How to reach new users for your AI app using Content Marketing

In part 1 of our article series, you got tips and tactics on how to present your product in the best possible way. We discuss strategies and tactics in more detail in our whitepaper for app developers. The following is about how to successfully market your product story using content marketing tactics to reach and persuade new customers.

Quick reminder: Content marketing is a marketing technique to address your target group with value-adding content rather than product features. Educating potential customers on how to make business operations more efficient is more valuable than telling them how great your product is. That is exactly what we do at Azena.

Reaching users who benefit from your app

The challenge is to place your product story and content where potential customers are, instead of waiting for people to accidentally visit your website. The bigger the competition in your industry and the number of products similar to your app, the more you need to push your message out to the market. From our experience this is the part of content marketing that requires the most time and resources.

Use 20% of your resources for content creation and 80% for content promotion. - Andy Penfold, Content Marketing Specialist at Azena

Where to showcase your product & content

Every company that sells products needs an online outlet where potential customers can find information about what is on offer and buy. This can be your own website or an online marketplace such as the Azena Application Store. Both have pros and cons to be considered when establishing a point of sale.

Own product website or marketplace? In our marketing whitepaper for app developers, we discuss the pros and cons of both approaches and help you figure out which one fits your business better. In short, the right strategy essentially depends on whether you want to boost your sales fast or you'd rather build your brand in the long run.

Example: Product presentation in our Application Store

If content is king, then distribution is queen

Once established an outlet for your product and content, you need to make potential customers aware of your offering and draw them to your site. Content Marketing is about using all available channels that lead to potential customers; these channels can be your own (e.g. your followers on LinkedIn) or paid channels (e.g. online ads). The challenge is to find out what channels are suitable to reach new customers most effectively. 

Choosing the right channels for your sales depends on what objectives you pursue: do you want to acquire new customers fast or do you want to develop your brand in the long run? It also depends on how many resources - team, skills and budget - you can provide for customer acquisition.

In our marketing whitepaper, we discuss both short-term and long-term strategies and outline useful tactics available to reach potential customers online.

Short-term tactics to reach potential customers fast

These channels are ideal for acquiring new customers quickly, e.g. to test a new product in your market and/or if you lack resources and time required to build "organic" reach (social platforms, SEO). Short-term tactics covered in our whitepaper:

• Advertising
• Industry Newsletters
• Trade shows, virtual events & conferences

Long-term tactics to build sustainable brand awareness

Short-term tactics are quick to implement and require little personnel effort, but cost money. Medium- to long-term tactics to gain access to potential customers, however, are not available right away, have to be built up over time and cannot simply be bought, but pay off in the long run. Long-term tactics covered in our whitepaper:

• Software platforms
• Public Relations
• Personal branding & social selling on LinkedIn
• Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Tip: Combine short- and long-term tactics to get started with content marketing fast, but also to lay the foundation for sustainable customer acquisition right from the beginning.

More to learn about app marketing in our white paper for developers:

• llustrate user experience with screenshots & videos
• Trigger interest with inspiring use cases
• Showcase your app in webinars and live demos
• Reaching users who benefit from your app
• Building a Customer Acquisition Roadmap

and much more…

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