With so much competition in the App Store, trying to get your new app noticed, let alone downloaded and used more than once, is an ongoing challenge for marketers. Unfortunately new apps can very easily sit gathering virtual dust in the App Store. To ensure this doesnt happen to you, be sure you are ready with a plan to market your app before it goes live.

Pre-launch promotion – Start building buzz about your app before it has launched by contacting journalists and bloggers who write about things that relate to your app and see if they will talk up the upcoming release.

Think beyond day one – On launch day, being listed as “New” in the app store should help sales significantly, but remember, by the second day, your app will no longer be on the front page of new apps, so planning for this is crucial.  Especially when, according to mobile advertising company Adwhirl, you need around 2,500 daily downloads to feature within the top 100 popular iPhone apps.

Lite or Demo Version – If youre planning on selling your app, then you may want to consider releasing a free or ‘Lite’ version of the paid app along with the real thing. What weve seen is that people are more likely to buy an app if theyve had a chance to try it for free first. You may also want to consider using Apple’s In-App Payment mechanism to make money within free apps. This service allows you to charge for additional content in an app. In the case of a game, you’d let the users complete levels 1 and 2, but to progress further, they would have to download the app to unlock the other levels.

In application advertising – tried and tested by people like Greystripe, HOvr and others. Feature ads running either in a wrapped manner, on the loading and exit screens of the app, or integrated within the app. Money is split between the technology provider, the content owner and the operator (if they are distributing). In a nutshell, just because it’s free doesnt mean you can’t make money from it. 

Reviews = Sales – A great review on a major blog may create sustainable sales for you. Technorati can provide you with a current list of bloggers. Use a conversational style, get right to the point and include a promo code. When you have sites like Gizmodo that get 3 million pageviews per day, this can easily translate to sales for you.

Send out a Press Release – PRMac, a free (or almost free) press release distribution service, and the MacNN (Macintosh News Network) syndicate (free to submit) are definitely worth the price of submission.

Incorporate social media – If a user makes the high score on his or her favourite game, it’s a good idea to make it easy for them to post it to Facebook or Twitter. Think about how your app can incorporate social media and build that functionality into your app. At a minimum, set up a fan page for your app on Facebook and Twitter and use them as platforms to communicate with your users and get feedback on your app. Comments are even crawled and tracked by the major search engines.

Plan for multiple releases – Don’t pack your app with every single feature you want to offer in the very first release. Make your dream list for the app and make sure that the app is designed to incorporate all of the features at some time in the future. Then periodically drop new versions of the app to boost app store sales.

Timing Is Everything – A high volume of downloads occur over the weekend, starting Friday afternoon, so by releasing in the middle of the week, you kickstart the download process.

Create New Uses – When upgrading, think beyond content and consider upgrading the apps functions. When the app platforms operating system is upgraded, consider how to use the new features to enhance your app to make it more fun, interesting or useful. You will also want to continue evolving your app to increase its marketing potential. 

Russell Berry is a director of mobile applications developer, AppCreatives