7. Launch With Purpose

A strong launch with lots of fanfare is a great way to get an initial audience. Your content, and the usefulness of the app is what's going to keep them coming back, but your launch will be the driver of the first-time downloads.

Here are some ideas to make a real event out of your app launch.

Promotional Items

Posters, Desk-Toppers, Mugs, Pens and Banners can all be used in staff areas to generate awareness. If you're designing your own posters, make sure to include information about:

• Where to download the app
• How to Log In to the app
• Why you should download the app

We'll be happy to design some posters and desk-toppers on your behalf, so that you can get them printed ahead of your launch.

Launch Events

Launch events are a great way to create a bit of fanfare. It might be something as simple as setting up a stall in your staff canteen, or  going all-out and organising a roadshow to visit your various sites. The aim here is to get out and about and talk directly with staff about the app now that it's available. You'll be there to answer questions, and to help the less tech-savvy employees to download and register.

If you've been following our advice from the beginning, you'll already have plenty of people across the business aware that the app is coming, and you will have taken their feedback onboard when creating your content. This is your chance to make a big deal of going out and showing them that you listened!

Props such as phone cutouts for people to get their pictures taken, balloons and so on, tend to work well. You could even bake some cupcakes and put QR codes on them with the app download link!

Just don't forget to post pics of your launch events to the app. Or even better, if you have a 'User Generated Content' section in the app, get others to post them there too.

Competitions

If you have some budget, you might want to consider offering an incentive prize via an in-app launch competition.

Here are a few ideas for in-app competitions:

Selfie Competition: Post a selfie to the user generated content section of the app. Whichever gets the most likes wins.

Caption Competition: You post a picture in the app, and employees leave a caption in the comments. Either best caption is chosen by the admins, or the one with the most likes wins.

Complete Your Profile Competition: This one works if you want to encourage users to complete their in-app profile pic and contact info. 'Those with completed profiles by X date are entered in to a prize draw'.

Putting the above advice in to action will ensure that your app really makes a splash!