well-structured plan created while you follow the latest trends in mobile marketing.

The Future Is Now

With the evolution of technology we see bots that sound like humans everywhere. Virtual reality and augmented reality have passed the barriers of games and they are used for almost any purpose. It is a matter of time until they will rule the marketing environment transforming advertising into a fun process. Do you remember that a couple of weeks ago we mentioned the experiments run by Google for its VR Ads? It is a huge thing that will revolutionize the way users receive ads.

Image Source: https://developers.googleblog.com/2017/06/experimenting-with-vr-ad-formats-at.html

Mobile Marketing Is For All Businesses

Take for example location-based ads, the most efficient method for personalizing your strategy when you want to reach the right users, in the best place for sending them your message. Do you have a food app for inviting people to your restaurant? Then you will know who is hungry. Or, maybe you just built a retail app perfect for shopaholics? When they are near your store, why don’t you send them an in-app message showing an offer for their favorite products? Great mobile app marketing strategies do not always include big marketing budgets or a few month-long planning, but they all include putting the customer in the center. For example, Starbucks’ location-based push notification is simple, yet very effective.

Image Source: https://econsultancy.com/blog/67418-what-is-location-based-advertising-why-is-it-the-next-big-thing/

Regardless of the features integrated into the app, you must make people understand that you can help them and that you are there whenever they need your services. There are various techniques that make mobile marketing vital for any brand. Additionally, you can use them to promote your awesome game that has the power to entertain users for hours. We say it again; even with the most amazing app you come to a crucial point when you need to present it to your users.

Bonding With Customers

Mobiles, by their nature, allow you to create a long term relationship between you and your customers. And in mobile app marketing, you impose the rules. You select the best strategy, you decide what technique works better for your app category, and in what way you will approach your users. It is a flexible ecosystem that allows you to connect with your users in a way never seen before. Going back to your mobile app, you probably started to create it as a method for solving a problem and now if you promote it you will manage to bring your solution in front of those specific persons who really need it. It is about knowing your target audience and serving them what they want in the best possible way.

Everybody Else Is Doing It

Yes, this is the worst motivational saying in all the other cases, but in this situation you need to be (at least) one step ahead of your competition. If they use all the strategies available for promoting their apps, and you do nothing for this purpose, your creation will remain way behind. Always remember the chart from Statista you saw before and imagine your users browsing through millions of apps in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store without any hints about your great app. It would be awful to see how they use other apps when you invested so much effort in building yours. At the same time you are probably asking yourself why they don’t use your app. We can tell you why, because they can’t find it. That’s where mobile app marketing comes in. By developing a killer marketing campaign, you make sure customers find you, bond with you, and stay with you.

Image Source: https://thinkmobiles.com/how-make-app/

FINAL THOUGHTS

Let’s put it this way: Every product needs help to get in front of its customers, no matter how good it is. And with the evolution of app stores, apps need mobile marketing more than ever to reach their audience. Is that simple and hopefully now you are aware of its importance and you are prepared for this fight with the most powerful weapons.

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This article was taken from www.appsamurai.com.

7 Mistakes to Avoid in Your First Web App

by Saddam Hassan

Building your first web app is surely a step towards success in the world of the Internet. But did you know that the developers, even the skilled ones commit certain mistakes that can impact the overall position of the web app? These mistakes can be a minute at times and they can pose threats to the business in the long run.

 There is a saying that to every problem, there is a solution. Mistakes and errors can crawl into your first web app and we have the perfect guide for you to avoid them.

Top 7 web app mistakes to avoid

Lacking proper research

A lot of money goes into the making of a web app and this is the primary reason you need to do your homework first. Big brands and business owners are successful today because they do their market research and then create the app. But many web app development companies avoid market research and analysis and get their web app ready.

 Eventually, after the launch, their app fails to meet the expectations of the customers and end up losing dominance. Setting up the primary objectives and goals is therefore an important step in this case.

Setting unrealistic budgets

This is another big mistake the web app development companies make. They set up an unrealistic budget without calculating the requirements thoroughly. If you are developing your web app, you might need to hire a development team with experts. The time taken to complete the app takes several weeks to months depending on the amount of work and complexities in it.

 It is important to measure the extent of the web app and then set a realistic budget. Review quotes from different companies and freelancers before investing.

Communicate your expectations

Before the web app development companies in Canada start their work, it is essential to brief them about your expectations from the app. If you have any design in your mind or any suggestions related to the app, it should be conveyed to them.

 To avoid any sort of confusion later, make sure you are communicating well with the web app development company and keeping a track of the changes periodically. This will also help you derive a realistic budget and the finished product will be a furnished one.

Too many features in the app

Are you thinking of putting in too many features in your web app? If yes, then you may be making a mistake. Web app development companies in Canada tend to think that putting a lot of attractive features will make the apps successful in the market. This is not true. The world of the internet is all about delivering exactly what the customers want. 

 Too many features can make the web app complex and the customers might find it difficult to use. Also, numerous features will add up to your budget and make the development expensive. Just include the essential features in the app and try to keep it simple and classy. Add features based on the feedback of the customers and users.

A cross-platform strategy

This might seem to be a new term in the beginning but developers have started creating cross-platform strategies to support multiple platforms. If you are designing your web app for one single platform, then you are making a big mistake.

 Mobile applications run on different operating systems these days and you must focus on developing a cross-platform strategy to support your web app to successfully run on different operating systems once it is released in the market.

Not marketing your product

Did you know that many web apps in the market fail because of a lack of proper marketing?. Marketing is very essential when it comes to selling your product to customers. You need to familiarize your web app to the people on the internet and then you can expect a growth in the usage and sales of the product.

 Even if you have made a decent web app, it might not go well in the market if it is not marketed properly. Avoid this mistake by strategizing a proper and efficient marketing strategy.

Focus less on appearance

Many developers tend to focus more on building a solid web app look rather than focusing on the user interface. This is a big mistake you can commit and this mistake can cost you your valuable customers in the long run.

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This article was taken from PromotionWorld.

4 Mind-Blowing Ways to Promote Your App with Video Content

If your business has an app, I probably don’t have to tell you that competition is brutal. Thousands of new apps are uploaded each day on platforms like Google Play and the App Store, and it takes a lot to get noticed!

Thankfully, video content can give your app that extra push it needs to stand out from the crowd.

Sure, plenty of other apps out there are already trying to use video as part of their marketing strategy. But, as the finest video marketing teams out there will tell you, it’s rarely used to its full potential.

In this piece, we’ll tell you how to do it right!

From the best style of video for apps, to inside-baseball tips and tricks on how to get the most out of them - Let's put that awesome app in front of as many eyes as possible, and build the community it needs to grow.

Two Main Reasons Why Video is Worth a Thousand Pictures

Having some pictures and a text description just doesn’t do it anymore for most audiences, and won’t do your app any justice! Next, to actually demoing your app, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better way to promote your app (and try to figure out the best way to get people to download and try that demo! I’ll give you three guesses…)

In the last few years, video content has become a key strand of the digital marketing tapestry, and here’s mainly why:

1. There is a type of video for each of your marketing needs
   For starters, the medium gives developers an incredibly wide range of possible angles to tackle: Your video can focus on your brand’s story, the benefits of your app, or establishing and nurturing a relationship with potential customers.

2. Videos are engaging and easy to understand
   Unlike most other products out there, some apps can get very complex. How can you explain all the features in your app in a simple way? Quickly and clearly conveying what your app is all about can be a tricky challenge for more traditional advertising methods, but not for video.

Remember, as novel as they are, at the end of the day, apps remain as dependent on promotion as any other product out there! No awareness equals no purchases/downloads.

To give you an example, let’s use “Search N Map”, a search engine application that uses a complex algorithm based on people’s comments and reviews. This video does a great job at explaining how the app works in a very simple way, something you couldn’t possibly achieve with just a picture or text.

Add Videos to Your App Profile

Platforms like Google Play and the App Store let you add a video right on your app’s profile, so why not make the best of it? Let’s go over some of the specs and advantages offered by each platform.

Take Advantage of Google Play’s Flexible Video Features

This app storefront for Android devices requires you to host your video through YouTube. This means you need to upload your piece on that planform before you can embed it on your app’s profile.

Why is this good news? Because any views of the video on the store, will count as a view on YouTube as well, and thus will improve your ranking. Moreover, YouTube videos rank independently in Google searches, increasing your chances for further organic exposure.

A useful but lesser-known tip about Google Play in this regard is its video localization option. If you’re targeting consumers in non-English-speaking countries, you have the possibility to add a video for more than one language.

Consider making language-specific versions of your video, or at least add translated captions. Your users will automatically see the version in their language based on their location settings, which is likely to impact your downloads.

Get To Know the App Store’s Video Requirements

Apple calls the videos featured on your app’s profile “app previews”. They have some strict guidelines, but don’t worry! Those won’t stop you from making an engaging video for your users.

Apple allows up to three previews for each language your app supports. Also, your preview can be no more than 30 seconds long! You can think of this as a constraint, but take it as a challenge or, even better, a blessing in disguise: your video should be short and fast-paced to keep it engaging.

Another guideline is that your preview shouldn’t look like an ad. What does this mean exactly? Well, Apple isn’t very specific on that subject, but they do suggest your video should be composed primarily of device-captured footage. (More on that later!)

Lastly, your preview must be device-specific, which means you need to create different previews if you’ve developed an iPad and an iPhone version of your app.

Explore Other App Distribution Platforms

The App Store and Google Play are, hands down, the most popular app stores in the industry. But there are other app stores that offer different amounts of visibility and lower competition. Here are some you might want to check out:

• Amazon Appstore

• Microsoft Store

• Samsung Galaxy Apps

• Ubuntu App Store

• Windows Phone Store

Each of them has its own requirements as far as video content with its own pros and cons. And while we can’t cover all of them in detail for this piece, they might be worth considering for some apps!

Using Explainer Videos to Promote Your App

Different types of videos can be more or less effective at accomplishing different marketing goals. But when it comes to promoting your app, you cannot go wrong with an awesome explainer video.

By focusing on your app’s benefits and not just its features, explainer videos show how your app will make life easier for your customers. They are great at making the complex simple, by answering three main questions: the "what," "how," and "why" of your app.

Explainer videos get two jobs done in one fell swoop: they introduce people to your app’s features while also creating an emotional bond with the power of storytelling. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that they are one of the most powerful options for your marketing arsenal!

Tips on How to Get Your Explainer Video Right:

• Write a compelling script: By taking your time to develop an effective script, you’re making sure your video will cover all the essential features and benefits from your app. You’ll need to be smart about what to keep and what to leave out, but the end product will benefit greatly for it.

• Keep it short and sweet: And on the topic of leaving things out, nobody has the time to sit through a long app video! As we’ve said, your video should get to the point in the shortest time possible. Don’t spend five minutes saying what could be said in 90 seconds or less.

• End with a clear call to action: A strong CTA is an essential part of any ad, and it should be part of your app’s marketing video as well. Most of the time, all it takes is telling people to go download your app! It sounds simple, but you’d be surprised!

To understand these points better, let’s go over a perfect example of an engaging explainer video.

“Toast” is a money transfer app that allows Filipinos to send money back home. The video shows how the life of Maria, the main character, was drastically improved by using the application.

The script is compelling and simple enough to give the character some depth while also sticking to the app’s benefits. And, of course, it ends with the Google Play Store logo as a CTA, so the audience knows where to go next.

Illustrate the Specific Problems Your App Can Solve

While working with explainers gives you an easy-to-follow framework to create videos for your apps, it’s by no means the only approach you can take. That said, regardless of the specific style you go for, no app video will work without a key ingredient: Context.

You’re not doing a good job at promoting your app with video content if you don’t show your app in context. Your audience needs to watch your app being used in different scenarios to understand how it can make their lives easier!

You can approach this in many ways. If you are going for a live-action piece, you can share captures or live streams of your app in action. I'd warn you about overdoing it, though! As audiences can quickly grow bored with a video like this.

On the other hand, animation can be a fantastic way to overcome this hurdle. By creating attractive visual representations of your app’s functions, you get to keep the viewers visually and mentally engaged long enough to deliver your message!

Having said all that, if you take only one thing from this piece, let it be this: Your app’s video shouldn’t be just about how your app works! It should also be about how it can make the viewer’s life better.

Take this piece as an example.

“I’m Here” is a location sharing application, and therefore can be used in an infinite number of different contexts. You can use it to set a meeting point for your date, to locate your friends in the massive convention, to find the closest exit in a park… the list could go on forever.

This explainer video chooses one scenario in which the app can be useful: travel emergencies. By sticking to this specific and imaginative situation, it makes it easier to understand the app’s benefits.

Summing Up!

As the old proverb goes: if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Well, if you make an app, but nobody downloads it, does it even exist?

So, let’s sum up the actions you need to take to promote your app:

1. Use video content to explain how your app works in an engaging way.

2. Add video to your app’s profile following the technical specs of each platform.

3. Create an explainer video that shows your app’s benefits and creates a connection with your users.

4. Use examples to show the specific scenarios in which your app can be useful.

Video content is the most engaging way of communicating your app’s benefits and features, while also building an emotional bond with potential downloaders. So, what are you waiting for? Time to start developing that kick-ass video your app needs today!

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Source: Wishpond’s Blog

20 Creative Ways To Promote Your App For Free

Do you know how to promote an app for free? Creating an app opens the door of a new world. It offers a totally unique experience for you. After developing it, you will witness how it grows day by day or how it is thrown away. The result depends on how effectively you use time and effort in marketing your app. So the question is How to promote a mobile app? or How to promote an app?

Here is a list of creative ways to promote your app for free:

1. Optimize Your App – ASO

2. Make Your App Screenshots Great

3. Offer a Promotional Price

4. Respond To All App Review & Questions

5. Create an App Demo Video

6. Build a Microsite

7. Build a Blog

8. Use Social Channels

9. Find Influencers

10. Join Facebook/LinkedIn Groups

11. Reach Out To Press

12. Reach Out To Bloggers

13. Comment On Blogs

14. Get Featured On App Review Websites

15. Create Email Signature

16. Attend Events

17. Apply For Awards

18. Start a Contest

19. Search For Alternative App Stores

20. Update Your App Regularly

Do you like these mobile app marketing ideas? Let’s dive in and get your app to the summit!

1. Optimize Your App – ASO

The first answer to how to market an app is to optimize your app. ASO is the sum of strategies to rank higher in app stores. From app name to app pricing, it includes everything happening in it. Just like SEO, it analyzes keyword relevance. From the app perspective, it also focuses on review and ratings. If you optimize your app, people will download.

2. Make Your App Screenshots Great

The second answer about how to promote an app is to make screenshots great. Actually, it can be counted among the app store optimization process. However, I want to draw more attention to this point because it is one of the important mobile app promotion ideas. Generally, it is ignored how effective and persuasive they are. The users look over screenshots in order to see what is waiting for them. It would be useful to add captions and visual elements. By looking at the screenshots, user can fully understand the features offered within that app so your preview as screenshots are too important for app promotion. Take a Vine example. You can easily understand what the app offers by looking at screenshots.

3. Offer a Promotional Price

Another mobile app marketing idea is to offer a promotional price. Don’t forget that users don’t have enough idea about your app! So, you need to offer a competitive advantage to make your app reasonable. You can add several coupon codes or promotions for in-app purchases or download as well as you can add a free version of your app to attract more downloads.

4. Respond To All App Review & Questions

It is important to be there as soon as possible when users need to speak with you or ask something to you. Responding app reviews and questions is a sign that you give value to each user. If users don’t satisfied with you, they can pick the one among plenty of apps that give the same service with you.

5. Create an App Demo Video

How to promote an app for free? Create a demo video! Video is your dynamic showcase to introduce all aspects of your app. Things you should pay attention are;

• Not to create more than 30 seconds

• Give the points of “Why, How, What”

After finishing your video, share it on any platform to promote your app.

6. Build a Microsite

Another way to market your app is to build a microsite. Together with a demo video, it is important to leverage a website for your app or to add an exclusive part for your app to your existing website, if yes. It can be a one-page website or a pop-up. The important thing is here to add content explaining the features and benefits of your app and links going to your app rather than being a separate website or a part of an existing website.
If you haven’t launched your app yet, you can collect email addresses of people who want to get alerted when you launch your app.

7. Build a Blog

You can indicate how expert you are on the blog by sharing anything from articles to interviews, from research to news. Moreover, you share your app’s features, benefits, updates at times. Write your story to get users to understand your purpose behind the app and tell them how this app makes their lives easy.

8. Use Social Channels

Be active on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn channels, but especially be active on the channels where your potential customers are at most. Share any action; demo video, updates, sectoral news or trends.

Also, find the trending topics and share something valuable about them. Do you know that #howto hashtag is one of the top trending tags on Vine? You can also create a how-to series taking six seconds.

9. Find Influencers

In today’s world, marketing is changing its shape according to trends. Together with social media, “phenomenons” were born. And now, they are a significant part of marketing. You should take your share! Find any influencer being suitable to introduce your app and send them an email stating your intent obviously. Developing honest, authentic, and mutually beneficial relationships with so-called social media phenomenons will be a long term investment to promote your app. For example, Maisie Williams (aka Arya Stark in Game of Thrones) is building and promoting her own app called Daisie and promoting it as an influencer on Instagram and Twitter.

Would you like to learn how to take advantage of social media influencers for the success of your mobile app? Follow me.

10. Join Facebook/LinkedIn Groups

You can build great relationships by joining developers and entrepreneurs groups on Facebook and LinkedIn especially. It lets you discuss any bug, feature, update or value. Moreover, you can share your app with them and offer them a promo code to try your app. 

Ask for their feedback on your app. This not only increases your visibility but also you can develop your app even better.  Increase your visibility on social media groups & communities to increase your brand visibility and to promote your mobile app.

11. Reach Out To Press

To reach more people, get your story published. Before reaching journalists, be sure that you have everything a journalist will need. They are;
Your app summary guide which includes what your app is, how beneficial it is and why you developed it.
Screenshots which include app screenshots and lifestyle pictures as much as possible. As your media kit will reach many journalists, it would be boring for people to see the same images everywhere.
Design portfolio which includes all logo sizes, icon sizes, banners as much as possible.

12. Reach Out To Bloggers

This strategy is like influencers with an exception that you don’t need to find the blogs reaching the masses. Just find the blogs within your respected industry. Give them coupons or something else that let them use your app and share their own views. Or you can even try to buy backlinks from bloggers that mention your product and link to your own website.

13. Comment On Blogs

Another useful method to promote an app is leaving a comment on blogs. Be careful the users’ profile on the blog you will comment match up with your target customers. Add your app or website link to your profile to boost awareness. Organic growth using comments is a great way to increase your native customers and increase brand visibility.

14. Get Featured On App Review Websites

By optimizing your app, you are doing app marketing basically, because you can reach out app review websites to convince them to feature your app on their site. To get reviewed by them, it is important to have beautiful graphic design, unique content, no crashes or bugs. Review your app and then apply. Buildfire created a rich source to show websites to submit your app. You can view it.

15. Create Email Signature

Like commenting on blogs, the aim is boosting awareness. According to a study by Exact Target, 91% of people check their email daily. Think about the number that will see your app name. So, make it habit to add your app name in your signature.

16. Attend Events

Attending events, conferences or meetups is the best way to grow your network and tell people your app. Have an initial conversation with the people at the event. You can give them your business card, ask for checking your app and getting touch with you for any feedback.

17. Apply For Awards

Attending in-app awards is a great way to recruit new users. You can obtain plenty of downloads, reviews and links. Success depends on your app idea. There are lots of app awards sites:

• Appy Awards

• Best App Ever Awards

• AppCircus competition

• Apple Design Awards

• Appsters Awards

• Ericsson Application Awards

• The Webby Awards

• Best Mobile App Awards

• OZApp

18. Start a Contest

Another answer for how to promote an app is to start a contest! Together with attending contests, you can hold a contest. It lets you light the rivalry spark! A contest incentivizes users to download your app. Getting points can be in various ways; sharing the app, having their friends sign up. Customers should also know when they should tune in for updates.

19. Search For Alternative App Stores

It is okay to occur the App Store & Google Play as an app store into your mind. But they are not the only ones. There are many alternative app stores such as GetJar, Amazon Appstore and AppBrain. According to One Platform Foundation, adding your app to less popular app stores results in 200% more downloads compared to Google Play.

20. Update Your App Regularly

Rolling out new updates means caring customers for them. If you don’t try to offer the best experience, your app would be thrown away. So, keep your app fresh and plan to offer more for customers.

Use App Samurai platform to increase your app installs via creating effective mobile advertising campaigns without dealing with any ad network. Click here to start for free.

Final Thoughts

I hope we managed to answer the questions: how to market an app or what are mobile app marketing ideas. There would be some points we have missed but we briefly covered ideas about how to advertise an app. If you realize any missed points, feel free to share it with us. Can you tell us your magical weapon if it is not a top-secret? :)) And contact us if you need anything about app promotion services or have a question about how to promote your mobile app. You can also check our amazing resource about best practices to increase your mobile app engagement below!

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This article was taken from AppSamurai website.

Creating the Perfect Video To Promote Your Mobile App

by Pietro Saccomani

One of the fundamental problems facing app developers is to make sure people know their app exists; after all, no awareness, no downloads.
This raises a significant question: How do you build this awareness?
Well, if you’re looking to make the biggest impact, creating a video for your app is hard to beat; good videos are shared more than written content, which potentially puts your app in the limelight for a much bigger audience.
Google quickly understood the impact a good video can have on app downloads, making it a key feature of their Google Play store. And, at long last, Apple seem to be catching up, finally announcing app developers can upload an app videos — for the iOS 8 App Store, at least.
If you’re looking to produce a video for your app, the following pointers should get you started.

1. Purpose

First and foremost, your video should tell the world what your app does. A great example of this is the video for the FourSquare app.
Now, ignoring the cute cartoon visuals for a moment (which, let’s face it, look fantastic!), let’s focus on the message: It’s clear, incisive and practical — after watching the video, you’re left with no doubts about what the app is for.
Showcasing your app this way makes the decision process for your audience easy; if they see a practical use for your app, they’ll download it.
An audience won’t spend time trying to figure out what your app is by themselves; make your message ambiguous and you lose them.

2. Practical Benefits

It’s far more powerful to talk in terms of the practical benefits of your app to your end users, rather than endlessly listing off its features.
One of the most effective ways to do this is by showing your audience the possibilities when using your app, with a great example being the TripAdvisor video above. It shows the simplicity of each feature in the context of something much bigger: Booking a dream getaway.
Remember, revolutionary new features are of no interest to your audience; they want to know how the app will entertain them, save them time or money, or make their life easier.
Show them how the app benefits them and they’ll show you the money.

3. Short and Sweet

People online have a notoriously short attention span: If your video doesn’t get to the point, your audience won’t stick around waiting.
Never, ever spend two minutes saying what could be said in 30 seconds.
Make your video short, sweet and to the point if you want a viewer to reach the end — a great example of this is the video for the Rough Guides app above.

4. Simple

Not all app developers are blessed with the same sort of marketing budget as the likes of Foursquare and TripAdvisor — for many, fancy videos with flashy graphics just aren’t an option.
This doesn’t mean you can’t produce an effective video for your app, though; you just need to work smart and simplify.
Filming yourself actually using the different features of your app is one of the most cost-effective ways of producing a video, and can still be remarkably persuasive when done well, as shown with the Mailbox video above.
It might be lacking the bells and whistles of many of the other videos, but it’s proof that you can still show the world what your app can do whilst on a budget.

5. Planning

The very best app videos have one thing in common: they are meticulously thought out. Consider the Flickr video above; every word and image was chosen to serve a purpose.
Now, you probably don’t have the same budget as Flickr, but that’s no excuse for sloppiness — you can still write a strong script to effectively convey your message, film in the best location and edit your video in an order that feels natural.
Remember, your video is essentially an extension of your app; if it’s a bit of a mess, people will assume your app is too!

6. Entertaining

If your app is quirky and light-hearted — like the Durex app above, rather than, say, a personal finance app — your video should reflect this.
The more entertaining your video is, the more often viewers will want to share it with their friends.
Get this right and you could expand your audience exponentially, such is the power of a video going viral.
Remember though: you should never dilute your message just to entertain. The aim of your video is to get your app downloaded, not to make your audience laugh.

Wrapping Up

Have you seen a fantastic example of an app video? Share the link with us in the comments space at the bottom!

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This article was taken from Mobiloud’s blog site. 

8 Refreshing Mobile App Marketing Ideas for 2020

by Ronita Mohan

Mobile app marketing has become a crucial part of the digital marketing sphere—for both app developers and for businesses of every size.

We share eight refreshing new ideas that marketers can adopt to promote their mobile or Shopify apps to their audience bases and beyond.

1.  App Store Optimization (ASO)

Building a mobile app requires hard work and dedication—but if nobody can find your app, the purpose of creating it has already been defeated.

To gain exposure, you need to optimize your brand and app for app stores.

When users are looking for apps, they don’t head to search engines—they are more likely to search in app stores where they will be a click away from downloading their app of choice.

This means that app creators must utilize the right keywords—including branded keywords—so that users can find their app. Keywords should always be included in titles and body copy.

Make your app entry more enticing by adding screenshots and videos of the app features.

While search optimization is an important aspect of ASO, customer reviews also boost app rankings, making it easier for users to find them.

Add in-app prompts asking users to rate and review your app in app stores to improve your ranking.

2.  Set Up Collaborations

Collaborating with influencers, bloggers, vloggers, and reaching out to media outlets can be a great marketing tactic for your mobile app.

However, you need to choose the people you reach out to—potential partners should have an existing relationship within your industry.

This will make any reviews or content they produce more relevant to potential buyers—as a result, you will get more quality downloads and loyal customers.

Create an outreach plan before you ask someone to use and review your app. Use tools like Buzzsumo and Ahrefs to find influencers within your niche and build lists from there.

With your lists completed, design a digital pitch template for each category of partner and tailor the text according to their interests.

When you are asking someone to give you publicity, you need to cut down the amount of work they have to do to create their interactive content.

Have a press kit ready which should include a press release that highlights the features of your mobile app, along with images, videos, and quotes from the company.

Be open to giving interviews—text, as well as for audio or video channels—so you can talk about your app.

Collaborating with others can be massively beneficial for marketing your mobile app—but choose your partners wisely and make it easy for them to work with you.

3.  Contest Marketing

Everyone loves participating in competitions—especially when it’s a simple and fun giveaway contest on social media.

Creating contests are a great mobile app marketing tool to reach new clients and to grow your follower base.

While social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook make it easy to create contests, your website can also be used for running competitions.

The competitions should be simple—ask users to comment and tag friends on a post to win, enter a draw on your website, or to share an image or video of themselves using the app.

Depending on the resources available to the company, the prizes could be anything from gift baskets to discounts when purchasing the app or extended free trials for using the app. Contests are an enjoyable and interactive way to engage your audiences and build awareness for your app—plus, they can be implemented easily.

4.  Email Marketing

Email may not be the preferred choice of communication for everyone but email marketing still works—it consistently delivers an ROI that is 10 times the investment.

There are a number of ways to use emails for your mobile app marketing strategy, such as including a download link or call-to-action in company signatures.

Use an attractive visual to increase the chances of the receiver clicking through from your signature to download the app.

You can also include prompts to download your app on confirmation emails—users almost always check these emails, making them a great resource for encouraging downloads.

And of course, emailers and newsletters promoting your app should be an essential part of your marketing campaign.

Make your emails attractive so users are more tempted to click on them—add banners, GIFs, or create a timeline infographic explaining how to navigate your app.

Emails are an excellent resource for growth marketing—but remember not to send your customer base too many emails so you don’t overwhelm them.

5.  Social Advertising

Social media isn’t useful just for posting and reaching audiences organically—these platforms also offer great advertising opportunities.

Platforms like Facebook and Instagram aren’t heavy on the pocket but still bring in plenty of views, clicks, and followers.

Twitter and LinkedIn are more expensive—and LinkedIn targets a specialized audience—but the returns are high despite the cost of investment.

Even sponsored posts can go a long way in promoting your app to markets you would not have otherwise been able to reach organically.

One thing to remember is that ads on social networks should be visual-forward—too much text and you could lose your audience.

Attention spans have become shorter over the years—visuals are easy to absorb and remember than text.

When you create a video, ensure your call to action is as close to the beginning so viewers know what you are asking of them.

Your ad or sponsored post will draw your audience to your app, but don’t make them work too hard for it.

6.  Landing Page

A website is crucial for all marketing endeavors—even for mobile app marketing, though they aren’t always accessed on mobile devices.

Before a user downloads an app, they will search online for your website and reviews—if they can’t find a site, they may be less inclined to download your app.

The app landing page on your website doesn’t need to be too long but it should contain the most important information about your brand.

You will have screenshots and videos of your app for the app store—these should also be added to your landing page.

Don’t use too much text, but ensure that keywords are added in the title, 1-2 subheadings, body copy, and in the alt-text for images and videos.

If you have already gathered reviews, your landing page should include some of the best ones.

A well-optimized website landing page can make a massive difference to how many downloads your app receives so make it a priority in your marketing efforts.

7.  Push Notifications

A user downloading your app shouldn’t be the end goal of your marketing campaign—if they delete the app shortly after downloading, then you haven’t earned yourself a customer.

To improve engagement with your customers—and the retention rate for your app—utilize mobile push notifications as a marketing strategy.

Keep your app notifications on by default—but give users the choice to opt-out if they want to.

Send notifications when new features are launched, for discounts, contests, important updates, and reminders. A quick ‘good morning’ message wouldn’t go amiss, either.

But don’t go overboard with the notifications—too many and you could end up annoying your client base, who might turn off the notifications or even delete your app.

Give your users something to do with your app as often as possible to improve retention rates—this will also improve your rankings in app stores. 

8.  Referral Marketing

Not only do you want people to download your app and use it, but you also want them to advocate for your brand and bring in more users.

That is where referral marketing comes in—ask users to leave reviews on the app store and on Google.

Getting reviews from customers holds more sway over users than influencers or media outlets—seeing real people enjoying the product acts as an impetus for new users.

You can set up referral programs or create referral contests that incentivize users to refer your app to others.

Referrals are a great tool to not only win more customers but also to build brand relationships with existing users.

Conclusion

Mobile app marketing can often feel challenging but these eight ideas will help app marketers reach their client base and improve downloads over time.

The important thing to remember is that users don’t want to be bombarded with information though they do need enough details to power their actions.

Reaching that balance will require testing but can be achieved with analysis and a thorough understanding of the customer base.

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Source: Appverticals blog site

Best Mobile App Video Promos in 2020

Over time, I have come to learn that the process of marketing is simply about understanding human behavior. Marketing is about creating innovative ideas based on the (ever-changing) customer behavior. Today's customers want to have a sneak peek into what your brand has to offer. They want to enjoy your unique (positive) brand experience; this is a great way to promote your brand. Mobile app marketing is more competitive than it has ever been. This is why you need to ensure that you create long-term marketing strategies for your app. In creating a solid plan, you need to understand what your audience needs.

Generally, before downloading apps, users want to understand how it works, what problems it solves, and what its interface looks like. This is why you need to ensure the efficient and consistent promotion of your app.   

Promotions are a crucial part of your mobile app marketing. You need to understand your target audience and the best channels to market your app. No matter what medium you choose to sell your app, the video remains relevant.

Let us go through six templates to create promo videos on the go; 

3D Mobile App Video Promo

The best app promotional videos are those that can showcase everything that users need to see about your app within seconds. The mobile App Video Promo is designed to help you effectively engage prospective users.  

If you have an app on any of the stores, then you need this tool. Mobile App Video Promo can be used to create several professional, short, and engaging promo videos for your app. This tool is the right tool for mobile marketing. It provides you with unlimited access to a vast collection of assets, designs, and features.

3D mobile app video promo is a pre-animated video template. It consists of several pre-animated slides that contain quality design elements. This template is also designed to allow anyone (without prior after effects experience) to deliver stunning results on the go.

With this tool, your video advertisements will be taken up a notch with limitless customization options. The 3D mobile app promo can also be used to connect users and significantly improve downloads.

Mobile App Engagement Teaser

Trust is crucial to marketing, and it needs to be maintained for your brand to stay alive. One of the most important ways to nurture trust is through regular engagement.

This tool was designed to improve user engagement while promoting your mobile app. It features several beautifully designed animations that can easily give users a visual feel of what your app offers. 

The mobile app engagement teaser is a quick and efficient option for improving your app awareness. The template is user friendly, and it does not require any third-party scripts or plugins.

Built to the highest industry standards, this template works with a modular structure that allows you to easily tweak colors, fonts, length, and order of videos.

These are just some of the numerous benefits that the mobile app engagement offers.  

App Store Preview Promo 

There are a little over 3 million apps between Google Play and the Apple app stores. This means that apps need to stand out from competitors and find your fans.

The app store preview promo helps you to create snappy, modern, and engaging designs. Many app developers worldwide have trusted this app as a part of their strategy to improve app downloads.

This tool is a great way to preview your app on either app store. Previews in this template can be up to 30 seconds long. It allows for full customization in terms of text, color, duration, and so on.

If you are looking to engage users with short videos of your phone app in action, then this template was designed for you.  

3d Phone App Trailer

Humans see colors and designs faster than we see words. This is a significant reason this tool is a great option to create catchy visuals that will drive engagement and subsequently improve conversion.

The 3D phone app trailer is specifically designed to promote your new mobile app project. It is elegantly designed to feature realistic 3D renderings and a stunning modern look.

With a user-friendly setup and a detailed tutorial, you can be sure to create magic in a matter of minutes.

Phone X App Hype 

Over the years, the process of creating applications has become more easily accessible. However, the same cannot be said about the process of selling them. With the wide range of available options, keeping committed and engaged app user base is quite an uphill task. 

This is why you need to differentiate your app and stand out from the competition.

The phone X app hype is one of the best ways to get your app out there. The template is designed to effectively promote any kind of phone app. Right from the big unveiling of your app, this tool will effectively promote your app’s features.

If we want to describe this template in 3 words, they would be; bold, dynamic, and energetic. This template is incredibly cool for developers of apps that are targeted at millennials.

With this template, anyone can achieve quick (excellent) results on the fly. Simply add your app content and all the text in the template. There is a descriptive video tutorial that breaks down the entire process into simple, understandable bits. Try out this modern and simple way to promote your new App content today!

Rounding Up…

Videos have become more relevant than ever before in marketing. The reason for this is simple; customers love seeing videos from their favorite brands. This is why the quality of videos is an underlying differentiator in branding.

We have gone through 5 easy to use templates that can help you make great videos on the go. These tools have been designed by design professionals to provide real-time video production support.

Today, you can create magnificent promo videos without a team of editors or designers. Video creation is not a big deal anymore. With access to the right tools, you can easily create and edit videos without spending much. 

Promo videos can effectively demonstrate the features, functionality, and user interface of your app. This way, users can anticipate the quality experience of what it feels like to use your application.

With a few bucks, you can combine the listed video templates and create a full month's stock of promo videos for your app. For the best results, you can combine different templates to diversify video content.

Promoting Your Apps with Video Content: The Right Way

By Victor Blasco

Apps have entirely revolutionized the way companies interact with their customers. They’ve become part of our everyday lives, making things a lot easier with just one tap on your smartphone.

Creating an app can open infinite new opportunities for your business, but you’ve probably already found out (or soon will!) how much of a competitive arena an app store can be.

Thankfully, video content is the perfect tool to give your audience a closer look into what your app is all about!

Today, we’re going go over what the best production companies out there can teach you about promoting your app through video – walking you through the process of drafting your script, choosing the right type of video, and more!

A Video for Your App: Where to Start?

Just like every app, every video starts with an idea you’ll condense into a script. There’s just no two ways about it! By fleshing out your script, you’re making sure your video won’t lack coverage of an app’s essential features and benefits.

More importantly, scripting is a crucial stage in every preproduction process, as it will help you establish the nature of your message. A compelling and effective script must be clever about what aspects of your app you want to stand out, and what would be best to leave for some other medium.

As you work on your script, you should start by answering these simple, but highly revealing questions:

1) Who is my target audience?

If you haven’t thought about it by now, then this is a great moment to figure out who your video is for. Take the time to think back upon your audience. What are their interests? What motivates them? What style of content do they prefer the most?

They must feel like you are addressing their specific problems, as to keep them interested in finding what your app can do for them. And on that note…

2) What are the benefits of using my app?

As I mentioned at the beginning of this piece, apps are more than an icon on your phone: they are a tool to improve your work, be used as a hobby, help you study, or just improve your day. The benefits that your app brings to the table should be the main focus of your video. After all, it’s the reason people will use it in the first place!

Making a list of the most attractive features of your app can be useful, but you’ll need to go deeper. Your script must explain how these features are going to improve your audience’s experience. Video gives you the opportunity to show (rather than tell) the practical benefits of your app.

3) Why is my app better than the competitions’?

Remember the old saying, “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer”? Well, your competition isn’t necessary “your enemy,” but it is important to learn about them to understand what makes your app a better solution.

Now, keep in mind that your video doesn’t need to explicitly mention your competitors or your target audience. These are just questions you should keep in mind as you write your script, to help guide the video’s content.

Choosing a Type of Video that Suits Your Message

Due to their flexible nature, there are countless types of videos at your disposal that can help you achieve different marketing goals. But today, we’re going to focus on the three most effective styles for apps: Explainer Videos, Product videos, and Customer Testimonials.

Explainer videos

Let’s start with one of the most popular types of branded video content out there: explainer videos. These short, animated pieces use the power of storytelling to communicate the essential features and benefits of your product. Explainer videos usually begin introducing a problem your audience can relate to, in a way they can easily understand – all while showing how and why your app is the best option to solve it.

When should you use an explainer video? If you’ve just developed a new app, an explainer video can perfectly illustrate how your creation works, and how it can benefit your potential audience. Also, because they are great at translating an elaborate idea into a simple and engaging message, explainer videos work perfectly for complex apps that could be harder to understand with other videos.

Product videos

Product videos are very popular in eCommerce marketing, which explains why they’re being used in-app promotion as well. In this context, product videos give you a great platform to list your app’s features and uses.

It’s a very direct and easy to understand style. But, if you’re not careful, there’s also the risk of coming off either too bland or too forward. To avoid ending up with just a boring piece of advertisement – or one that sounds like an informercial – you should look for new angles or play with the expectations.

Plus, product videos can be great if you’re launching a new version of your app and list the new features and improvements you’ve worked so hard for.

Customer testimonials

People trust other people; it’s as simple as that. And having happy customers sharing their experience can have a huge impact on your downloads. Customer testimonials are just that: videos that take the spotlight away from the seller and let your customers do the talking.

These videos are perfect for apps that have been in the market for a while. So that you can conduct as many interviews as you can for your video. Moreover, you can also include app reviews and reactions to show the real-life benefits of your app.

Maximizing Effectiveness with Pro-level Production Tips

Regardless of the type of video you end up choosing, there are some rules and advice you need to follow if you want to get it right. While every video is unique in its own way, we’ve seen too many videos gone wrong to know that some rules are just not meant to be broken.

Length and tone

The best advice I can give you in this regard is to keep your video as short and straightforward as possible. Nobody has the time to sit through a long app video, not even you, and you’ve actually made the thing! The perfect total length of branded video content is 90 seconds. This means you need to get to the point as quickly as possible to grab your audience’s attention.

And by simple, I don’t mean that you have to dilute your message, but that you need to simplify it. This goes hand in hand with keeping your video short: don’t say in 5 minutes what you can say in 30 seconds.

Branding

Your video should feel like an extension of your app. This means you should follow the same esthetic guidelines that you used when crafting your app. Typography, color palette, logo, sounds, all the design resources of your app are going to come alive in your video.

Entertaining

Viewers are more likely to share your video with their friends if it’s entertaining. You don’t need to overdo it; just a small laugh will do! People react better to things that make them feel something; this is the difference between less-known videos and most videos gone viral.

Show your product in action

Video is the closest thing your audience will get next to actually downloading your app. So, you’ll want to help them visualize what your app looks like! Give viewers a sneak peek of your product to make your video more interesting to watch.

Summing Up!

Most developers think that once their app is live, their work is done. They couldn’t be more wrong! Promotion is one of the biggest steps you need to take to make a successful app.

Video content provides the best way to tell the story of your app and motivate your audience to download your product. However, as we’ve seen in this article, there are a couple of things you need to get right if you want to make the right impact. Harness the power of video marketing, and you’ll be surprised with the results.

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This article was taken from Relevance (Content Promotion News and Insights) website.

Here’s everything Apple announced at its ‘Hi, Speed’ iPhone event

By Greg Kumparak

Just shy of one month after their last event, Apple was back today with another one. Everyone had a pretty good feeling this would be the one where they announced this year’s new iPhone… instead, Apple announced four new iPhones, plus a new HomePod, for good measure.

Didn’t have time to follow along live? Here are the highlights:

HomePod Mini

Image Credits: Apple

Apple kicked things off by announcing the HomePod Mini — which, as you’ve probably gathered from the name, is a smaller version of its HomePod speaker.

Apple’s focus with the HomePod Mini definitely seems to be getting you to buy multiple units and spreading them around your house — they started off by recapping Siri’s smart home capabilities, then introduced a new feature called “Intercom,” which lets you broadcast a message to all of your HomePods from your iPhone, Apple Watch, CarPlay or another HomePod. Put two HomePods in the same room, Apple says, and they’ll automatically become a stereo pair.

HomePod Mini will cost $99, and, like its bigger counterpart, will come in two colors: white and space grey. Pre-orders will start on November 6th, with the first units shipping “the week of November 16th.”

Four new iPhones

Image Credits: Apple

Why would Apple announce one new iPhone when they could announce four?

With a lineup that will probably lead to a bit of confusion, Apple today announced the iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. The devices get a little bigger, a little fancier and a bit more expensive as you go down the line. Want a deeper look at how the specs on the four new models compare? Find our side-by-side here.

The big focus here is on improved displays, improved cameras (night mode on the wide and ultra-wide cameras!) and the introduction of 5G support across the lineup. The form factor borrows some angles from iPhones of yesteryear, with flat sides that’ll probably remind you of the iPhone 4 or 5.

The iPhone 12 Mini will start at $699 and come with a 5.4″ display, while the iPhone 12 will start at $799 with a 6.1″ display. The iPhone 12 Pro will start at $999 with a 6.1″ display, but polishes up the spec sheet with a stainless steel body (versus aluminum on the non-pro models) and the addition of a 12MP telephoto lens. The iPhone 12 Pro Max will start at $1,099, but packs a massive 6.7″ display. The Pro models also pack lidar sensors, allowing them to do things like ultra-fast focusing in low-light situations, or 3D room scanning.

The displays on all of the new iPhones will feature a new “Ceramic Shield” technology that Apple built in partnership with Corning, which the company says improves the odds of your device surviving a fall by 4x. The iPhone 12 and 12 Mini will come in blue, green, red, white and black; the 12 Pro and 12 Pro Max, meanwhile, will come in blue, gold, black and white.

All four phones will run on Apple’s A14 Bionic chip — the same one that powers the iPad Air the company just announced last month.

So when will these things actually start shipping? The pre-order/ship dates are a liiiiittle bit tangled — so if you’ve got a model picked out already, make sure you’ve got the right date marked on your calendar: the iPhone 12 and 12 Pro go up for pre-order on 10/16, shipping on 10/23. The iPhone 12 Mini and the 12 Pro Max, meanwhile, go up for pre-order on 11/6 and ship on 11/13.

(Apple also noted that it will continue to sell the iPhone 11, dropping the base price by $100 down to $599.)

MagSafe

Image Credits: Apple

“MagSafe” is back! Sort of. Well, in name, at least.

Borrowing a name from the charging system of Apple laptops past, the new iPhone’s MagSafe system allows it to automatically snap into the optimal place on a wireless charger, while also allowing for snap-on accessories like magnetic cases or credit card holders.

The company also announced the MagSafe Duo Charger (a folding setup meant to allow you to charge both an iPhone and an Apple Watch) and noted that MagSafe-compatible accessories from third parties like Belkin were on the way.

Image Credits: Apple

No more power adapter or headphones in the box

It’s been rumored for months, but now it’s official: Apple will no longer be including headphones or a wall power adapter with the iPhone. The company cites the potential environmental impact as their reasoning, noting that there are already “billions” of compatible chargers out in the world. The new iPhones will ship with a USB-C to Lightning cable — just not the bit that plugs into the wall.

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Source: www.techcrunch.com

How to Launch a Mobile App in 2020 [Complete Guide]

Written by Kevin Payne

The other day, I signed up for a friend's solidcore Pilates class.

Once I'd paid for the class, I got a text asking me to download the [solidcore] app to review upcoming classes, integrate with my Google Calendar, and buy credits for future classes.

Undoubtedly, the ability to use the business's app was a major component in me becoming a more loyal member. The app was incredibly easy-to-use and sent me notifications 10 minutes before the class started.

Nowadays, it's not unheard of for businesses to have their own apps — in fact, 42% of millennial-owned businesses use their own apps to increase sales or provide an alternative platform for their customers to use their tools or services.

Additionally, you'll notice simply from shifting through your app store that plenty of businesses use their own apps. I've downloaded apps from major airlines, investment banks, and even small local restaurants or yoga studios.

So it makes sense if you're considering creating a mobile app for your own company. But, while a mobile app as a revenue generator can be quite lucrative, the low barrier to entry makes a successful launch all the more challenging.

According to former CEO of AppVee and AndroidApps Alex Ahlund, the average cost to develop a mobile app is $6,453 — and the cost can skyrocket to as much as $150,000 depending on the complexity of the app.

Wherever you fall on that spectrum, the money and resources you dedicate to conceptualizing and developing a truly great mobile app can all be put to waste if you don't orchestrate a proper mobile app launch.

And then once you've launched, your work has only just begun. You then need to think about how to make your app "sticky" — to ensure people come back again and again.

For the purposes of this post, we're assuming you've already come up with a great initial mobile app idea and have a goal to get as many downloads as possible upon launch. Here, let's explore how to conduct a successful launch, and how to ensure you can retain app users for the long-haul.

Master the fundamentals of mobile marketing using this free guide.

How to Launch a Mobile App

1. Do Market Research

As of January 2020, it's been estimated that a total of 1,800,000 apps are available on the Apple App Store. And that number doesn't even encapsulate Android apps in Google and Windows app stores either.

So — what does this mean for you? You probably already have a ton of competition. Conducting thorough market research becomes necessary in order for you to truly differentiate your app.

It's critical you get to know the leading apps in your niche, see where they fall short, and use those insights to make your app even better than the competition's.

Depending on your budget, you may want to do primary research for prospect users. But even secondary research can give you a lot of insights. Take a look at reviews on competitor app pages on the App stores, as well as checking reviews on YouTube and blogs to see what actual users have said about the competition.

2. Define Success

If you're aiming for a successful mobile app launch, you need to define what success looks like.

Set some measurable goals around your launch. We recommend measuring success around your active install rate — this tells you retention rate, or the number of people who install your app and then don't uninstall it — the number of ratings you receive, your average rating in the app marketplace, and if you're selling your app, revenue generated from your app.

To help you set some benchmarks, most free mobile apps have a higher active install rate during the first month, usually around 50%, after which it levels off around 30%. The average app store rating is a 3-4 (out of 5), for which you should certainly strive much higher to maintain a healthy active install rate.

Later in the post, we'll explore how to ensure you get high app store ratings post-launch.

3. Consider Cross-platform and Browser Versions of the App

It's no longer enough to stick to one platform (typically Android or iOS). Now, it's important to be available across multiple platforms to expand your reach.

As of January 2020, market share between mobile operating systems were at 74.3% for Android, 24.76% for iOS, and the remaining 2% are divided among other operating systems.

Not only is cross-platform development the way to go for more reach, but it's also more cost-effective in the long-run, especially if you use top-rated IDE software to accelerate app development. Most IDE software even lets you create web browser versions of your mobile apps, giving users more ways to use your app across any device.

Budgeting app Goodbudget, for instance, is available on iOS, Android, and is perfectly accessible on a web browser.

4. Claim Your Social Media Accounts

Pre-launch, you'll want to claim your accounts in social media, and use them actively to generate interest or even early sign-ups, as we'll discuss more in Step 7.

You can use your social media accounts to showcase the app while it's in development and solicit feedback and ideas from your future users. When your app launches, though, be sure to change the link in your social media bios to direct to the app store download. Remember, your goal isn't site traffic — you want to drive downloads.

And don't discount newer social networks like Pinterest for launching your mobile app — the highly visual social network is the ideal place to show other mobile app developers your product in its final stages who may have some great suggestions for UI/UX improvements. Unless, of course, you're trying to beat a competitor to market!

Finally, if you're a HubSpot customer, you can leverage another app — the Facebook Welcome app in HubSpot's app marketplace — to help with your mobile app launch on Facebook.

Generate some pre-release buzz by customizing a page that lets people sign up for an alert when the app launches. We'll get into some fun pre-launch deals that will generate buzz around your app that you can associate with this email alert in future steps.

5. Create Content

Spend time creating content that clearly explains how to use your mobile app. This content should include blog posts, press releases, social media content, website copy, and email marketing copy.

You can pre-schedule all of this to go live on your launch day, although you should check in periodically on social media during launch week to provide real-time updates that pertain to support issues, reviews, and respond to user recommendations.

6. Record a Demo

You'll want to create a video that shows how to use your mobile app — you can easily do this with a user-friendly program like Camtasia that allows screen capture and voiceover recording.

In your video, clearly explain what your app does and why it's useful in real-life scenarios.

Again, there are so many mobile apps out there, so differentiating yours will come down to clear communication in all of your marketing materials. A short video demo is one of the easiest ways to display the value of your mobile app.

For an example of a fantastic mobile app demo, see CanadaQBank.com's Mobile App Demo, which shows how the app works, and who it's meant for:

7. Launch a Dedicated Site or Page

You can launch either a dedicated website for your app — more appropriate if your mobile app is a business in its own right — or simply create a page for your mobile app on your website. The latter is what most companies choose to do.

To complement your social media efforts, you should launch these pages even if your app hasn't yet hit the market, like how PandaDoc did pre-launch. Direct users to this page of your site, let them view your demo video, and encourage them to sign up for a download alert email once your mobile app goes to market.

Image Source

8. Choose an App Store

Initially, you'll want to choose just one app store in which to launch your mobile app. This should help you get the highest concentration of users and ratings possible.

Additionally, you'll be making lots of changes and improvements to your app during those first few weeks after launch, and having your app in just one store will help you streamline those updates as they roll out. Once your app is more established, feel free to expand it to more app stores.

The most common app stores are the Android Market and the Apple App Store, but there are many other app stores out there (even HubSpot has its own new and improved App Marketplace!). Ultimately, if you're unsure, do some audience testing to determine which Store is used most by your target market.

9. Use App Store Optimization to Get Discovered

Don't confuse app store optimization (ASO) with SEO — while both important, you need ASO to get your mobile app discovered specifically within the app stores of your choosing.

Best practices include optimizing your app title with relevant keywords. And when you're submitting your app to these different app stores, be sure to fill out all the categories most relevant to your app, so users browsing through categories have a good chance of finding you.

Also, you'll want to include clear screenshots within your app download page that showcase the most common use cases of your app.

In the example below, Todoist uses keywords like to-do lists and project planner. Their app screenshots are also beautifully designed, telling you how you can use the app right away.

Image Source

10. Network With Other App Developers

Consider reaching out to other app developers that have created an app that could be complementary to yours, and whose users might also like to use your app. You could set up a mutually beneficial co-marketing opportunity that helps you both increase your install rates.

Just be sure to select developers who have great ratings in the app store. You don't want to associate your app with a bad product.

11. Pitch Your App

Pitch your story to tech, mobile, and industry journalists and bloggers. Be armed with the video demo you recorded, and be prepared to give them a free download of your app so they can get to know the interface and your app's capabilities. Make yourself readily available to answer any of their questions, and consider them another test group who can find bugs and make UX/UI recommendations.

You should start pitching at least a few weeks in advance so they have time to experiment with your app and write a compelling story without being rushed. Plus, the more time they have, the more likely they can fit you into their editorial calendar.

12. Tap Your Network for Buzz

Reach out to your business network and ask them to share your content about the app's impending release on their social channels. Send your network a sneak preview email with a link to your demo video so they can see how your app works, and include social sharing buttons to make sharing your content easy.

This is also a great recourse for bloggers and journalists you've contacted who aren't willing to publish long-form content about your app — you can ask them if they'd be willing to tweet a blog post you've written about your app, instead.

13. Set Up Paid Advertising

Because of the Google algorithm's freshness update, you might gain some organic search tractions at your mobile app launch. Complement that search presence with some paid advertising during launch week.

You can also set up paid, targeted ads on Facebook to drive users to your Facebook fan page, where they'll be greeted with your welcome screen encouraging them to sign up for your mobile app (refer back to Step 4).

Alternatively, you can redirect people straight to your app downloads page so that they can install it on their phones right away. Which strategy you decide to go with may depend on your app.

For instance, if your app requires some explanation or is fairly innovative in its approach, you can direct users to a dedicated landing page. Meanwhile, apps that users are already familiar with, such as gaming apps, can have ads that take users straight to the app download page.

14. Tap Influencers or Industry Thought Leaders

Influencer marketing is only growing in 2020, so if you want to spread the word for your app, we can't emphasize this step enough.

Look for different social media influencers, bloggers, and content creators who can help generate buzz for your app before it launches. Choose influencers whom you think will benefit greatly by using yours, and conduct personalized email outreach marketing to effectively build relationships and win them over.

For instance, if you're launching a mobile app for weight loss, tap different fitness influencers who talk about workout regimes or macro-tracking — whichever features your app has.

15. Launch an Invite-only Beta

Before you take your mobile app live to the public, consider an invite-only beta launch. Websites Spotify, Google+, and Pinterest have used this tactic with great success. It not only creates an air of exclusivity that generates buzz around your product, but it also lets you get feedback from a trusted network so you can fix bugs and UX/UI problems before rolling your app out full scale.

You can use the email list referenced in Step 4 as your pre-launch beta test group, and supplement it with an email marketing send to a segment of your current customer list that would benefit from using your mobile app. You can position the launch as the opportunity for free, exclusive access to your mobile app before it launches, and even ask them to write a review of your app in exchange for that free, exclusive access.

Alternatively, you can use TestFlight to launch a beta version of your app and invite users to give it a test run until your official launch.

16. Partner With Affiliates to Promote Your App

We've mentioned influencers and industry thought leaders in Step 14, but you can take your partnership the extra mile by creating an affiliate program to encourage downloads or purchases.

Identify key influencers — these can be media contacts or social media influencers with bigger followings — whom you can incentivize for pushing your app. Give them a special link that tracks purchases or downloads, so they automatically get instant rewards when their audience does a desired action.

17. Put Download Links Everywhere

Congrats — you're officially ready to go live to the public!

You'll want to put links to download your mobile app on your blog, your website's home page, in your marketing emails, and on your social media accounts — you can even add a mobile tab to your Facebook page.

For instance, take a look at Waze app page below, which includes three calls-to-action above the fold, all of which are to download the app:

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18. Have a Launch Party

A launch party doesn't have to be anything big. In fact, you can have a small intimate digital launch party through a webinar. Invite early adopters, influencers, tech journalists, and others to take part in a short launch.

You can announce special live discounts or perks while giving attendees all the details they need to download your app or spread the word.

Below, developers of Summerian announced a launch party happening on Product Hunt, while giving interested users a peek of what to expect during the launch:

19. Monitor Feedback and Encourage Reviews

Finally, you'll want to monitor peoples' feedback about your app, and strongly encourage users to post reviews.

It's not just that the apps with the best reviews get the most visibility and downloads — this process also helps you identify bugs you wouldn't otherwise know about and make quick changes to improve the user experience and make your app stickier.

Keep users updated on your progress as you make it so they know you're listening and responding to their feedback, and take a look at Steps 21 and 22 if you want to take this even further while involving and updating users on new features and updates.

20. Identify Potential Integrations

The average smartphone user has between 60 to 90 apps on their phones, and you might have noticed some apps integrate with one another — for instance, you can log into your account on Pinterest using Facebook, or integrate your native Health app with your calorie counting app or fitness tracker.

This is more convenient for users, and best of all, you can increase retention when you integrate seamlessly with apps your users already have.

In HubSpot App Marketplace, for example, you can find all the apps that integrate with HubSpot seamlessly. Get to know who the developers for these apps are and strike up a partnership. You'll never know how many doors these app integrations can open for you.

21. Publish an App Update Log

Transparency is becoming a very important thing for consumers, and one way to be more transparent with users about your mobile app is to keep them up-to-date with any changes and features over time.

An update log is the easiest way to do this. Send these logs to your app store pages, and even have a dedicated update log page on your website for users to easily see changes you've implemented the past several weeks.

By keeping users updated with your app changes, you can also increase retention rates as users see different updates they might have been waiting for or may benefit to learn more about. If an update is particularly big — such as a big interface change or even an exciting new feature — you can send push notifications and in-app pop-ups for users to see a breakdown of these new features on a dedicated page on your website.

Sometimes a brand will even inject their personality into these app updates. Just take a look at one of Medium's app updates from 2016:

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22. Keep a Hub of 'Coming Soon' and 'Wishlist' Features

If you want to let users know you're listening to their suggestions and feedback like we mention in Step 19, then you can create a hub of your Coming Soon or wishlisted features.

Loom is a great example of a software app that does this. While they're not a mobile app, the way they keep users updated with features that are coming soon or may be considered for development is a great way to keep your current customers on your app.

Image Source

Create a button or page on your mobile app that lets people submit feedback or requests for new features. Once they've submitted their thoughts, you can send them to this Coming Soon hub so they see all the exciting things you have in the works. They'll be much more likely to stay on board to see these features come to life, and you'll be increasing your retention rates and customer loyalty in the long run.

To help you manage your updates and still keep your app running for users, it's best to use a NoSQL database, considering its popularity for helping mobile app developers worldwide manage their apps in a more streamlined way while lessening downtime for users.

Launch Your Mobile App the Right Way

Are you ready to launch your mobile app this year? Simply follow the steps above to make sure you've got everything covered for your launch, while making sure you can keep users around for the long haul. I'm excited to see your app come to life.

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Source: HUBSPOT BLOG / Originally published Apr 21, 2020 1:00:00 PM, updated April 21 2020

Making the Most of Motion Graphics During COVID-19

Christina Sirabella

Live action video production can be pretty tricky when everyone at your company is social distancing—so if your brand has never delved into the world of motion graphics or animation, this is the perfect time! Animators can create motion graphics videos from the safety of their own homes, and they’re a great way to tell a story or share your message without having to shoot anything.

There are a few reasons why, even during times when you aren’t social distancing, you may want to learn how to make a motion graphics video. For starters, if you didn’t capture something on a video shoot, it’s impossible to add a shot without scheduling another shoot and replicating the exact setup. With motion, it’s always a possibility to add something because the visuals aren’t limited to what was captured during a one-day shoot. Motion graphics are also a great way to help visualize abstract concepts that you can’t capture on film—or even sensitive topics that you don’t want to see IRL (think foot fungus). And lastly, they can give new life to existing assets. You can add animated illustrations to photos or turn them into a slideshow, and you can make videos even more attention-grabbing with added visual effects, text, and/or graphics.

Not sure where to start? Here are four different ways you can use motion graphics, in order from least to most complicated.

Quick Messaging/Attention Grabbers

You only have three seconds to catch a user’s eye in the feed, and a great way to do that is through basic movement and accented animation. Since this is less complex than some of the examples you’ll see later on in this blog, there will also be a relatively quick turnaround—so it’s great if you need something quickly.

Works best for:

• Communicating a short message, deal, or promotion (e.g. “50% OFF!”)

• Teasing longer-form content (e.g. animating the title of a blog post)

• Bringing life to static imagery

In these examples we created, you can see that the videos are short and the animations are subtle.

Lists/Short Stories

The animations and dynamic movement in this next level are a bit more complicated, and might include things like custom vector design. If you have a little bit more time and a slightly longer message to communicate, this could be the way to go.

Works best for:

• Featuring new products

• Making long-form text (like a blog post or article) more digestible and visually interesting

• Helping lists stand out more (e.g. “Top Summer Movies”)

In these examples we created, you can see that the videos are slightly longer, the animations get more complex, and there are also custom designs (like the monkey and the turkeys).

Explainers/Infographics

And again, getting more complex! 96 percent of people say they’ve watched an explainer video to learn more about a product or service, so this level is perfect for if you want to convey a lot of information while providing a very interactive viewer experience. These types of videos generally include complex animation or simple character animation.

Works best for:

• Explainer videos (e.g. “how to” or educational videos)

• Animated infographics or data visualization

• Longer-form storytelling

In this example we created, you can see that the animation is more complex (lots of moving ants!) and the video is over one minute long.

Longer Stories/Character Animation

If you have a complex or abstract idea to convey, using custom illustration, character animation, or complex VFX (visual effects) is likely the way to go. While the advanced level of animation in these longer, more intricate videos will undoubtedly take more time to create, it’s also common for brands to use cutdowns or clips from the longer video on various platforms—so you actually end up getting more content than just one video.

Works best for:

• Communicating complex, abstract ideas

• Telling a story in a very dynamic way

• Using stylized designs to make content more accessible

In these examples we created, you can see that the animation and motion graphics are advanced, using characters and very custom, stylized designs.

Whether you want to motivate your audience to take action, make data more digestible and interesting, or tell a complex story about your brand or product, there’s a type of motion graphic best suited for your goal—and we’re ready to help you create it.

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Article Source: Likeable’s Blog site

How to Promote a Mobile App With an Animated Explainer Video

Animated explainer videos have become one of the most effective sales and advertising mediums available for businesses today. They can help you boost your brand awareness and increase mobile app downloads right on the launch day. Learn here how.

Are you going to launch your mobile app? Or have you maybe already done it? Then, you might be searching now for effective ways to promote it in the online world to receive positive reviews in the app store and increase downloads. One of the most actionable practices to do it is video marketing or (if to be more specific) animated explainer video marketing.

Short animated commercials have become one of the biggest trends in mobile app marketing in 2020. You may wonder why explainer videos are so effective for your digital product strategy? Probably, because the average audience retention rate for a 1-minute explainer video is 77%. In this article, we’re sharing proven strategies and insights on how animated explanatory videos can help you promote your mobile application.

Animation by Aslan Almukhambetov for Explain Ninja

Explainer videos transfer your mobile app’s idea and mood

If you want to explain all the variety of your app’s features and benefits under the minute, there is likely no better way to do this than in an animated explainer video. It allows you to transfer the main idea of your app quickly, describe its functionality, competitive advantages, and more. Let viewers understand how your mobile app can entertain them or make their lives easier in an obtrusive and really engaging way.

Animation by Markus Magnusson

Animated explainers help grow brand awareness

Nothing can spread the word about your brand and mobile application more effectively than a lovely, funny, and memorable cartoon. It catches an eye, sticks to the memory, instills strong associations and images, and increases your brand recognition and awareness. Consequently, it can expand your mobile app’s reputation across the web at wind speed being shared and re-posted multiple times. If it’s really creative and fun, your audience will grow faster than you might even imagine.

Animation by Mike | Creative Mints

Explanatory videos effectively convince and convert

Animated videos allow you to immerse the viewer in your mobile app’s world, see its beauty, feel its mood, and evaluate all advantages. Within a minute or two, you can tell about your app more than in any other format, because people are more likely to “hear” you when they’re engaged and intrigued by HOW you communicate your message. According to recent research by Google, videos are a great advertising choice for news apps particularly, as they increase the average download rate by more than 10%.

Animation by Minh Pham ✪

Animated explainer videos bring incredible ROI

There is no secret that the video is the most popular content format today. It’s also one of the best success-driven strategies for the app launch. The animation is one of the most powerful attention grabbers. No matter whether it’s a social media news feed, ad on YouTube, or web banner — animation is noticed almost always. Many advertising agencies use animated videos in their marketing campaigns to engage customers, draw their attention, and increase conversions. So, why shouldn’t you try to do the same for your app?

It’s recommended to develop a video strategy to have a more significant impact on your audience and boost the ROI of your mobile application. It requires conducting in-depth target market research, choosing distribution channels that work best for you, producing an evergreen video-content, and launching it on the web.

Animation by Vladislav Olshevsky for Explain Ninja

They are as engaging as nothing else

Just like kids, we all love fun and entertainment. Advertising spiced up with a pinch of humor and animated funny characters work much better than ordinary promotional adverts. You can use animated videos to communicate your ideas and introduce your app features in a humoristic way. Explanatory videos are usually short, and it allows you to message your audience quickly and engagingly, without making people bored with long app functionality descriptions.

Animation by DeeKay

Animated explainers help the brand and audience connect

Animation evokes the viewer’s emotions and helps instill powerful associations with a brand. It also enables you to interact with a target audience at a more personal level and build a more “human” connection. Mobile apps introduced in animated videos are much more recognizable and popular as they create a lasting impression. Explainer videos allow you captivate viewers, engage them with your product or service, and boost conversions by 20% on average.

Are You Still Thinking Whether It’s Worth?

While you are doing it, your competitors are probably thinking of the concept of their next animated video to promote their app. Stay ahead of the market and impress your audience with a fantastic promo before others will do it. The time to win your audience’s loyalty is limited. Start building it right now. Engage them, entertain them, talk to them — everything is now possible in a branded animated video.

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This article was taken from Explain Ninja’s blog site.

Why you should use motion graphics in your marketing and social media

By Larry Mutenda

In the world of digital marketing, video reigns supreme.

This is evident in Animoto’s Social Video Trends: Consumer and Marketer Insights 2020 where 91 percent of video marketers report an increase in ROI, with 93 percent saying video has directly led to a significant increase in customers.

However, video is ubiquitous and in marketing, you need to make yourself ring out through the white noise.

Enter motion graphics.

This kind of motion media was a preserve of the movie industry. Opening titles and the closing credits featured graphics into which life had been injected. Fast forward decades later, they are now very much being used in video marketing material.

In simple terms, motion graphics are graphic elements that have been animated. Marketers use motion graphics for various purposes, including explainer videos because they easily clarify a concept. Additionally, they make for an attractive aesthetic, making them suitable for sharing on social media.

Now that we have covered what motion graphics are, read on to find out why they should be a part of your marketing and social media content strategy.

Benefits of motion graphics in video marketing content and social media

Per data from a report by the Content Marketing Institute, close to three-quarters of marketers consider video production as the top task in their content strategy. Nevertheless, a majority of them don’t create anything out of the ordinary.

Incorporating motion graphics into this strategy is a great way to climb head and shoulders over the competition.

Below we find out just why motion graphics are the way to go when it comes to marketing content and handling social media.

Motion graphics make mundane content more interesting

The current overly digital era contains way too much content for most people to lack what to watch. So, if you offer content that the audience considers boring, a more interesting thing is just a click away.

You, therefore, need to make sure that individuals in your target market perk up when they come across your content. Using motion graphics is a great way to do that.

Now, consider this. You’re in charge of marketing an appliance or machinery. The unique selling point of this product requires technical explanation. The obvious approach would be to get an expert to explain this.

And not to paint technical experts with the same brush, but that video is very likely to induce several yawns. However, motion graphics make it more interesting, and crucially, they explain the concept much better.

Take a look at this video animation we crafted for the Magstir Genie, a magnetic stirrer from Scientific Industries, Inc.

Motion graphics create and increase brand awareness

In a saturated market, having a strong brand identity increases the slice of market share in your business’ favor. If potential customers are aware of your brand, they are more likely to proceed through to the last stage of the sales funnel.

With conventional video production, you can craft an identity. However, the overhead attached to producing live-action content that fully incorporates your brand’s voice and ethos can run up to where it’s not profitable anymore.

When it comes to motion graphics, however, you can deftly include several hints that point to your brand. The audience can easily pick up these identifiers in any subsequent video animation productions that you greenlight.

Every time someone comes across your video, they will instantly recognize the brand and pay more attention to it.

In this animated video production for Impark Digital, you can clearly see they subtly allude to their brand colors. In each scene, there’s a black and red theme.

Motion graphics are easily shareable

This video animation content lends itself well to social media. Motion graphic videos are short and get straight to the point. Add that to the fact that they are visually appealing and you have a recipe for success on social media platforms.

Shareability also taps into another prominent aspect of video marketing – mobile. According to the IAB Video Advertising Spending Report, a third of digital marketing budgets are allocated to mobile advertising.

This is no surprise given that the majority of people interact with their social media platforms via their mobile devices.

Tailoring motion graphics to dovetail with mobile devices is a great way to move your marketing strategy ahead.

Check out this piece of video marketing content and note the length. It packs all the important information in just a minute and a few seconds. This makes it easy for people to understand and share it with families, friends and colleagues who they feel are interested in the product or service in the video.

Motion graphics are efficient and cost-effective

As we have alluded to before, motion graphics package complex information and present it in a form that ordinary members of your target market can easily understand. This cuts out the expense of having to get someone to explain something that a few graphics can easily illustrate.

Live-action video production is quite expensive. It requires securing a location or studio and an entire crew. Furthermore, the process requires hiring talent and equipment like cameras.

On the other hand, motion graphics cut down costs considerably. All the work can be done on a computer with the help of some software. It also consumes less time to complete.

Another aspect that puts motion graphics ahead is the fact that they can be made without any sound. Many people watch videos on mute when using their mobile devices. This can be because they are at work or in a public place.

Although live-action video might employ subtitles, they can be a strain on the eyes. They also require concentration to keep up with the message of the video. With motion graphics, however, the text itself is animated to both pass on the message and also keep the audience engaged.

In this example, the video animation has sound but one could also understand it when the sound is off.

Wrap up

Motion graphics are a great way to propel your brand forward. They have several benefits which not only grow your brand but also move the books into the black due to an increase in conversations.

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This article was taken from Anthill website. 

Website Animation Types & Trends That Will Dominate Your Screen in 2020–2021

Here we talk about the most amazing and popular web animation and motion graphics trends that will catch your eye in the nearest future.

by Dana Kachan

Geometric Walk Cycle by Aslan Almukhambetov for Fireart Studio

Motion often drives emotion. It can be the necessary spice for your website design to taste perfect for users. It adds dynamics and breathes life into a static UI. Fun, intriguing, and appealing — it may be different and adds charm to a website. Are you looking for a cool motion graphics idea for your site? We don’t promise you’ll find it here. But… Yes, we have something special for you — the most popular motion graphic effects and eye-catching website animation examples that will dominate your screens in 2020–2021.

Welcome on board! Your trip to the animation world starts right NOW.

Background Animation

You can create an animated brand story, show a fun manufacturing process, or introduce your team via charismatic animated heroes. There are a lot of ideas to use animation on website background. From financial organizations, banks, and healthcare companies to eCommerce retailers, restaurants, and B2B service providers — you can find websites with an animated background across different niches and industries.

People love background animation because it allows them to learn more about the company once they entered a site. This type of animation works like the brand’s visit card introducing it at a glance. You will be surprised to learn how background motion graphics can improve UX.

Airline responsive web by Quan for Fireart Studio

IOCO / Biocomputer by Mike | Creative Mints

Animated Logos

Animated logos have been trendy for the past several years, and they are at the top of web animation trends today. By adding various visual effects, motion designers create different types of logo animation: rotating logo, morphing logo, hiding and revealing logo, expanding logo, hard-drawn animated logo, 3D animation logo, etc.

Most often, a logo is the first thing we see when entering a website. It should be memorable, catchy, and reveal the brand personality using only a symbol or typography. Animation can emphasize the brand’s features by telling a short story with a few motions and effects. For instance, if your company has a fun logotype, you can add a shaking or bubbling animation to highlight a fun aspect of your brand image.

IQOO by Nicolas Girard

Logo Animation in After Effects Lego by MaxKravchenko

Cassatka logo animation by Motion Design School

Liquid Motion

It’s eye-catching and flowing like water or any other liquid. Liquid motion is the next web design trend worth considering. It adds a lot of style and interactivity to a site layout. Seems, it can hypnotize with its flawlessness and calmness. If you want to add delightful design accents to your website and create an incredible user experience, liquid animation is likely what you need. It may have a slow, flowy movement that ripples or ebbs and flows. You can make it react to a mouse hover or activate it on the scroll.

Liquid Effect by Asha Rajput

INTERCOM by Judson Collier

Experiment by Gilles Tossoukpé

Kinetic Typography

Kinetic typography or moving text is the animation technique that mixes typography and motion. Do you want to try how it would look like on your website? Go ahead! Today, many remarkable brands use kinetic typography in web design to add a feeling of movement and innovation to their look online.

It’s exciting how a simple text combined with the right tone, pace, and typography style can evoke bright emotions and powerful associations. Kinetic typography can help the user focus on what’s being said on a website and understand it at different perception levels.

Coming Soon 😃 by Nathan Riley

Typographic Slider by Hervé Rbna

Loading Animation

According to Digital Synopsis, 47% of users expect a webpage to load in 2 seconds or even less. After 4 seconds, the average user starts getting frustrated, and after 8 seconds, they leave. One-second delay may result in lost users and conversions. However, there is a secret that can make them stay even after 8 seconds.

Don’t want to make users bored while a website is loading? No need. You can use loading animation, as it is something worth taking time to watch it. It may be so engaging that users may want your site to be loading even longer to enjoy it. There are so many types of loading animation! It’s better to demonstrate at least several of them than to try to describe them.

Animation by Boing Boing

Loading by 山顶漫

Hover Effects

Hover animation is the classics of web motion graphics. It is the most used type of website animation that continues to gain momentum today. Why is it so popular? Probably, because of the ease of implementation and an exciting user experience that it creates. It allows you to achieve beautiful results on a website with minimum efforts.

Masterfully used, it creates such a magnetic effect that it’s difficult to stop hovering on the objects again and again. It turns the web user experience into a game. Such playful website interactions can bring users delight and satisfaction. However, it’s also crucial to understand the power of balance and not overuse this effect in web design.

3d hover interactions by Andy Selimov for Fireart Studio

Animated Galleries & Slideshows

Last but not least! The trend of animated galleries and slideshows has become popular in recent years. It looks like a sequence of images automatically replacing reach other on the website background. Commonly, image transitions are monotonic, simple, or soft, so that this animation doesn’t distract the user from the primary goal. Galleries and slideshows are easy to use because they naturally mimic real-life photo album functionality.

Banksy’s site gallery by Victor Nikitin for Fireart Studio

Takeaway

By now, animation has proven its staying power in mediums far older than web design. In recent years, it has become one of the most popular web design trends too. From animated logos, liquid motion, and kinetic typography to loading animation, hover effects, and other types — there are so many incredible options to use it in web design and breathe life into website layouts. Hopefully, this brief overview of the largest web animation trends will inspire you to do new experiments in web design and create even more exciting digital experiences.

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Source: Medium.com / Design + Sketch

iOS 14: Guides, tips, tricks, and everything you need to know about Apple's new iPhone OS

By Jason Cross / Staff Writer, Macworld 

Apple's latest iPhone operating system is here! In beta since WWDC in June, iOS 14 is available for every iPhone that is capable of running iOS 13.

When you update your iPhone to iOS 14, there will be a lot of new stuff to learn. This is a big update packed with new features. We have written guides, tips, and how-to articles describing the most important stuff, and to make your life easier, we've compiled them all here. Use this article as your roadmap to learning all the new features and changes.

iOS 14 FAQ

For a quick summary of all the new features in iOS 14, along with a list of compatible iPhones and how to update your phone, check our iOS 14 FAQ.

[ Further reading: Everything you need to know about iOS 14]

The App Library

The two most noticeable changes to iOS 14 are the new App Library and home screen Widgets. These two changes are the first big updates to the standard iPhone home screen in a long time. Learn about how the App Library works to make organizing your iPhone easier.

Widgets

Arguably, even more important than the App Library is the new system for Widgets. The iPhone is getting all-new Widgets that can go on your home screen and can access more data from apps than ever before. Learn how to add or remove widgets and configure the Smart Stack.

New Messages features

The blue bubble gets more powerful in iOS 14! There are improvements like pinned conversations and inline replies, along with mentions and customizations for groups. Learn all about Messages in iOS 14.

Picture-in-picture

Apple added picture-in-picture to the iPad years ago, and it's finally coming to iPhone. Learn all about how PIP works on your iPhone with iOS 14.

New Maps features

The new Maps app gives you cycling directions, curated professional Guides, special driving features for EV cars, and more. Learn about all the changes to Maps in iOS 14.

Siri changes

The first time you use Siri on iOS 14, it will feel a little weird. Instead of the whole screen going blank, you'll just see the little Siri orb on the bottom. And lots of replies will just pop down like notifications instead of consuming the entire display! We sum up all the Siri changes in our guide.

Accessibility features for everyone

There are several features in iOS 14 meant to help those with disabilities but can be useful for everyone. Learn how to set up back tap, headphone accommodations, and sound recognition in our guide.

Privacy features

Every year, Apple makes iOS go further toward protecting your privacy and personal data. With iOS 14 there are several important new privacy features to know about. Most don't require you to change any settings, but you should know how to adjust things like approximate location and limited Photos access. Our guide walks you through the most important new privacy features.

Hidden features

iOS 14 is full of little features you may not notice right away, unless you know where to look. From mirrored selfies to Safari's privacy report, we've made a list of a few of the best iOS 14 hidden features.

New features for AirPods

If you have AirPods, you'll love the way iOS 14 makes them better. You get spatial audio with AirPods Pro, and all AirPods can seamlessly and automatically switch between Apple devices.  Check out all the ways iOS 14 makes your AirPods better.

Add Home items to Control Center

You can quickly access your favorite HomeKit enabled devices in Control Center, without having to leave what you're doing to open up the Home app. You just need to flip a toggle in Settings.

Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details.

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Source: Macworld website

iOS 14 home screen ideas: Our favorite custom iPhone layouts so far

By Kate Kozuch

Some inspiration for designing your dream iPhone home screen.

(Image credit: Future)

On the hunt for iOS 14 home screen ideas for your iPhone? You’re not the only one. In fact, iOS 14 has sparked a surge of creativity with the software’s new customization tools.

If you’ve updated your iPhone, you might notice the option to add widgets — or snippets of visual information that come in a variety of sizes — among your home screen’s apps. While Apple provides a collection of native widgets, there are a number of third-party widget design apps available, too.

As a result, users have hacked a way to create iPhone home screen themes, combining their new widgets with custom app icons. Perhaps you’ve seen the utterly incredible Animal Crossing and Microsoft Paint-inspired layouts trending online. 

Our guide on how to make custom iPhone widgets and app icons with iOS 14 explains how to go about designing the display of your dreams, but if you’re in need of some inspiration, or just want to see how clever the internet can be, keep reading for a round up of iOS 14 home screen ideas.

1. Hand-drawn doodles

iOS 14 let’s you re-do app icons so naturally remade them all much worse in MS paint style

Sorry to all app icon designers that spent years making them nice pic.twitter.com/bsa0E5VvSy

— Thomas Reisenegger.gif (@Olima) September 20, 2020

Relive the days when crude doodles were cool. Microsoft Paint makes everyone nostalgic, for better or for worse — either way, this homage is pretty awesome. But if you don’t have access to a machine with MS Paint, any of the best drawing apps can help you design your very own hand-drawn icons. 

2. Old-school iOS

Have I done this right? #iOS14 #iOS14HomeScreen pic.twitter.com/RK1CnaScaz

— Rhys (@22Ginn) September 21, 2020

This might be another throwback theme, but hey, any year is better than this one. You can’t restore bygone iOS software to your iPhone, but you can recreate the aesthetics of early-2010s Apple devices with old-school app icons. The best part? You still get to charge with a lightning cable. Even better if you have an ancient iPod touch for reference.

3. Monochrome

Current iOS 14 home screen setup. pic.twitter.com/gtFjRnMkq7

— Traf (@traf) September 20, 2020

There are a couple different routes to take when organizing a monochrome iOS 14 home screen. You can make each page a different color of the rainbow by separating apps based on their original icon colors. Or, you can make custom app icons that match a single color. An all-black layout is especially sleek, although any color will work.

4. Pastels

My new iPhone Home Screen do be looking kinda cute now pic.twitter.com/twi9Mf4BVk

— 🏳️‍🌈 (@justplainaimee) September 19, 2020

Pastel colors are ideal for spring, but can be used all year round to give your iPhone home screen a soft, Miami Vice vibe. Light pinks, purples, blues, yellows and greens look great together, so unlike a monochrome theme, a pastel one provides a broader color palette. 

5. Neon

Working progress but I have to stop now it’s taken me half a day🤯#ios14homescreen pic.twitter.com/wgSQjxK93G

— 🏳️‍🌈 (@TomHarveey) September 20, 2020

The ’80s-inspired Neon trend has infiltrated iPhones, and we have to admit, it looks pretty mesmerizing. When you turn all your app icons into miniature neon signs against a dimly-lit background, it creates a cool depth effect on your display. Check out this link for a collection of neon icons you can use to transform your iOS 14 home screen.

6. Neutrals

i know i’m late but here’s my #ios14homescreen pic.twitter.com/56N1a3mu1X

— ‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ (@siIkmade) September 22, 2020

If eye-catching colors aren't your thing, try out this neutral iOS 14 home screen idea. Something about the minimalism of beiges, nudes and charcoals make us feel like our most polished selves. 

7. Animal Crossing

Turned my iPhone into a NookPhone with iOS 14! Icons made by okpng on Twitter via /r/AnimalCrossing https://t.co/0RoD5AylqH #acnh #animalcrossing pic.twitter.com/lDoACEpEN1

— /r/animalcrossing (@rslashAC) September 21, 2020

Moving away from color themes and into fandom-inspired iOS 14 home screen ideas, this recreated Nook phone from Animal Crossing: New Horizons might be the most incredible custom layout we've seen yet. You can use any of the best Nintendo Switch games as your inspiration, and even turn your gameplay screenshots into photo widgets.

8. Minecraft

If everyone’s showing their new #iOS14 #ios14homescreen then here’s mine pic.twitter.com/eIyrqI4KHH

— cat that doesnt like bread (@JohnDav52533934) September 21, 2020

The deceptively-simple looking Minecraft is still one of the hottest games around. If you're a Minecraft fan, you might appreciate constructing an iOS 14 home screen theme, using icons as your building blocks. And if you're not a fan, well, 8-bit icons look cool no matter what.

9. Star Wars

Finally finished my Star Wars iOS 14 homescreen! pic.twitter.com/o8SNuzDTBb

— Jacob Suggs 🎃👻 (@jtimsuggs) September 23, 2020

Star Wars can be interpreted for several different iOS 14 home screen ideas, although if it were up to us, we'd revolve each page around a trilogy, or maybe a character. It depends how many apps you have. This Lego Star Wars homage is clever, too.

10. Avatar the Last Airbender

Can't get good over how good my ios 14 homescreen looks pic.twitter.com/IE288Tl2tT

— sithlordolivia (@sithlordolive) September 23, 2020

Ever since ATLA and The Legend of Korra hit Netflix, there's a renewed interest in the Nickelodeon sagas. As two of the best Netflix shows to binge watch now, these related series make stellar iOS 14 home screen themes. 

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Source: Tom’s Guide

Why iPhone users are suddenly going wild creating custom looks for their home screens

By Kif Leswing

iPhone users can now customize their homescreens with colorful widgets and app icons.

Kif Leswing/CNBC

iPhone users are using the latest iOS update to customize their home screen with new icons, photo boxes, and even entire color schemes.

The new iOS options match features long available for Android devices, which typically allow users to change nearly everything about the software’s appearance. Prior to iOS 14, iPhone users were forced to have their apps in a grid of boxes.

But now, using a new widget feature in iOS 14 and a creative workaround using the Apple-made Shortcuts app, users can change the appearance of their icons, and basically make the iPhone’s home screen look completely different. 

Over the weekend, iPhone customization went viral. One video titled “How to make your iOS 14 home screen aesthetic AF” had over 24 million views on TikTok on Monday.

How to make your iOS 14 home screen AESTHETIC AF 🌸🤍⁣⁣⁣ ⁣⁣⁣ ⋒⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⋒⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⋒⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⋒⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ ⋒⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣ #iphone11promax #ios14 #iphonetricks #iosupdate #ios14homescreen #instagramhacks #Instagramstorytips #instagramhack #tiktok #instagramstory #socialmediamarketing #enfliquecreative #trendingtiktok #reels #instagramreels #influencermanagement #instagramstoryinspo #smma #instagramstoryhacks #contentcreator #igstoryinspo #herbusiness #marketingtips #branding #springflowers #instastoryhack #tiktok⁣

“I knew I needed to hop on as soon as iOS 14 launched,” said Katarina Mogus, who made the video and is the founder of En Flique Creative, a company that advises brands on how to stand out on social media. “I was sitting in my room thinking, you know what, I love this, I’m just going to share it with everyone and teach other people how to make this look really cute as well.”

She said she knew her followers would appreciate the video because they’re typically interested in customization. Other iPhone customization tutorials she posted over the weekend have millions of views, too. 

The customization craze is driving downloads: On Monday, Widgetsmith, an app used by Mogus, was the top free app on Apple’s App Store in the United States. David Smith, the app’s developer, tweeted on Friday that “Widgetsmith went viral on TikTok, which is a phrase I don’t even understand but is having a rather robust result on my life right now.”

Widgetsmith has a free basic version, or costs $2 per month or $20 per year for a premium version with additional features. Since Widgetsmith was launched on September 16 alongside iOS 14, it’s been downloaded over 2 million times, according to an estimate from Sensor Tower, an app analytics firm.

Combining Widgetsmith with Color Widgets, the No. 2 free app on Monday, and Photo Widget, another popular option, widget apps have been installed about 5 million times since iOS 14 was released on Sept. 16, generating hundreds of thousands of dollars of sales, according to Sensor Tower’s estimate. About 38% of the downloads have been in the United States.

Mogus doesn’t have business relationships with widget app makers, but she is also capitalizing on the home screen customization trend with an Etsy store, where she sells digital images and wallpaper for iPhone customizers.

Why now?

There are two main reasons why significant device customization is taking off for iPhones.

First, iOS 14 introduced widgets, interactive modules you can place on your home screen to display automatically updating information, like a weather forecast or your schedule.

But iPhone users like Mogus have customized widgets for primarily visual purposes, using apps like Widgetsmith and Photo Widgets to display photos or inspirational text, color-coordinate parts of the home screen, and make their home screens “aesthetic AF.” 

Second is renewed attention to a feature that’s been around a couple of years: Shortcuts. Originally launched in 2018, this Apple app enables savvy users to create scripts on an iPhone to automate common tasks. Users can make a shortcut to turn on music and connected smart lights every morning at the same time, for example. When a shortcut is completed, users can place an app icon on their home screen to quickly run it. 

But customization fanatics are using Shortcuts to change app icons. Although some apps do allow the user to change their icon — on MLB At Bat, you can change the icon to your favorite team, for example — the Shortcuts app enables users to change any icon to whatever they like.

Basically, users create a shortcut that does one thing: open up an app, like Spotify, Messages, or Netflix. Then they can change the icon and name for that shortcut to whatever they’d like. Customizers are using this feature to replace all the icons on their home screen. 

While users have been able to add their own custom icons since Shortcuts first launched, the combination with the new widgets feature has enabled a significantly higher degree of customization than was possible in the past. 

Tips for making your home screen aesthetic AF

While Mogus’ designs use a cute and feminine style, she says she’s received requests to create iPhone tutorials for different looks, such as a minimal theme or more masculine color schemes. 

Other people are taking customization to the next level.

One person remade all of his app icons so they looked like an amateur made them in Microsoft Paint:

iOS 14 let’s you re-do app icons so naturally remade them all much worse in MS paint style

Sorry to all app icon designers that spent years making them nice pic.twitter.com/bsa0E5VvSy

— Thomas Reisenegger.gif (@Olima) September 20, 2020

Another person shared an iPhone screen designed to look like Windows 95:

why did i do this pic.twitter.com/4boDQvsNVm

— ash ☆彡 (@ARTSHL3Y) September 18, 2020

If you’d like to customize your own home screen, first you’ll need the latest version of iOS for the widgets feature as well as the Shortcuts app, which can be downloaded from the App Store.

Beyond that, if you want your iPhone home screen to look great, you’ll have to sweat the details.

“Think of it as a big picture, make sure you take into consideration your background and the screensaver. All the widgets and little photos, and even the fonts, they do make a big impact when you’re talking design and creativity. So if you add in a photo of you and your friend, make sure it’s edited the same way as the widgets are so it’s all very cohesive,” Mogus said. 

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This news article was published by CNBC on 21 September 2020.