Designing a mobile application to accompany the traffic on your website can give you a huge advantage over your competitors, but engaging your audience to encourage people to use it or attracting a new audience takes quite a bit of work.

There are a number of variables involved in effectively marketing a mobile app.

Here are a few suggestions.

1. Define Your Audience

Who did you develop your app for, and why do they matter? Define the audience that will appreciate the transition to a mobile app and use it as a start for your campaign.

2. Have a Plan

Every marketing strategy has a plan. Be specific in what you want to achieve with your application, the resources that are available to you, and the target audience. This will help you streamline your efforts and focus on concrete goals and objectives to get the results you want.

3. Do the Research

Before you build your app, you need to know what customers want. By tailoring your app to customer demand, you will be able to tailor your campaigns to those components. This also helps in developing visuals and content that will engage and interest.

4. Be Unique and Useful

Your mobile app should have one thing that makes it stand out from other applications. If you are the first in your field to have an app, that’s a perfect platform to market. You also need to understand how your app fulfills a need. Once you have determined what that need and unique attribute is, use those features to formulate your sales pitch and get people interested.

5. Get Your App Reviewed by a Major Online Resource

Anything you want to find out about an application or tech gadget, you can find online. There are blogs and magazines that are certified “go-to” resources, such as Appdevelopermagazine, Presspad and Appdevroom. Getting a positive review from one of these publications is a sure way to attract attention and get people talking.

6. Use Twitter

Getting social thought leaders or well-known industry people in app development to create a buzz about your app is a good marketing strategy that will quickly generate interest. Providing cool talking points or features of your app for them to tweet about can make a difference in how many people download your app and how quickly.

7. Use a Mobile App Marketing Agency

There are a number of companies that specialize in marketing to your target audience. They may include other perks for you, as well, such as branding, metrics management, paid advertisement and more. Some of these agencies are Appspire.me, Appular and Appency. Dreamstime, one of the largest stock photo agencies, has been using Appular with huge success while Appency’s clients include Citibank and Butterball.

When formulating your app marketing strategy, there are also some things you should avoid.

According to Techsling, these are major mistakes when developing an app:

• Not differentiating your experience from the desktop to the app. It should be a new, engaging experience and should be treated as such. When using an app, the customer wants it to be less cumbersome while providing powerful functionality, and the visual design should be aesthetically pleasing. There should be a developmental blueprint in place based on market research to accomplish this.

• Skimping on privacy and security features. Privacy and security features are very important in the development of an app, as users value their privacy and will only use apps that offer high levels of security. Additionally, if your app does not implement updates in a timely manner or meet the needs of your customers, your app usage will quickly diminish.

• Not having a true app. Many companies that have mobile-responsive websites often try to use them as their mobile apps. An app should be a completely different experience that is user-friendly while making tasks simple and efficient. Current customers should fuel the design of the mobile app. Listening to what your customers have to say and communicating with them to find out their needs is key. The expectations for mobile apps are high, and not being in tune with your customer base could be detrimental to its success. Your app should have an open forum where your customers can tell you what they like, don’t like and would like to see. This will help you tailor your updates to meet customer demand.

• Not testing the app for glitches and bugs. Every app should be fully tested in a number of scenarios to find any glitches or bugs prior to its release. Tests should be conducted from a number of sources and on different web platforms and devices to make sure the app is ready to be used by the general public.

• Not offering a trial copy. When introducing a new app, a free trial app should always be offered to determine what areas need improvement and how it will be received on a larger scale. If the users enjoy the trial features, they will have no problems purchasing the real version.

These tips will help you develop an effective marketing campaign that will cater to your existing customers while broadening your audience. Understanding how to market your app to the right audience will make a huge difference in the way you position your app and are viewed by the public. When implemented correctly, you’ll have huge results.