The Top Floor Flat

Every Monday, I write about something new you can try this week to drive more downloads for your mobile app and increase engagement with your existing app users, based on what has worked (and what hasn’t) for 23snaps.

When trying to gain new users for your app, little is as powerful as word of mouth recommendations. While it’s fantastic when these come from your users, it can be even more useful when they come from a trusted press source. But how do you capture the attention of busy journalists who are inundated with dozens of requests each day from independent developers looking for some coverage of their app?

One way is to provide them with the ability to truly visualize your app and the problems it solves (or fun it provides) without forcing them to take the time to download it and give it a go themselves; or worse make a guess at what your app does and looks like from a few lines in an email. You can do this by making a compelling demo video.

But a demo video is more than just a bit of collateral to add to a press release (although that is a serious benefit). It’s also a way to educate your potential users. More and more app stores allow you to include videos along with app screenshots – the Google Play Store puts video front and center – it’s the most prominent preview on the page – and the Amazon App Store allows developers to include up to five different videos for a single app. App stores recognize that videos can help drive downloads from their end users – so don’t miss out on the opportunity to take advantage of this important app store real estate.

Finally, a video can help sell your app and the brand or people behind it. A demo video can be more than just a demo of your product, it can tell the story of why you created your app, making your team or product more relatable or appealing to your core audience.

We’ve just launched our first video for 23snaps and so far the results have been incredibly positive. It’s helped us reach out to more journalists, is tracking plays from the app stores where it’s been embedded, indicating that potential users are engaging with our content and we feel it does more than just walk users through the app but is a slightly cheeky way to show the problems we solve in an aspirational way.

Here are a couple of lessons I learned creating our video:

– If you’re making a demo video, don’t forget the demo.

It’s important to get the culture and feeling of your brand and app into the video so it stands out from the dozens of basic demos out there – but don’t forget to actually show off the app. While a bigger brand can spend more time telling the story than showing off the product, at the end of the day, you want people to understand what you do and how you do it.

– Stand out from the crowd.

There are thousands of app demo videos, some better than others. The ones that stand out are the ones that do something a little different, that tell a story or that are visually interesting. A quick scan of the other demo videos out there show thousands of fingers poised over thousands of smartphones. What can you do that still showcases your app but does it in a different way?

– Be relatable.

A disembodied finger is hard to relate to. So how can you get a real person, user case or problem in your video, to help users understand who your app is for and why?

– Tell a story.

The phrase ‘content is king’ has become such a cliche in digital marketing I’m loathe to use it, but it’s more appropriate here than ever. Think about the adverts that you’ve related to recently – whether it’s the Spock vs Spock Audi commercial or the John Lewis Christmas advert  – many have a sense of narrative. What can you do that wants to make your viewers watch until the end?

Have you created a demo video for your app, or do you have some favorites? Share in the comments!